Awakening Amelia by Kate Pearce

for him and he directed the driver to Clifford Street.
    To his surprise, when he alighted from the cab, he recognized the back end of Jem’s cart sticking out around the corner from the shop. Had it really been a month since he’d rediscovered his identity? It felt like seconds.
    Ignoring the front door of the shop, he walked around to the back and discovered Jem readying his horses to depart.
    “Good morning, Jem.” Marcus called out.
    “Morning, Marco.” Jem’s gaze drifted over Marcus’s new clothes. “You look much less like a scarecrow than when I first saw you.”
    Marcus grinned. “Thank you. Did you have a letter for me from Mrs. Smith?”
    “Aye, that I did, sir.” Jem scratched his ear. “I left it at the door with Mr. Brown.”
    Marcus hesitated as he drew alongside Jem’s cart. “Is everyone well in the village?”
    “Oh, aye. Mr Jonathan has moved in now with his aunt, and she is enjoying the children.”
    “Mr. Jonathan Smith is residing at Dove Cottage?” Marcus frowned. “How the devil are they all fitting in there?”
    “It’s a bit of a squeeze, but the old lady doesn’t take up much space, and Mrs. Jonathan is probably glad of the help with another babe on the way.”
    “What of Mrs. Amelia Smith?”
    “She’s gone, sir.”
    Marcus felt as though someone had punched him hard in the stomach. “ Gone ? Where?”
    “I’m not sure.” Jem put his hat on and clucked to his horses. “Maybe she tells you in her letter.”
    “The letter.” Marcus headed toward the back door of the shop. “Jem will you do me a great favor and wait a moment longer until I read the letter?”
    Jem sighed. “I can’t leave my horses standing here. How about I meet you at the coaching inn down the street for a pint of beer?”
    “I would appreciate that very much. And I’ll pay for your ale and your dinner.”
    Jem touched his hat and backed his horses around the corner. Marcus banged on the door for a second time and was eventually admitted. The letter was placed in his hands and he ripped open the seal to read the few words. There was nothing about her leaving Dove Cottage…
    “Damnation.” Marcus muttered as he thanked Mr. Brown and started off down the street toward the George and Dragon. “Where the devil has she gone?” Her letter had stated that she wasn’t pregnant, but he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
    Jem proved happy to chat after Marcus paid for his beer and a hot mutton pie.
    “Cheers, sir and good luck to you.”
    “Thank you, Jem.” Marcus took a deep swallow of his own ale and tried to frame a question. “Mrs. Smith didn’t give me her forwarding address in the letter. Do you have it?”
    “Why would I need it?” Jem’s eyebrows rose. “She’s far too fancy for me, not that I didn’t try my luck once at the Harvest Supper, but I knew she wouldn’t look at a humble man like myself.”
    “Did someone come and fetch her from Dove Cottage or did she get on the mail coach?”
    Jem looked at him as though he was crazed. “Didn’t she tell you that, either?” I dropped her off at the Magpie Inn on the Strand this morning. She had booked her passage on the mail coach.”
    Marcus shot to his feet. “She’s in London?”
    “She’s just passing through.”
    “It would’ve been nice if you had told me this earlier.” Marcus found a gold sovereign and flung it on the table. “What time was she departing?”
    “Around noon, I think, sir.”
    “Then I’d better be off.”
    Jem’s grin was slow in coming as he picked up the coin. “You do that, sir. I’m sure she’ll be right glad to see you.”
    Marcus doubted that, but he was determined to see her, even if it meant he only had time to wring her neck.
    The Magpie Inn was crowded with passengers alighting and departing from a variety of mail coaches, private carriages and farm carts. It had taken Marcus almost half an hour to walk there through the busy streets. The clock in the stable yard boomed out