‘Good day to you, too.’
The door closed in my face and I whirled around, marching back towards home. I was just about to turn into the street where my uncle’s house stood when something tall and black came around the corner fast.
‘Ouf!’
‘Ng!’
I slammed face-first into a hard chest, and suddenly was pressed up against a familiar ten-year-old mint-condition tailcoat.
‘You. Oh my God, I nearly forgot! I must explain, I…’
A single finger touched my lips, silencing me. A moment later, he pulled me into his arms and gave me the hardest, best, most rib-cracking hug I had ever had in my life.
‘No need.’ He pulled my face against his chest. ‘I heard.’
‘There’s an epidemic…and…and…Ella…’
‘Shh. I know. I know.’
For a while I just stood like that, silently letting him rock me in his arms. But it wasn’t long before I remembered where I was, and who was waiting for me at home.
‘Let go, please?’
He instantly released me. I stepped back, feeling slightly dizzy.
Slowly, I glanced up at him. It was in this moment that I realized: this was it. This was real. This was the first time when this thing between Mr Ambrose and me would be put to the test. Would he stand by me? Or would he do what I’d come to expect of men—nothing?
I opened my mouth.
‘Mr Ambrose, I—’
His finger once again covered my lips before I could say another word. Hard, sea-coloured eyes bored into me.
‘The coaches you ordered have arrived. I had a talk with the stable owner. You will have the best horses and coachmen, at, I am assured, a very reasonable discount rate. They will take you straight to the town of Bath. I hear that the air there is healthy, and room, board and doctors come cheap.’
‘You heard that, did you?’ One corner of my mouth quirked up. ‘I heard they cost a fortune.’
He met my eyes implacably. ‘Not if you own them.’
I opened my mouth to point out that you couldn’t ‘own’ a doctor—then closed it again. With Mr Rikkard Ambrose, you could never be entirely sure. And right now, I was thoroughly glad for it.
‘Here.’ He pressed a small piece of paper into my hand. ‘Have the coachmen take you to this address. Everything will be taken care of.’
I managed a small smile. ‘Including the bill?’
‘Don’t push it, Miss Linton.’
Standing up on my tiptoes, I pressed a light kiss on his cheek. ‘I love pushing it. You should know that by now.’
‘I know.’ A strong hand enveloped mine and squeezed, hard. ‘Take care of yourself. I don’t intend to foot your hospital bill.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be careful. And you…’
‘I’ll be there.’
I let out a breath that, up until that moment, I hadn’t noticed I was holding.
‘Lilly? Lilly!’ The demanding voice of my sister Anne cut through the London fog like an extremely annoying knife. ‘Lilly, where are you?’