Midnight

  Babette shook her head. “Does Charity know how you and the très magnifique Mr. Grey came to be together?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll hear the tale when I visit her tonight. In the meantime it’s time for you to get dressed. No more questions. Your man is waiting.”

  Faith looked down at the lovely ensemble lying across her arm and then up at Charity’s mother. “But Mrs. Locke—”

  Babette held up a silencing, well-manicured finger. “Faith, you are blessed enough to have a man who is willing to provide for you in a way that is rare. Whatever the circumstances surrounding this sudden marriage, he cares about you. It’s in his eyes. You are not to throw it back into his face.”

  Faith dropped her head. “I’m just—”

  “I know, just being the very frugal Faith Kingston that Charity and I know and love. That is not a detriment. Being frugal is a strength, one you have had to master your entire life.”

  “But suppose he’s spending himself into the poorhouse showing me he cares.”

  “And suppose he is not? Suppose he can afford this and more for the rest of your lives? What then?”

  Faith went quiet.

  Babette hugged her shoulders affectionately. “Let the man be nice to you. And if you do wind up in the almshouse, at least you will be well dressed.”

  Faith laughed softly and slipped on the blouse.

  When they returned to the front of the store, they found Nicholas seated in one of the chairs and leafing through the shop’s pattern book. He looked up at their entrance and upon seeing Faith, he stopped, slowly set the book aside, and got to his feet. “You look grand.”

  Faith gave him an embarrassed smile. “And it’s really warm. Much warmer than my cotton dress.”

  Nicholas found the transformation stunning. The gray jacket and skirt fit perfectly and the cut of the jacket gracefully accented her curves. The snow white blouse peeking out underneath the cuffs and neckline made her look as fashionable as any other woman on the streets of the city.

  Mrs. Locke added, “The ensemble has a matching cape and bonnet. Did you want to add those also?”

  “Yes,” he replied, unable to take his eyes off the lovely picture Faith made. He’d wrap her in diamonds if he could. His inner voice questioned where that shocking thought had originated but he paid it no mind. He was hooked on this woman like a bass on a line. It made little sense, and he had no explanation, but it didn’t matter. “How long will it take you to finish the other garments?”

  Babette shrugged. “A month.”

  “If you can make it two weeks, you may add a five percent bonus to my bill.”

  She smiled. “Then two weeks it will be.”

  “Agreed.”

  Babette looked affectionately in Faith’s direction. “Take care of her, Mr. Grey. She is very precious. And I expect to be invited to the wedding.”

  “You are more than welcome to join us,” Faith said sincerely. “I’ll send word by Charity about the date.”

  “Excellent. I will see you then, and congratulations to you both.”

  As they started to the door, Nicholas spotted a display that held a variety of bath salts, small bottles of hand lotions, and scents. Stopping, he picked up a few and brought them to his nose. Faith watched silently, but Mrs. Locke walked over to see if he needed assistance. The two of them spent a few minutes narrowing down his choices, and without consulting Faith he purchased them, and once they were placed in a small sack, he and Faith left the store.

  Faith asked, “Are you always this flippant with your coin?”

  “Buying you new drawers is not being flippant.”

  A scandalized Faith looked around to see if he’d been overhead by the people they were passing on the walks. “Mrs. Locke says I’m not to argue with you about this.”

  “Then she is both beautiful and wise.” Nicholas didn’t know whether to be upset with her or amused. She obviously felt strongly about his spending, but to be frank, she’d been dressed like waif since the first day they met. The hems of the two skirts she owned were frayed, as was the lace around the necks of her two blouses, and the cuffs of the long sleeves. Her father, on the other hand, had always been well outfitted in handsome breeches and coats. Yet another sin to add to Stuart Kingston’s slate, he grumbled inwardly. As they crossed the street he looked over at her in fashionable bonnet and matching cape and declared, “I’m about to spend more unnecessary money on you, Faith, so prepare yourself.”

  Her smile peeked out. “All right. Where now?”

  “Wherever you purchase your Dutch ovens. You said you’d need more for your bread baking.”

