Читать книгу The Den Of Iniquity - Anabelle Bryant - Страница 11

Chapter Two

Vivienne pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, the persistent wind determined to wrestle against her hood. With gladness she’d read the missive from the Samaritan Saviours, a charitable organization favoured by her mother and a cause that Vivienne intended to continue in loving memory. Her stepfather held little opinion of her involvement and in that she was thankful. Answering the call for charitable work supplied a reprieve in twofold from the oppressive gloom found at Nettlecombe. She’d gently reassert herself into the flow of society and simultaneously soothe the pain in her heart by carrying forth her mother’s honourable work.

Now with the hour growing late, the carriage stopped at a narrow avenue leading to Byward Street where the small chapel rested on a lazy hill. She exited, hurrying over the cobbles and through the iron gate. As if London mourned her efforts, clouds in various shades of grey threatened tears, not very different from the interior of home. She sent a small prayer skyward in hope that today she’d find joy in helping others. Something of interest was needed to deter her thoughts from loss and pain. In that much her stepfather’s words rang true. Her mother would never wish for her to continue suffering.

The sombre knell from the church tower resurrected memories of the funeral and she bit her lower lip to maintain composure. At times it seemed the smallest things, the scent of a flower or mention of a particular meal, shattered her tenuous hold on emotion. She shook her head, at once irritated as the motion sent her hood backward. With a steady hand she righted herself inside and out.

She’d almost reached the top of the hill where the nuns worked to replant annuals in the seasonal garden, the blooms then sold to raise funds for the poor. She gave a glance in each direction, disappointed the area remained vacant, and took the single-tiered staircase that led to the upper level of the property, closer to the tower and outreaching buildings. The railing, cold from the absence of sunlight, sent an unwelcome chill into her bones and she hurried faster. Beyond the church a small graveyard and priory stood quiet, a vigilant reminder life was fleeting.

Pausing to discern where the nuns were located and whether she’d arrived at the correct area, she listened but not a sound could be heard. Something seemed wrong. She didn’t have the missive, her reticule left under the bench of the family coach. With planting to be done, she’d travelled with nothing more than a pair of gloves and coin purse in her skirt pocket. Now she wished she’d brought the information.

Unwilling to remain stalled in the middle of the slates, she changed directions. With a disappointed sigh at the bleak emptiness of her surroundings, she moved beyond the gardens to explore the path that led to the priory in hope of meeting someone from Samaritan Saviours.

As she accomplished a bend and approached the graveyard a disturbance wrinkled the quiet, causing her heart to lurch with fear. Stray dogs and assorted vermin were common in all parts of London, but a graveyard offered the ideal place for a dangerous stray. One pernicious bite would send a healthy person into a hellish and often uncertain sickness.

A sharp bark sliced the air and her thoughts proceeded no further. In a blur of grey fur, a wolf appeared. The angry beast barked a rapid succession of complaints, bared its fangs and snarled, then set a direct line towards her. She whimpered, a tragic mixture of panic and fright, before her feet at last obeyed and she set into a run, the wind catching in her billowing black cloak to battle her progress. She should have taken a maid or footman, but out of consideration not to encumber a servant with boredom while she worked on the behalf of the poor, she’d foolishly come alone.

Her slipper caught on the edge of a broken slate and she tumbled forward, her palms scraping the stone in a sting of gravel and regret. With a firm push for leverage she rose in a tangle of skirts, forcing her cumbersome cloak aside as she ran further to accomplish the short stack of stairs. The insistent bark of the mongrel and accompanying steady footfalls thrummed in her ears.

Through a blinding sheen of tears she found the wrought-iron gate, the roadway clogged with carriages damning her to choose another means of escape. With a dodge to the left she angled her body behind a low-lying hedge where a stone wall blanketed with lush green ivy stood as a divider to the adjacent property. She pressed flat with hope the mongrel would continue its race to the street, past where she waited. Her lungs burst, but she hardly gave pause to inhale.

