Kisses and Scandal (A Survivors Series Anthology ) - Shana Galen Page 0,67

drawing room, where girls were sitting about, either studying or doing needlework or practicing picking locks. Bridget leaned inside and gestured to Valérie. The two ladies stepped outside. Bridget couldn’t help peeking through the windows, where darkness was rapidly falling.

“Did you find him?” Valérie asked.

“He’s in the kitchens.”

“Oh, I want to meet him!”

“You should. Has anyone come looking for me?”

Valérie shook her head. “If someone does come, your bags are ready to go. Are you really going to Canada?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. I left Caleb fighting off four men. I don’t know what’s happened to him.”

Valérie took her hand. “Surely if any man can escape, it is he.”

Bridget prayed that was true.

CALEB FELT THE ROPE give. His shoulders burned, and sweat dripped from his forehead. He’d dropped the knife more times than he could count, but finally he’d made progress. He yanked on the ropes, fraying them further, then slipped one hand free. He brought both hands to his chest, wincing in pain as numb muscles came awake again. He wanted to run out of the house as soon as possible, but he forced himself to wait until his arms ceased shaking and he had control of them again.

Caleb went to the window, pulled the curtains aside, and looked out into a dark lane. He tried lifting the window, but it was sealed shut. He’d have to break the glass. The problem was that in doing so he would alert his captors. He hadn’t heard them since they’d locked him in, but that didn’t mean they’d left the house.

Taking the knife in his hand, he stepped back and rammed the window’s glass with his boot. The thick glass cracked but didn’t break, and he rammed it again. This time, it shattered. Caleb ignored the sound of footsteps rushing toward the room, clearing the glass and punching out more until he could fit through. When he heard the key in the door’s lock, he stood behind the door.

One of his captors crashed through. Caleb jumped on his back and wrestled him to the floor. He slammed the man’s head into the wood until he stopped fighting, then Caleb was on his feet again. No others came.

Caleb looked at the knife and at the man, then slid the knife back into his boot. He’d done enough killing for one lifetime.

He wiggled through the window and began to run for Marylebone.

BRIDGET ROSE FROM THE kitchen table where she and Jimmy were looking at pictures in a book. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and her heart pounded. But it was only Valérie.

“Still no one?”

“I’m sorry,” Valérie said.

“The girls have all gone to their rooms. It is too late to walk through Covent Garden. Stay here with me tonight. We can share my bed, and Jimmy can have your old one.” She smiled at Jimmy.

Bridget looked at her son and saw his eyes droop as he stifled a yawn. “You’re right.” She gathered Jimmy and followed Valérie out of the kitchen. It felt like a betrayal to go to bed. It felt like leaving Caleb all over again. She’d tuck Jimmy into bed, and once he was asleep, she’d come back down. She wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. She was far too worried.

But as they started up the stairwell to the upper floors, someone pounded on the door. Everyone jumped, and then Valérie and Bridget locked eyes. “Take him upstairs,” Bridget said as one of the footmen moved to open the door. Bridget stood back. She prayed it was Caleb, but she couldn’t be certain one of the men after him hadn’t searched for her and found her.

“How may I help you?” the footman asked whomever had knocked.

“I’m here to see Bridget Lavery.”

Bridget didn’t wait for the footman to respond. She pushed him aside and ran into Caleb’s arms. “I thought I’d never see you again,” she cried, pressing her face against his shoulder. He was really there, solid and strong and in her arms.

“I managed to escape.”

“I was so worried.”

“I was worried about you. I—” His body stiffened. “Is that him?”

Bridget turned to see Jimmy on the stairs. “Yes. Jimmy, this is your father, Caleb Harris.”

Jimmy stood for a long moment, then rushed down the stairs and threw himself into both of his parents’ arms.

IT HADN’T TAKEN LONG for the soft rocking of the sea and the sound of waves lapping against the ship to lull Jimmy to sleep. Caleb had sat beside his son, one hand on the boy’s