  Faith stopped and studied his eyes. As people passed by them on the crowded walk, she asked quietly, “You’re actually going to help me with this?”

  “I said I would. Have you changed your mind?”

  “No, I—” She was moved and a bit overcome. “Thank you, Nicholas.”

  “You’re welcome. No more lectures?”

  “No,” she pledged. “No more. Ever.”

  “Which we both know is a lie,” he countered, chuckling.

  She dropped her head.

  He lifted her chin and stared down into her eyes, and Faith’s body heard his silent call. “You’d probably sock me if I kissed you out here in front of God and everybody, so I’ll wait until we are alone.”

  Faith was shaking as if they were alone. “The shop is a few blocks west.”

  Amusement in his gaze, he ran a caressing finger down her chin before saying, “Lead the way.”

  On the wagon ride home, Faith couldn’t remember ever being so content. She was pleased with her new cape and clothing, the Dutch ovens, the trivets, and everything else he’d laid out coin for, from flour, spices, and new linens for her bed, to big fat candles for her to read by at night. She was content, but her head was spinning as well. No one had ever spent time shopping exclusively for her needs; her father certainly hadn’t. Asking for new clothing had at times led to arguments as to whether her needs were dear enough. Now, however, she was wearing the first new clothes she’d had in years and they were made of wool so fine and soft, she felt wealthy and important. Charity’s mother was correct, she was blessed to have Nicholas in her life.

  The drive took them past her father’s inn again. She noticed that there were a number of wagons, horses, and carriages parked out front. As she wondered what might be going on inside, Elizabeth Sutter and her mother stepped out of a carriage, and Faith stilled. Elizabeth was wearing a black velvet cape over what appeared to be a beautiful blue gown. Was the wedding about to take place? She looked over at Nicholas. He viewed the scene for a moment and then said, “I believe your father may be heading for a different type of adventure.”

  She agreed, especially in the face of the rumors that Elizabeth was carrying a child. “I hope he’ll be happy.”

  “He won’t be, but spoken like a true daughter.”

  She chuckled and settled in for the rest of the ride.

  When they drove up to the house there was a small group of mounted British soldiers waiting out front. Faith stiffened and asked, “Do you have anything incriminating on your person?”

  “Only a copy of the Massachusetts Spy.”

  The Spy was the newspaper published by Isaiah Thomas. His scathing editorials flayed the British mercilessly. Many people, mostly Tories, labeled his writings treasonous, but so far Gage hadn’t had him arrested.

  Faith’s second shock came when she realized that one of the soldiers was Henri Giles.

  Nicholas stopped the wagon and set the brake. “Afternoon, Henri.”

  “Nick.”

  Faith’s third shock.

  “Miss Kingston, how are you?”

  “I’m well, Lieutenant Giles, and you, sir?”

  It was Nicholas’s turn to be shocked. “I take it you two have been introduced.”

  Henri nodded. “Miss Kingston and her father were nice enough to invite me over for supper a few
weeks back.”

  Nicholas looked curiously over at Faith and then back to Giles. “What brings you to my door?”

  “A matter that needs discussing.” He turned to the members of the patrol. “Mr. Grey is an acquaintance. I’ll speak with him and get this matter resolved. Continue the patrol and I’ll meet you later.”

  They nodded and rode away.

  After the departure, Nicholas asked, “Well?”

  “Mr. Kingston wants you arrested for holding his daughter against her will.”

  Faith stared.

  Nicholas shook his head. “Let me unhitch the wagon and we’ll go inside.”

  A short while later they convened in the parlor.

  Nicholas asked, “So he’s claiming Faith is being harmed?”

  “Yes, and that she was in serious distress.”

  Faith asked, “Do I appear to be in distress, Henri?”

  “No. In truth you look rather well.”

  “Thank you.”

  Nicholas glanced between the two and wondered if this was what jealousy felt like.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked him, peering at him closely.

  “No.”

  Giles smiled Nick’s way as if he knew what Nick had been thinking, and then asked her, “So how did you come to be here?”

  “My father became angry and cast me out.”

