The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray - Anna Bradley Page 0,53
to hang. Surely, she had a plan to save him, only…
The feeble hope sputtered and died. Nothing less than a prison escape would do Jeremy any good, and no one escaped Newgate.
“Jack Sheppard escaped Newgate,” Emma said, as if she’d read Sophia’s mind.
He had, yes, but he’d been sparse and lithe, with enough strength to climb up a chimney and through a ceiling into the chamber above. Jeremy couldn’t even rise to his feet on his own, much less scale a chimney—
A soft knock on the door interrupted these musings, and Lady Clifford poked her head into the room. “Good evening, my loves. Ah, I see you’ve all taken good care of Sophia, just as I knew you would. Sophia, dearest, are you fit to come downstairs with me? Daniel and I would like to have a word with you.”
Sophia rose from the bed. “Yes, my lady. Quite fit.”
Emma, Cecilia, and Georgiana also rose as if to follow them, but Lady Clifford held up her hand. “Just Sophia this time, dears. I know you want to help, but this is a rather delicate matter, and it’s best if we keep as few of us involved in it as possible.”
The four girls traded hopeful glances. This was it, then. Lady Clifford did have a plan to rescue Jeremy, and from the sounds of it, it was a promising one. If her ladyship didn’t think it stood a chance of succeeding, she wouldn’t feel the need to keep it private.
“Come along, then.” She held out a hand to Sophia, but paused at the door to throw an amused glance over her shoulder. “Remember, my dears, there’s to be no reading any Radcliffe until Sophia returns. Those are the Society’s rules, after all, and Clifford students always respect the rules, don’t we?”
Emma muffled a snort. “Of course, we do, my lady.”
“Very good, dears.” Lady Clifford closed the bedchamber door and took Sophia’s arm. They made their way downstairs, where Daniel was waiting for them in Lady Clifford’s private sitting room. His hard, dark gaze roamed over Sophia’s face. “Gray minded his manners today?”
Sophia managed a smile for Daniel, despite the nerves churning in her belly. “He did, yes. He agreed to take me to Newgate with very little fuss, and now he’s spoken to Jeremy himself, he believes he’s innocent. He was kind to Jeremy. He even gave him his coat.”
Daniel raised one thick eyebrow, and Sophia’s cheeks heated.
Was she…defending Lord Gray?
“Aye? Is he going to do anything about it?”
“He’s bringing the matter to the Bow Street magistrate,” Sophia muttered, knowing as she did how scornful Daniel would be at that answer.
“Sampson Willis?” Daniel let out a harsh laugh. “May as well do nothing.”
“Lord Gray is a decent man, particularly as far as Bow Street Runners go, but I think we can all agree we can’t leave this matter in his hands. He’s well-intentioned, but he’s a bit too, ah…shall we say ethically rigid, to be of much help to us.” Lady Clifford waved Sophia to a chair, then took a seat across from her. Daniel remained standing, with one arm braced against the mantel.
“Now then, Sophia. How did you find our Jeremy?”
“Worse than you can possibly imagine. Another day or two at most, and he’ll succumb to the appalling conditions at Newgate.” Sophia winced at her own bluntness, but this was no time to mince words. “Whatever is to be done, it must be done at once.”
“It will be. Tonight, in fact. We’ve come up with a way to get him out, but we’ll need as much information as you can give us, starting with where he is. Once we’re inside, we’ll need to remove him quickly.”
“He’s in the dungeons under the turnkeys’ lodge.” Sophia had paid close attention when Hogg had taken them out, and she now gave a precise description of the route they’d taken from the entrance through the maze of passageways. “Even with my directions, finding him may be tricky,” she warned. “It would be much easier with a guide.”
“Is he locked in irons?” Daniel asked.
“He was, but Lord Gray insisted the guard remove them.” She didn’t mention she’d traded her locket to ensure the irons didn’t reappear. “His keeper, a Mr. Hogg, is quite susceptible to the flash of a coin.”
“Is he, indeed? That is good news.” Lady Clifford glanced at Daniel, who gave her a quick nod. “Very good, dearest. What else can you tell us?”
“Jeremy’s not in any condition to walk, or even to stand