Kisses and Scandal (A Survivors Series Anthology ) - Shana Galen Page 0,76
room. “This is for you, compliments of Mr. Gaines.”
“For me?” Raeni was confused, and she knew that look in the other woman’s eyes. She was wondering exactly what Raeni had done to earn Mr. Gaines’s favor. “There must be some mistake.”
“There’s no mistake,” the woman said, her voice firm. “Now you go on and eat it. Mr. Gaines is sure to ask if you ate what he sent, and I don’t want to be the one to tell him no.”
Raeni saw no point in arguing. She was hungry and food had been sent. She’d worry about what that meant later. She sat at the table, lifted her utensils, and began to eat.
“Where are you from?” the woman asked. She was about thirty, of medium stature, with light skin and honey brown eyes.
“Jamaica,” Raeni answered before she thought better of it. She should have lied and said Barbados or Haiti. What if her father’s men came here asking for her? She’d been relieved to leave her position in the coffee room, where she might be easily spotted, but now that she was hidden away, she couldn’t forget to be careful.
The woman watched Raeni eat for a minute. “You’re not a runaway slave. You must be the daughter of one of the planters.”
Raeni nodded, unwilling to say anymore.
“I know your kind,” the woman said. “Rich fathers who bring them to London to show them the sights. How did you end up here? Why aren’t you in your town house or riding in the park?”
Raeni stared at her food. After a few minutes of silence, the woman nodded. “Keep your secrets then. If you ever need a friend, I’m Mary.”
Raeni nodded again, then moved by the woman’s offer of friendship, added, “My name is Raeni.”
“That’s pretty.” Mary went to the window and looked out. “You were smart to find employment with Mr. Gaines. He’s a kind man.” Mary nodded at the tray of food. It was more than Raeni could finish, but she was making her best effort.
“I can see that. He’s been very tolerant with my mistakes.”
“As long as they’re honest mistakes, he is a tolerant man.”
Raeni thought of what she’d seen when she’d come into the office earlier. She hadn’t meant to intrude on him, but the door had been open, and she’d tapped on it lightly. When there had been no answer, she’d moved just inside the door and spotted Mr. Gaines behind the screen. It was angled so that anyone sitting where she was now would not be able to see behind it. But from the other side of the room, she had caught a glimpse of his shirtless back. He had broad shoulders that tapered down to a lean waist. His skin was dark and lovely except that it had been covered in raised scars.
She’d gasped because she knew how men—and women—obtained scars like that.
“Was Mr. Gaines born in London?”
Mary furrowed her brow. “I believe he comes from Wapping. He has stores and an inn there.”
Raeni didn’t think Gaines came from Wapping any more than she came from Mayfair. He’d been a slave somewhere at some time. And he’d been whipped. More than once.
“Well, I’ll leave you to your dinner and your filing,” Mary said when it became obvious that Raeni didn’t intend to tell her any more.
“I’m sure you can tell him yourself.” Mary left the room, leaving the door open behind her. The sounds of the men working in the storage room floated up to her, reminding her a little of home. Not that London was anything like home. London was damp and cold, while Jamaica had been all sun and wet heat. She’d been born the third child of her father and his slave mistress. As such, she’d lived in a sort of between world, not a slave but not free. She’d overheard the story of her birth. Her father had planned to name her Jane, but when he’d taken a look at her, he’d slapped her mother then walked away. Where Raeni’s brothers had been light-skinned, she was dark. Her father had barely looked at her the first five years of her life. Her mother had been allowed to name her, and she’d chosen Raeni. Her mother said it meant like a queen.
Her older brothers had been educated by tutors, not an unusual occurrence in the West Indies. Raeni had been allowed to learn along with them, and her father, pleased that though her