  “He cast you out?”

  So once again, Faith related the circumstances that led to her being at the Grey home.

  At the conclusion of her tale, he shook his head. “My apologies. I had no idea he was lying to me about the situation.”

  Faith said, “And here I had just wished him happiness in his marriage.”

  Nicholas added yet another sin to Kingston’s slate. “So what will you tell your superiors?”

  “The truth. The only reason we were sent was because Kingston appealed to General Gage for assistance.”

  Nicholas did not like the sound of that. The last thing he needed was to draw Gage’s eye, especially in light of his father’s fate and the guns he was hoping to take possession of soon.

  Faith snapped, “How dare he go to Gage when he is the cause of all this, and I resent his underhanded ways of attempting to make me return simply because Elizabeth can’t cook a decent breakfast, or whatever his reason is. He made it plain to me that he and Elizabeth didn’t want me in their home. I bowed to his wishes.” She looked Giles in the eye and said, “And make certain you tell your superiors that Nicholas and I are to be married, just in case my morals are called into question and Father wants some ridiculous tribunal convened to decide my fate.”

  “You’re marrying? Nick?”

  “You sound as if that’s troubling, Lieutenant,” she stated, eyeing him coolly.

  Nicholas smiled and hoped Giles had the sense to stow whatever else he had to say before she filleted him like a trout.

  “No, Miss Kingston,” he offered up hastily. “Not troubling in the least. In fact, let me offer my congratulations.”

  Smart man, Nicholas thought.

  Giles glanced Nick’s way but Nicholas kept his amusement hidden.

  “I hope you both will be very happy.”

  “Thank you. And now”—she paused and stood—“I shall you leave you two to catch up on old times. Nicholas, I’ll be upstairs. I had a wonderful day.”

  Both men rose chivalrously.

  Nicholas inclined his head.

  She looked to Giles. “Henri. It’s been a pleasure seeing you again.”

  “Pleasure seeing you as well.”

  She exited and closed the doors so they could converse privately.

  After her departure, Henri remarked, “She’s quite a fiery woman.”

  “That she is,” Nicholas agreed. “And her father, the village idiot.”

  “Appears that way. I should apologize to you as well.”

  Nick waved him off. “I’m accused of abducting women all the time.”

  Henri nodded and grinned. “Glad to see you made it off the Stella alive.”

  “Looked for you in the madness, but had to go overboard to save myself. Many men died in the fire. Many more when it sank.”

  The Stella had been a British frigate. With over one hundred impressed sailors among the crew, the mutiny that occurred during Nick’s tenth month at sea seemed inevitable. It was not a pleasant time in either man’s life. “Where’d you go after the fire?” Nick asked.

  “Found some smugglers who were sailing east and signed on. Spent a couple of years with them and various others in the trade. Rather liked it. Worked my way back to England and then to Canada and home. What about you?”

  “Merchant ship that cast off the following morning. Took at least five of us on and the admiral’s stallion. He was a smuggler, too. Guns.”

  “Always a market for those.”

  “Always. Especially if your clients are maroon villages in Jamaica and the Indies. He also did some business here in the colonies as well. I never knew there were so many maroon encampments in the southern swamps.”

  “Not something the slave owners want known. Escaped slaves armed and living free? Other slaves might escape to join them and then chaos would result.”

  They shared a look and Nicholas chuckled.

  Henri asked, “So how’d you end up in Boston?”

  “Was born here. In this very house in fact.”

  “I didn’t know that. When did you return?”

  “Last month. Have been in New York for the past few years. It’s where I was living when the Royal Marines shanghaied me.”

  “At least we are alive to tell the story.”

  “And for that I am grateful. And now you are wearing a British uniform.”

  “Let’s just say there’s a profit in it.”

  “Still smuggling, I take it.”

  Henri smiled. “Just enough to send money home to my mother and sisters, and to keep me from having to beg employment at the taverns like some of the soldiers are forced to do. King George doesn’t pay enough for his men to subsist on, and the food and lodgings are worse. So one has to be inventive to survive.”