Time stretched. Slowly the pounding in her ears receded. She heard the discordant melody of a songbird as a lonely ray of sunlight broke the cloud cover and she narrowed her eyes in trepidation until the hairs on the back of her neck pricked to attention. Two elongated shadows darkened the corner. She didn’t dare move. Trapped, fear clogged her throat as she stared at the growing outline of blackness. She willed her courage to surface, for her brain to master control.

The wolf dog stood not two paces away, teeth exposed in a silent snarl that did more to her frantic pulse than the race across the churchyard. She had not a moment to consider it before a looming form appeared behind the animal. A man with a serious expression, hair left too long and wide shoulders tapering to a strong physique stepped closer to align with the dog as he looked straight into her eyes. For a half second, her soul quaked. Somehow, for no reason she could explain, the stranger’s piercing gaze seemed to look inside her. She could barely catch her breath, yet he appeared completely composed.

‘Settle.’

The sharp command calmed the animal and it withdrew to a place of quiet obedience at the man’s feet.

With great relief and a bit of awe, she raised her chin and matched eyes with the stranger who’d controlled the fierce animal with nothing more than a word. He didn’t appear dangerous, but then neither did her stepfather and of late, she possessed an unspoken wariness whenever they shared company at Nettlecombe.

This man demanded control with his presence, exuded power by silent force. He was handsome even with a scowl holding his jaw tight, his face harsh angles and sharp corners, as if he’d been carved not born. Add to that his impeccable attire, a brown cashmere greatcoat pulled taut across his muscular build, dark trousers and shiny boots, put her clothing to shame. Yet something told her he was no gentleman. She braced herself for an outlash of disapproval and accusation, the cause unknown.

‘My apologies.’

It was the last thing she expected him to say and her exhalation whispered free.

‘My dog grew agitated by my behaviour at the other side of the churchyard. When he sensed your approach he meant to protect.’ His rich tenor did strange things to her stomach.

‘Not me.’ Her soft-spoken response seemed to amuse him. One thick brow arched over eyes blacker than soot. Meanwhile her shoulders eased from their rigid position and she drew another breath, no longer afraid.

‘You have lovely green eyes.’ So had his mother.

She appeared perplexed, her lids flared then narrowed as if his comment surprised her. What had she expected? That he would set upon her, or worse allow Ransom to take a bite? Wrapped tight in a thick woollen cloak the only part of her he could discern was a heart-shaped face, smooth creamy skin kissed with a soft flush from her flight across the lawn. It gave the look of a playful wood sprite caught against the ivy. She angled her sharp little chin in defiance though she’d hardly said a word and likely trembled in her slippers.

The lady was stunning—composed of stark contradictions and delicate beauty. His body immediately took notice despite refined ladies not being for him. Too many airs and complications, worst of all, the inevitable haughty stare down the nose that spoke volumes to announce he was beneath them, a man of the lowest mark, and by consequence of his birth unworthy of attention, never mind genuine affection. That disdain sliced the deepest. Best he remember whenever he entertained the illogical notion he might taste caviar when he was born to eat porridge. Aah, but there lay the irony. He could easily afford the most expensive delicacies.

Time to move on. Had he not ranted with such vitriolic expletives over Rowley’s grave this situation would have been avoided, yet the miscreant’s dirty deed and scarring history evoked such volatile emotion he knew little else than to let it rain over the man’s final resting place. His loyal wolfhound had sensed the distress and reacted. Bloody hell, in his hurry to chase Ransom he’d forgotten to spit on the grave.

He pulled his attention to the present where moss-green eyes, luminous and almond-shaped with long curled lashes, twitched with shock and some other indecipherable emotion, her lips drawn in a tight white line. Indeed, the woman was scared of his approach and the realization stirred an errant question. Had this same haunting trepidation filled his mother’s gaze all those years ago?

He should offer reassurance. Would she be offended if he told her to settle?

