The Redemption of a Rogue, стр. 50
She shifted and forced a smile. “I might have a small something to feel guilty about. But I’m about to tell you what I’ve done, so that’s something, isn’t it? Confession of a wrong deed is a very important step in rectifying—”
“Imogen,” he interrupted. “What did you do exactly?”
“You told me not to reach out to Aurora,” she said softly. “But I…did.”
“What?” he burst out, throwing the covers back and padding, utterly naked and deliciously distracting, away from her. He pivoted as he caught his dressing gown and threw it over his shoulders. “When? How?”
She explained to him how she had smuggled her letter out, and its contents. His jaw tightened with every word she spoke. “What were you thinking? You know how dangerous your current situation is. What if that boy was working for Roddenbury?”
“The eight-year-old child who uses the space behind your home as a way to cut through to the opposite street?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Children go to work at far younger than that, my dear.”
“If that were true, it would mean Roddenbury would already guess I was staying at your home, wouldn’t it? To send his child spies in the hopes I might slip one a letter and the last coin to my name? In that case, we would already be dead, I assume.”
She shivered, and his body tensed. “I suppose,” he conceded through what sounded like clenched teeth.
“I was careful, Oscar,” she assured him. “I made my handwriting on the outside of the letter look different. I left no indication of where I was in the address or in the letter, itself. I simply asked Aurora to meet with me on Friday and told her I would give more direction when the time was closer. I need to see her. Especially if it might be the last time. I need to see her and show her that I’m fine. I need to…”
She bent her head. He moved forward, his expression softening. “You want to say goodbye.”
“If I must,” she choked out. “And I think I have to consider that might be true. I need to come to peace with that.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, and she could see his frustration, though it no longer seemed to be directed at her. He nodded. “I do understand. And while I wish you had been more up front with me, allowed me to help you, I cannot fault you for your desire to see someone you love. So we have a few days until this meeting, then?”
“Yes,” she said. “I asked her to write to me when she returns to London on Thursday night, knowing it would be forwarded here and I would give her a location for the meeting on Friday. I’ll let you choose it for highest safety and…” She trailed off and felt heat come to her cheeks.
“And?” he encouraged.
“I’d like you to meet Aurora,” she said. “She is my dearest friend and you are—” She cut herself off. “I’d like you to meet her.”
“I will,” he said after what felt like the longest hesitation in the history of hesitation. “I would very much like to meet her.”
“Good,” she said, and meant it. She had so few people in her life that she cared for. She wanted them to know each other and like each other. She wanted to see Aurora’s reaction to this man and all his command and kindness and passion.
“Imogen,” he said, and took a long step toward her. “I know the conversation with my mother and Will last night was upsetting to you. I know this all feels…hopeless. But we will work it out.”
She smiled, but in her heart it was hard to believe him. She knew, after all, that there were some things that could not be resolved. A murderous man who could destroy with immunity seemed like one of them.
If he sensed her hesitation, he said nothing further on the topic. Instead he drew in a long breath. “I have something I need to do today. Will you be all right by yourself? Should I have my mother visit and keep you company?”
“No,” she said. “As much as I would enjoy her, I think I’d like to be by myself. I have a great deal to think about.”
He held his stare on hers for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. I’ll step into my dressing room to ready myself, but I’ll come back to say goodbye before I go.”
She forced a smile as he moved into the adjoining room and closed the door behind himself, but his words rang in her ears. Say goodbye. In the end, that was what they had to do. They had to find a way to say goodbye.
And she feared that moment was coming far more rapidly than she was ready to face.
Oscar smirked as he looked around the smoky gentleman’s club near Charing Cross. The place was fine, but Oscar’s club was finer. He took some small pleasure in that as he took in all the details, from the livery of the servants to the placement of the chairs and tables throughout the hall.
But celebrating the comparative quality of his business to this one wasn’t why he’d come here, so he pushed those thoughts aside and drew a deep breath as he looked around.
This was a gaming area of the club, but in the afternoon it was mostly quiet. Two tables with two pairs of men playing. He moved farther into the room, noting when the gentlemen’s eyes came up. Some seemed to recognize him and registered surprise that he would be here.
He ignored it as he moved toward the table all the way in the furthest corner of the chamber. He didn’t recognize the man facing him, but