  “I’ve a few irons in the fire as well.” He didn’t say more. Henri didn’t need to know anything about Nick’s business dealings.

  “If I can assist, let me know.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind. Are you planning on being here for the duration?”

  “I hope not. There’s going to be a war. I’ve no stomach for more death and dying.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Henri looked at the small clock on the mantel. “I should rejoin my fellows.” He stood and Nicholas did the same. Nicholas walked him to the front door.

  “Give Miss Kingston my regards?” Henri said.

  “I will.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Nicholas Grey.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I assume you are supporting the rebels?”

  “I’d support hogs over the British,” Nick replied fiercely.

  “I understand. I’ve no idea how much longer I’ll be in Boston, but if I don’t see you again, be well and enjoy your life.”

  “You do the same.” Nicholas watched until he rode away before closing the door.

  Chapter 18

  Upstairs in her room, Faith finally stopped the angry pacing caused by her father’s actions. She realized there was nothing to be done about him for the moment, so she focused on undressing and hanging her cape and the rest of her new ensemble in the armoire. Giving the soft fabric one last appreciative stroke, she drew on one of her old skirts, added a blouse, and did up the buttons. Her mind strayed to Nicholas. She’d made him a promise that she wouldn’t question his spending, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d made the fortune he seemed to have, and of less importance, how and where he and Henri first met.

  A knock on the door made her look up. “Yes?”

  “May I come in?” It was Nicholas.

  “Yes, of course.”

  S
he went to the door but he was already entering. It came to her that he was without a doubt the most handsome man she’d ever seen. “Has Henri gone?”

  “Yes. He sends his regards.”

  “Where did you two meet?”

  “On a British frigate. I’d been impressed and so had he.”

  Faith shook her head sadly. “I’ve heard terrible stories.”

  “All of them true, no doubt. I was in a tavern on the docks of New York when a group of Royal Marines entered. They announced their intentions, a fight ensued, and I was hit over the head and knocked out. When I woke up, I was on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic.”

  Faith’s heart went out to him. “How long did you serve?”

  “Almost a year. Henri and I both managed to escape when the crew mutinied and the ship was set afire.”

  “I’m sorry you were forced to endure impressments.”

  “So am I.”

  Impressed men were sometimes chained and whipped to keep them in line. She hoped he hadn’t been subjected to that as well, but the granitelike set of his features told all. To lighten the mood, she said, “Thank you again for my purchases.”

  “Again, you are welcome, and thank you for changing the subject. Those are times I’d rather not revisit.”

  “I understand. How about I let you revisit my traitorous father instead, and you can tar and feather him this time for siccing the patrol on us.”

  “If I thought you meant it, I’d already be on my horse,” he replied with amusement in his eyes.

  She laughed softly. “Whatever are we going to do about him?”

  Nicholas walked to her and draped his arms loosely around her waist, and said, looking down at her, “We aren’t going to do anything. At least not this minute. Right now, you are going to let me kiss you the way I wanted to on the street.”

  She raised an eyebrow and replied with humor-laden skepticism, “And if I say no?”

  He traced a slow finger over her lips, bent down, and whispered, “Then you’ll be missing this . . .”

  It was the first kiss of the day, and the brushes of his lips, coupled with the seductive timbre of his voice, made denying him unthinkable. His fervent mouth made hers catch fire instantaneously, and they pulled each other closer. Roaming hands, breathless sighs, and kisses that traveled over lips, jaws, and the planes of cheeks stoked passion higher. In the timeless moments that followed she lost touch with everything but his caresses and her soaring response. She’d no remembrance of him opening her blouse, but when her shift was pulled aside and his mouth found her breasts, she moaned and tightened with scandalous delight. He lingered, teasing and tonguing until her moans turned to groans. His hand moved up and down her shift-covered torso, then circled low to possessively cup her hips. When he raised himself to capture her lips again, he shoved her skirt gently up her thighs and moved the bunched-up fabric freely over the loose-fitting drawers. The heat of his exploring palm pierced the worn, patched cotton, and Faith knew she was going to dissolve into steam.