The Robber Bride by Jerrica Knight-Catania Read Free Book Online Page A

did as the woman said and minutes later they were headed back for the hospital. Anna’s cries carried out into the street as they approached, and Victoria worried they might be too late. But Mrs. Potts didn’t move any more quickly.
    “It’ll be any minute now,” she said calmly as they entered the hospital. “Upstairs, I take it?”
    Victoria nodded at the woman and then watched as she slowly ascended the stairs. Sarah ran from the other room, her brow damp with sweat.
    “Did you find a doctor?” the nurse asked.
    “Something like that,” Victoria said as she stared up the stairs after Mrs. Potts. “All we can do now is pray .”
    Less than thirty minutes later—thirty interminable minutes later —Anna’s cries were replaced by those of her baby . As Victoria spooned a mouthful of ipecac into another patient’s mouth, she took her first breath since she’d arrived at the hospital that day. Thank heaven for Mrs. Potts.
    “Perhaps Mrs. Potts was our good luck charm today,” Sarah said, poking her head into the small room. “Molly’s fever has broken.”
    “Oh, thank goodness,” Victoria replied as she eased the young man back onto the pillows. “Well, then, it looks as if things are under control here. Will you be all right if I leave? Too much longer and Mother will become suspicious.”
    “We’ll be fine, miss.” Sarah smiled warmly at her, though the poor girl looked as if she would fall over at any moment.
    “When was the last time you slept, Sarah?”
    “I can’t rightly remember, miss. Feels like a fortnight, though it’s probably more like two days.”
    Two days. Victoria wanted to cry for the girl. She really did work too hard, and for very little in return. “I’ll be back as soon as I am able, Sarah. Try to get a bit of rest, will you?”
    Sarah nodded, bravely attempting to hold back her tears. Victoria needed to act quickly. The hospital needed more money. A lot more money. Which meant she would have to attempt yet another robbery tonight.
    ***
    Fin stepped through the front door of the Barclays’ townhouse, determined to find out why the devil Victoria had been running like a banshee through Southwark that morning. It was his highest hope that she was there for good reason—and with a proper chaperone—but he had a feeling that was not the case. She’d been running, and she’d been alone. The signs did not point to a proper social visit on Victoria’s part.
    “Finny, what are you doing here?” Victoria stood in the doorway of the drawing room, the sun from the fanlight in the foyer casting a halo about her entire person.
    It wasn’t intentional when Fin’s breath caught, but somehow it couldn’t be helped. “I—ah—wished to take a drive with you,” he sputtered out.
    Victoria’s brows rose in speculation. “Is that so?”
    He rolled his eyes. “ Dammit , Vickie, I’m bored. Won’t you come and entertain me?”
    A smile spread her soft, pink lips. “Well, then who will entertain me ?”
    “I promise to do my best.”
    Of course, she acquiesced and within a few minutes, they were in his curricle, headed for Hyde Park. The day was quite exquisite. Not a single cloud marred the turquoise sky, and a slight wind kept them from being too warm.
    Fin said nothing as they drove along. He thought to wait and see if she offered any information about her morning romp on her own.
    She didn’t.
    By the time they reached Rotten Row, neither of them had said a word, and the silence was finally too much for Fin. “I thought you were going to entertain me.”
    “No, that was your idea. I never actually agreed to it — only to the drive.”
    Fin wasn’t sure whether to laugh or strangle her. “Will you tell me about your morning?” He glanced sideways to look at her, hoping for any signs of discomfort at the topic.
    She shrugged. “Not much to tell, really. I visited Lady Hartswell . She’s been feeling ill.”
    The little liar . “Ah, so you stayed close to home,