21. Pawn Shop

Chapter twenty-one

Pawn Shop

A s the wheels began to rattle through the streets, Louisa heard the echo of another set of carriage wheels on the road behind them. "What is that?" she asked, senses heightened by the magnitude of the threats that faced her. "Is someone following us?"

Why did you think you could trust him? No doubt he alerted Lord Kendall of your flight, and now a whole troop of footmen are following to bring you back.

Gyles leaned back on the seat placidly. "It's my coachman. I sent him north as a decoy."

"A decoy?"

"Well, yes. I assume our destination is not Scotland?"

"Certainly not!" Louisa would be as likely to leg shackle herself to the hackney driver as she would to…anyone else. The whole point of her flight was to elude marriage until her fortune and her future should be entirely under her own control. She would not be visiting any anvil parson in Scotland, and she would be shedding Gyles Audeley's company as soon as possible.

"I've sent my carriage north so that others will assume it is. Perhaps your uncle will take the bait and follow."

It was a clever ploy, and possibly useful. And yet, Louisa could not like the way this absent-minded gardener was taking mastery of the situation. "How presumptuous of you, sir!"

"I beg your pardon, my lady," said Gyles, without taking affront. "I daresay presumption has always been a failing of mine." Louisa narrowed her eyes, but in the dark carriage it was impossible to see whether he was laughing at her.

It's true. Only a presumptuous young man would climb a prince's garden wall. Only a presumptuous young man would take cuttings of rose bushes without being invited.

And yet, Louisa could not dislike him for it. There was something eminently satisfying about a man who knew what he wanted and took a chance to obtain it.

The hackney turned at the corner and headed southeast through London. The sounds of the other carriage swiftly disappeared, superseded by the faint chirping of town birds as the black night gave way to the grey of morning. They were passing under the shadow of St. Paul's now, and Louisa was alternately relieved and disconcerted that her travelling partner kept silent throughout the trip.

What is Gyles Audeley mulling over? What sinister motive does he have for following you?

When she could stand it no longer, she blurted out a question. "What are you thinking about?"

He smiled sheepishly as if startled from a reverie. "The variety of pollinators in the country as opposed to pollinators in the town. The chirping birds put it into my head. "

Louisa was taken aback. "What an odd matter to fix your mind upon."

"Yes, well, I suppose most gentlemen would rather talk of horses, or cards, or brandy. What are you thinking about?" Gyles leaned forward, elbows on knees, still surprisingly handsome in his evening wear.

No one has ever asked you that question before.

"Money," said Louisa, looking away from him and out the window into the grey light. "And how to get it quickly to pay for travelling expenses.

Gyles shook his head. "You took me completely unprepared tonight, my lady. I'm afraid I have little to nothing in my purse. If this hackney takes us much farther, it will be more than I can pay him."

"I've instructed him to take us to a pawn shop in Cheapside." Louisa opened her reticule that she had kept hidden in her cloak and took out a string of black jet beads. "It's a good place to trade a few pieces of jewellery for coin."

"I hope you are not thinking of parting with family heirlooms to finance your flight?" He seemed alarmed by the idea as if a necklace or a bracelet could mean something more to someone than a set of sparkling stones on a string.

"I am not a creature of sentiment, Mr. Audeley." Louisa patted the heavy reticule. "I took possession of all my mother's jewellery before my uncle could use it to pay for his spendthrift style of life. He might control my pin money, but at least I can convert gemstones to ready cash. It's how I paid for my trip to Yorkshire."

And it's how you'll pay for your new life in Paris. But better to tell Gyles Audeley nothing of that. You must get rid of him before you set out for Plymouth .

The hackney rolled to a stop in front of a shop with three golden balls suspended above the door. Gyles cleared his throat. "If you would like me to negotiate for you, sometimes a gentleman's presence is helpful in…these parts of London."

"Are you conversant, then, with the customs of pawnbrokers, Mr. Audeley?"

"Not particularly," he admitted.

"I thought not. You may follow me inside." Louisa would do the negotiating herself, but it would be helpful for the owner to catch a glimpse of Gyles Audeley's broad shoulders. It was a sad truth with which she was well familiar, that a lady unprotected was a lady that many sought to take advantage of. She would use Mr. Audeley's masculine services one last time and then send him on some fool's errand while she slipped away on her own.