“What can I do for you gentlemen?” Anthony asked as if their presence incited no concern whatsoever. Charm, he reminded himself. ’Twas the one currency he couldn’t lose at a gaming table. “Care to join me for eggs and kippers?”
“Care to pay your vowels?” snarled the one covered in pockmarks.
Anthony gave a carefree grin. His IOUs had been legendary but scattered, until the owner of a vice parlor had purchased them. Previously, Anthony and the tempestuous Maxwell Gideon had been friends. He was unsurprised to learn now they were not. That was how money worked.
“Tell Gideon I’ll have part of it tonight. I’ve an appointment at the tables and I—”
“Won’t tell him nothing.” Pockmarks cracked his knuckles. “You’ll give us the goods directly, or you come with us straight to Marshalsea.”
Anthony swallowed. Gideon didn’t just possess Anthony’s IOUs. To keep what was left of their friendship—and to buy more time—Anthony had signed an actual contract promising to repay the debt. A promise he had yet to keep, despite his continual efforts. These were no longer mere debts of honor, but legally actionable. A chill shivered down his spine.
Once he was locked in debtors’ prison, he would never be set free. There was no money.
His shoulders straightened in determination. He needed to try a different tack. Appeal to the ruffians’ logic.
“If I rot in Marshalsea, how will Gideon ever get his blunt?” he asked.
“From your wife,” Pockmarks replied instantly.
“My what?” Anthony almost burst out laughing. “I’m afraid I don’t have a wife.”
“Of course you do.” Pockmarks smirked. “We heard you say so.”
“Everyone did, by the sound of it.” Anthony shook his head. “I swear it meant nothing. Just a bit of playacting.”
The other ruffian’s smile showed broken teeth. “This is Scotland. Once you say it, it’s true.”
“Like…legally?” Anthony stammered in disbelief at such an absurd practice. His stomach bottomed.
God’s teeth. He’d known Scots law allowed for irregular marriages, but one would think they’d at least require a priest or witnesses. His blood ran cold. There had been plenty of witnesses. If saying he was married made it true, there would be no way to deny it.
“Can I annul just by saying so?” Desperation clawed through him. “I am no longer married. Leave her out of this.”
“You can’t undo anything without involving the courts.” Pockmarks stepped closer.
Broken Tooth licked his lips. “Did you consummate?”
“No,” Anthony blurted in relief, never so happy to have behaved like a gentleman.
“Doesn’t matter.” Broken Tooth smirked. “She’s yours.”
Pockmarks flexed his fingers. “Which means them jewels she was wearing…are ours.”
No. Anthony’s heart raced in horror. He could not let his past debts involve Miss Devon, much less strip her of her possessions. This disaster was Anthony’s, and his alone.
But was it? His breath grew shallow. By marriage, anything a wife possessed became her husband’s property. And anything Anthony possessed…belonged to Maxwell Gideon.
The ruffians were right. Either he surrendered items that he had no business touching, or these blackguards had every right to drag him bodily to prison. At the very least, he needed time to undo his inadvertent marriage.
“I need three months,” he said as authoritatively as he could. They might be hired muscle for a vice den, but Anthony moved in Society. Perhaps their class difference could buy him a little time. “Her jewelry isn’t worth a fraction of what I owe. In three months, I’ll hand Gideon the entirety. In person.”
“You don’t get three months.” Broken Tooth crossed his arms over his large chest. “We’ll give you a fortnight.”
Pockmarks flicked a speck of dust from Anthony’s waistcoat. “And not a minute more.”
His breath hitched in panic. Two weeks wasn’t long enough to win back what he’d lost. His limbs shook. “I need to pay in installments. Ten percent a fortnight from now, then ten percent every week until the debt is paid in full.”
“No installments,” Pockmarks snarled. “If you don’t want gaol fever, you’ll settle your debts two weeks from today.”
“And if you don’t pay in full…” Broken Tooth’s smile was terrifying. “You’ll hand over everything you and your wife own, and still go to prison.”
“Don’t forget…” Pockmarks tipped his hat. “We’ll be watching.”
Chapter 4
Charlotte washed and dressed in haste. As surprisingly wistful as she’d felt upon realizing she’d never see Mr. Fairfax again, her life balanced on the precipice of a huge, positive change. With luck, today was the day she’d meet Laird Dìonadair, her father.
Or at least find out where he lived.
She fastened her jeweled ear bobs to her ears, then concealed the necklace in one of the pouches strapped beneath her bound breasts.
Years ago, she’d started hiding her curves to disguise her resemblance to her mother, but the tight band of linen had quickly become a convenient place to hide objects of value that she didn’t wish to be stolen. Particularly along the weather-beaten cobblestone alley where Charlotte had grown up, or on the crowded mail coach she’d taken to leave London forever.
The ear bobs, however, were a necessary risk. Her father would recognize them as the family jewels he’d gifted to Charlotte’s mother. By which he would recognize Charlotte herself, and immediately invite her to be part of his family.
He was not just a laird. Everything her mother had ever told her indicated he was a kind and honorable man who would do the right thing. It wasn’t his fault he was never told of Charlotte’s birth. Once they met, he would embrace her and exclaim over her and proclaim himself proud to have a daughter. She bounced on her toes.
She was mere days away from meeting her respectable father. From being welcomed somewhere. From being launched as a valued member of a real society. She would be someone else at last. Someone accepted without question. Perhaps even loved. The thought made her dizzy with joy. Her childhood dreams were finally close enough to touch.
Thanks to Mr. Fairfax, her gowns were perfectly ironed and already tucked neatly away in her trunk. Charlotte placed a few final toiletries on top and closed the lid with determination. The day was beautiful. She would find a maid, find a coach, and then find her father.
A sudden knock rattled the chamber door.
She frowned. The innkeeper’s knock hadn’t sounded that frantic last night, when he didn’t even know if his debts would be paid. What on earth could he want now? She opened the door.
To her surprise, the wild-eyed man in the corridor was not the innkeeper at all, but Mr. Fairfax.
“Apologies,” he said as he swung his valise into the chamber and secured the lock. “You must let me in.”
She blinked in confusion. “I was just leaving, I’m afraid. If you’ll be so kind as to help me with my trunk, you may stay in the room until noon. The account is paid.” She smiled up at him. “How was breakfast?”
“Miss Devon.” He rubbed his face with his hands, then grabbed her shoulders. “No. Not Miss Devon. Mrs. Fairfax.”
She laughed. “I think we can dispense with that fiction now. Once we both go our separate ways, there’s no reason for—”
“We’re married.” His fingers were tight, his eyes glassy with panic. “Look at me. We’re married.”
Her smile faded. “What in heaven’s name are you nattering on about?”
He released her and fell back against the wainscoting, his face full of misery. “Scots law. I’m talking about Scots law. If two people state aloud that they are married to the other, that act legally has the same weight as marriage in a church, after banns and before God.”