Page 84 of How the Earl Entices

Pushing herself away from the wall, she hurried on through the night toward the Thames and the Chelsea Embankment. Always, she kept her head down, her face turned away even in the shadows, in case she was being followed.

An hour later, she reached the alley that ran behind Ellsworth’s carriage house. She pressed herself against the wall, staying tucked away in the dark shadows. She cocked her head and listened…Nothing. Only the sound of drizzling rain dripping off the rooftops and striking the cobblestones. But the alley wouldn’t be empty for long. Christopher would undoubtedly think to look for her here, and when he did, she had to be long gone.

She carefully approached the studio and reached to open the battered door that the soldiers had nearly ripped off its hinges when they’d forced their way inside. But someone had padlocked it during the day, and the lock wouldn’t give. A cry of pained frustration tore from her as she yanked at it.

She slammed her fist against the door and stepped back. She looked up at the building, at the windows in the first floor bedrooms. All of them were shuttered, as they had been since the night she and Ross arrived here, to keep away the curiosity of prying neighbors. All the windows—

Except one. The window in her bedroom.

The window in the long side of the building whose shutters had been pushed open to allow in the sunlight where she’d sat to pin up her hair that last morning they were together. The soldiers wouldn’t have bothered to shut it when they left, and Ellsworth had said that the building would be empty for the sennight, that neither the workers nor any artists would be here.

She hurried around the corner of the building and gave a quiet gasp of relief when she saw the unshuttered window, only for the gasp to turn into a cry of distress that it was a full story above her. Even the rickety scaffolding that Ellsworth’s workers had constructed in order to paint to the top of the eaves didn’t reach that high and left a three-foot gap between her reach and the window. Dear God…to come all this way, only to be stopped by a distance of three feet.

No.She wouldn’t let this stop her. Sherefusedto stop now.

She glanced around the small service area between the studio and the main terrace house fronting Cheyne Walk. Her eyes desperately searched for anything she could—

An old barrel. It lay on its side on the ground behind a white-washed necessary, the weather having shrunk the boards in the side staves and head until gaps showed between. The metal loops were rusted and bent. She’d have to be a fool to trust that rotted thing beneath her weight.

“Then I’m a fool,” she whispered.

With a soft groan of exertion, she picked up the barrel and heaved it up onto the scaffolding’s boards, about five feet above the ground. It landed with a rattle of noise that made her flinch. But no sound or movement came from the surrounding houses, no lights flared—no one knew she was there. Or cared.

Summoning all her courage, she slowly climbed up the scaffolding, one tentative step at a time. Her hands and knees shook as she inched slowly upward and never let herself look down. Then she very carefully positioned the barrel and eased her weight onto it, standing slowly to her full height.

When she reached the window, she lifted a shaking hand toward the sill, to raise the sash—

Locked.Oh God, it wouldn’t move!

“No,” she whispered, her eyes stinging with helpless frustration. “No!”

She had to find a way inside. Shehadto!

With no other choice, she reached beneath the greatcoat and grasped her skirt. She gave a hard yank, and the fabric ripped. Pulling again and again, she tugged until the material tore away. Then she made a fist with her left hand and wrapped the fabric around it until it was encased in cotton layers.

Closing her eyes and saying a quick prayer, she punched her hand through the window. It shattered, and she froze as the sound of breaking glass rained through the alley. She stayed perfectly still, waiting to be caught. But the night remained just as still as before, just as silent beneath the foggy black midnight.

Careful not to cut her arm, she reached through the broken pane of glass to carefully feel for the latch—

Her fingers touched metal, and a long sigh of relief poured from her as it gave way with a soft click. She pushed open the window and brushed away the remaining pieces of glass that had landed on the sill.

Then she jumped.

The barrel fell away beneath her, clattering to the hard ground. She lay across the window casement on her belly, just far enough inside not to fall back out. There was only one way forward now, so she kicked her feet against the side of the building and leveraged herself through the window.

When she landed on her feet in the room, she paused. She was unable to ignore the fierce stab of emotion in her chest at being back here, where she and Ross had revealed so much to each other. Where she’d made herself vulnerable enough to share all her secrets with him, to make love to him and open her heart the way she never had with any other man.

Her throat tightened—where she’d seen him beaten and dragged away as he was arrested.

“No time for that,” she scolded, blinking hard and forcing herself forward. Later, she promised herself. There would be time later to think of Ross and all she was risking. Now she had to stay focused and numb to the pain.

Her belongings were still scattered about the bedroom, including the gold gown that Ross had torn off her in his desire to make love to her. Her hairbrush at the dressing table where he’d told her that he wanted a future with her, her little travel bag resting on the bed next to the night rail…all of it exactly where she’d left it, as if simply waiting for her to return and continue with her life right where she’d left off. But because of Ross, her life would never be the same again.

She changed quickly into a fresh dress but kept Kit’s coat to protect her from the weather, snatched up the few coins leftover from their trip across England, and paused as she reached for her ruby ring.

Love always. Her life with David was so long ago that it now felt like a dream. He was her past.

Ross was her future.