‘We mean no harm.’ As he reached forward she recoiled, yet her action didn’t deter his. He plucked a wayward leaf from below her ear and his fingers brushed a tangle of curls, silk, caught between her shoulder and the collar of the cloak. Acting on instinct, he lowered the hood and a mass of hair tumbled past the woman’s shoulders, down in rivulets of blue-black gloss, sleek as the feathers on a raven’s wing. The sight conjured images of an avenging angel or, perhaps, an ethereal spectre. He breathed deep and fought off a misplaced feeling of arousal. Stop wanting what you can’t have. ‘You’re safe.’

Who did he aim to reassure?

‘Thank you, Mr…’ She paused mid-sentence, her voice snagging his attention.

‘Sinclair.’ He supplied with a speck of amusement. ‘Sin, if you prefer.’ He watched her slender brows rise high, her expression wide-eyed and dishevelled, somewhat delectable.

‘Yes, thank you.’ She eased, smoothing a hand down the length of her hair to tuck the ringlets into order. ‘I was startled, but I’m better now.’ She shifted, adjusting her cloak in the process, and ventured a small step from the wall where’d she pressed herself flat in hope of becoming invisible.

Impossible, that. This young lady would easily stand out among the finest beauties of the ton.

Not that it mattered.

Damned if his body thought it did.

Instead he waited.

‘Your dog is asleep.’ Her statement was a mixture of curiosity and hope.

He shot his eyes to Ransom who’d apparently found their conversation dull. When again he looked up, the lady had undergone a transformation.

‘He’s not a wolf at all.’ She wrinkled her nose, wise and wary enough not to approach.

While Ransom appeared complaisant one wrong move would put him on alert.

‘Appearances aren’t always accurate.’ He cleared his throat, wondering if she would read the world within the words. ‘Ransom’s a loyal protector. It all depends on who he wishes to protect.’

‘I see.’ She looked beyond his shoulder.

‘I’m keeping you, Miss…’

‘Vivienne.’

Her name fit. It might have been a type of rare flower. He made a sidelong step and the dog stood as if by having listened he knew it was time to take leave. ‘Well then, accept my regret for Ransom’s misbehaviour.’ With a nudge from long-abandoned manners, he canted his head towards the street. ‘Were you headed to your waiting carriage?’

She answered with a nod.

‘I’ll accompany you there.’ Suspecting she would object he continued. ‘By way of apology for my dog and temper having sent you running across the property.’

She flicked her eyes to the wolfhound, likely at war with her courage.

‘Ransom is less than interested now that we’ve spoken. He wouldn’t cause harm unless I gave the command.’ The words rolled out before he thought the better of them. He glanced to Byward Street and strove to soothe her ill ease. ‘To your carriage then.’ The lady shouldn’t be out without a footman, maid or some kind of keeper and that deduction held true for anyone bound for a private carriage. Fine gentry. The seedier parts of London composed the place of his ill-spent youth that now provided his living, but this woman didn’t belong to the streets. She was polite society. His personal anathema. Hell if she didn’t spark his curiosity though.

She gave a curt nod, her expression a mixture of appreciation and speculative trust, and fell in beside him. He adjusted his stride so she could keep pace. Ransom wandered ahead on the pavement clearing a path until Vivienne stopped beside a cluster of carriages, one stacked against the other too closely for him to discern to which the lady belonged.

‘Thank you.’

She smiled and he forgot what he was about to say until the crack of a nearby whip broke him from distraction. He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a card, doubtful he would ever see her again. Such a pretty bit of muslin was unlikely to frequent the same establishments as he, but something told him to offer his address. It was the least he could do after scaring her thoroughly. ‘If you need anything or if I can be of service, do not hesitate to call.’ He extended his ungloved hand in her direction.

‘Anything?’ She watched him with those crystalline green eyes and he quelled a smile.

‘Anything at all.’ When she didn’t immediately reply, he added, ‘A one-time favour if you will, to compensate for your inconvenience.’

She stared at the white calling card a long minute, scepticism wrinkling her brow, and just when he believed he’d made an error in judgement, she accepted. This time he allowed a smile free and with a sharp click that brought Ransom to heel, he left her standing beside the kerb.