on the arm. “And I will try never to ask you for anything you would not willingly give.” Mina moved to the door of the shop. “I am famished. I could eat a horse—nose to tail.”
“There is fresh bread and good sausage,” Engelbert told her, resuming his work of pulling down and spreading the heavy cloth awning. “I will join you when I have finished here.”
Mina paused in the kitchen on her way through the coffeehouse. She greeted the staff and commended them to their labours, then went upstairs to change her clothes and to check on her injured guest. Thanks to her cunning intervention and Lady Fayth’s help, Giles was not only alive, he was safe in Wilhelmina’s care. Left to Burleigh, she had no doubt Giles would be pushing up daisies.
“Do you really want the city militia nosing around in your business?” she had asked.
“What is that to you?” Burleigh had asked, bristling with belligerence.
Knowing she skated on very thin ice, she had shrugged. “Nothing. I don’t know the man. But I know the city bureaucracy. He’s been seen, and questions will be asked. If you wanted him dead you should have killed him when you had the chance. It’s too late now.”
“She is right,” Lady Fayth chimed in.
Turning to Wilhelmina, he had asked, “Could you take care of him?”
“Me?” She feigned surprise. “I have a peaceful life here. I don’t want any part of this.”
Burleigh stared at her so hard she thought he had worked out the ruse. But then he pulled her aside and said, “I want him gone. See to it.”
“Why should I? This is nothing to do with me.”
“You have friends in high places. I wonder what these friends of yours would say if they knew the truth about you.” He gave her a sly, knowing look. “What would happen to your peaceful life then?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I could think of all manner of things to tell them.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Do you know what they do to witches here?”
Wilhelmina bit her lip.
Lady Fayth, who had been watching this exchange, said, “Giles was just my uncle’s coachman. He knows nothing. Please, Archelaeus, let him go.”
“Very well,” the Black Earl relented. To Wilhelmina, he said, “I don’t care how you do it, but I want him gone. Disappeared.”
“I got it,” Wilhelmina replied petulantly. “I don’t like it, but I’ll do it.”
The two had left then, consigning the wounded man to Mina’s care. The barely conscious Giles had been carried to an upstairs bedroom, and Wilhelmina joined him there to assess the damage. He had been shot through the upper shoulder, the pistol ball passing through the muscle back to front, nicking his collarbone and making a mess of his pectoral muscle, but high enough to miss his lung and any major arteries. The ball had exited the wound, so she did not think he would suffer lead poisoning. He might well die of septic infection, however, if she could not keep the wound clean. To aid in this, she fetched a generous portion of Engelbert’s excellent schnapps, in which she soaked Giles’ bandages. She also gave him a sip of laudanum to lull the pain and then, as the wounded man drifted off to sleep, she had gone out to bring Kit home.
Wilhelmina moved to stand beside the invalid’s bed; she put a hand to his forehead and with some relief determined that there was as yet no fever. The patient stirred at her touch and surfaced from his groggy sleep. Momentarily confused, he started up. Pain instantly grabbed him. His face contorted, and he fell back once more with a groan.
“Easy there,” Wilhelmina told him. “You’re safe now. Take a deep breath.” She waited while he pulled himself together. “You’ve had a pretty narrow escape. I gave you some laudanum, and you’ve been asleep. Do you remember what happened?”
He nodded on the pillow. “Mr. Livingstone . . . did he escape?”
“Kit got away. Some of the townsfolk think they saw him jump into the river. Burleigh thinks Kit might have swum to the other side. They’ve been looking for him there.”
Giles licked dry lips.
“You will be thirsty. I’ll get you some water. Is there much pain?”
“No, my lady.” He gave his head a feeble shake.
“Liar. I’ll get you some more laudanum. It makes you groggy, but it will numb the pain.” She put her palm to his forehead again. “Don’t worry. You’re going to get through this.”