“I know how I feel. King understands, don’t you, King?” King was shaking his head, but Joshua was too upset to curb his tongue. “He said he’d help me. He’d help Lizzie.”
Vi rounded on King now and shot daggers at him. “Tell me that’s not true.”
He squared his shoulders. “I said I’d do what I could.”
“You will both be the reason we are killed, or worse. Why don’t you think about Georgie?” she demanded of Joshua. “Do you want him to be forced to wade into the freezing water in the Thames, diving in that muck for bits of copper and plate? And what do you think will happen to me?”
“I won’t let anything happen to any of you,” King said.
Joshua had hung his head low, but now he looked up at King. The way he’d spoken sounded utterly convincing. Lookingat him now—tall and strong and full of authority—Joshua truly believed King wouldn’t let anything happen to them.
“And how will you stop Ferryman?” Vi demanded, skeptical as always. “He has an entire gang of criminals at his beck and call. Your own friends haven’t even come to help you. Speaking of which, don’t you have enough on your plate without adding our problems?”
“I’m used to managing others’ problems,” he said. “That’s what the nobility is for.”
Vi raised a brow in a mocking expression she never showed to Joshua or Georgie. “Somehow I doubt before you came here you were helping old ladies cross the street and solving tenant disputes. If that was the sort of man you are, you wouldn’t be in whatever trouble you’re in now. Are you ready to reveal that trouble?” She paused, and King said nothing. “I didn’t think so.”
The look on his face was the sort the sky got before it poured rain. Joshua actually took a step back, wondering now if Ferryman was the real threat. King looked like he might strangle Vi, and then Joshua would have to jump in and protect her. But King slid his hands into his pockets and didn’t move.
“You don’t know what sort of man I am, Miss Baker. All you’ve done is judge me on the actions of one drunken night.”
Joshua thought about mentioning how that wasn’t quite true. King had behaved rather badly the next morning as well, but he seemed to be changing. After all, he’d made the surgeon come to help Archie, and he’d worked at the bar all night.
“If I say I will protect you from Ferryman, I’ll protect you.”
“Well, you will have the chance to prove that,” she said. “He’ll be here tomorrow wanting his taxes. We had a good night, but it won’t be enough.”
Joshua drew in a breath. “You mean we’re short?”
Vi nodded. “I did a quick count of the money we made tonight, and it’s not enough. I knew it was a stretch to think we’dmake it all in one night, but I thought we had a chance. Until someone had the idea to make the last round half price.”
Joshua looked at King, who closed his eyes and sighed. “I’ll handle Ferryman and the payment tomorrow,” he told Vi. “It will all work out.”
“How?”
“You’ll have to trust me.”
“Ha.” She tossed her hair. “Never.” And then she stomped upstairs. Halfway up, she paused and looked back at Joshua. “I expect you in bed in five minutes, and don’t think there won’t be a punishment for running off to see Lizzie.Love.” She muttered this last word under her breath.
When she was gone, Joshua looked at King, who raised his brows and looked back at him. “Sorry,” Joshua said. “I shouldn’t have told her you said you’d help Lizzie.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. Always protect your confederates.”
“My what?”
“Your partners. In this case, me.”
“Will you still help me help Lizzie?”
“I said I would. A gentleman is only as good as his word. I’ll meet this Ferryman tomorrow, and then I’ll know better how to go about it. In the meantime, maybe don’t go about professing your love to her. I said I’d help her, not that the two of you can play Romeo and Juliet.”
Joshua frowned, trying to puzzle King’s meaning.
“She won’t be safe in Seven Dials,” King said. “I’ll have to get her out of here, which means you won’t see her again.”
Joshua opened his mouth to protest then closed it again. “I understand,” he said.
King gave him a nod. “Maybe you really do love her.”
