This woman would be the death of him.
He hugged her tightly, then pressed a tender kiss on her forehead. “I’ll watch you until you get inside.”
“Thank you for everything,” she whispered. “I’ll never forget it.”
Then she darted down the street, leaving him alone with his troubled thoughts.
* * *
ALLISON STOLE THROUGH the servants’ entrance and through the dark hallways to her room on the third floor of Jocelyn’s house. She’d just shut the door behind her when the lamp near her bed flared to life, startling her.
“Where on earth have you been?” Heather cried from the chair next to Allison’s bed. “I came to check on you hours ago, only to find your bed empty. I’ve been worried sick.”
Heat flared in Allison’s cheeks as she shrugged out of her coat. “Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
Heather sighed as she came to help Allison remove her clothes. “You know I love and support you without question. And I wholeheartedly approve of your independence and drive to live your life in the way you want. But I have a pretty good idea where you went tonight. Oh, Ally! Even you have to know how dangerous and reckless that was!”
Allison stood quietly, her cheeks burning as she admitted to herself that her friend was right.
“You can’t go gallivanting around to bad neighborhoods in the middle of the night without even taking Joseph or me! And if you really had... relations with that man... Allison! You could get pregnant or... worse!” Heather shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what you were thinking.”
Standing only in her chemise now, Allison took a few deep, unfettered breaths before turning to meet her friend’s worried gaze. She felt strangely safe in her new intimate knowledge. “I didn’t do anything with him that would cause a pregnancy. And as for leaving without you or Joseph... You’re absolutely right. It won’t happen again.”
She’d been so excited, so driven by the thrill of discovery and desire, she hadn’t even thought about how dangerous it was to go out into Bethnal Green alone. She’d thought that wearing an old cloak and covering her face would keep her from being recognized as a woman of means. But now, it was suddenly frighteningly clear to her that poor women were brutalized too.
How could she have forgotten, even for one moment, about Polly?
With a shiver, she changed into her nightgown, then climbed into bed, realizing she hadn’t thought of poor Polly once tonight. What kind of person was she, that the horror of Polly’s murder was already fading, replaced by her own selfish desires? “He accompanied me home. I wasn’t in any danger then,” she said, and even to her own ears, she sounded petulant.
Heather sank onto the bed at Allison’s hip, her worry turning into curiosity. “You said... you didn’t do anything that could cause a baby. So... what did you do?”
Allison smiled and sank back into her pillows, the warmth of her blankets transporting her back to Quinn’s tiny parlor. “He kissed me and touched me. But he was a gentleman and wouldn’t go further, even though I asked him to. He talked to me, Heather, as though what I said was meaningful and worth listening to. The whole evening was absolutely magical.”
Smiling indulgently, Heather leaned over and kissed her forehead. “It sounds wonderful, Ally. But you were very lucky. Just promise me you’ll be more careful from now on.”
“I will,” Allison promised, but deep inside, she knew she’d risk quite a lot to spend another evening the way she’d spent this one.