A trickle of sweat slipped down Heron’s temple. “Quite so. Wait here. I’ll get you the plate.”
He scuttled into the back room and returned a few moments later with the engraved metal map nailed to a wooden backing plank. Rhys took it from him with a smile.
“Now the paper copies,” Morgan commanded.
With a scowl, Heron tugged open a drawer and pulled out at least ten pieces of paper. He slapped them gracelessly down onto the counter.
Harriet gathered them up with a glare.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Mister Heron,” Morgan drawled. “And please remember that if I hear you’ve been copying other peoples’ maps again—not just Miss Montgomery’s, but anyone’s—I won’t simply ruin you. I’ll let Rhys give you the beating you so richly deserve.”
Rhys sent Heron a smile that was a hundred times more menacing than a frown. “I was the undefeated bare-knuckle boxing champion across six regiments,” he said brightly. “Remember that, Mister Heron.”
Heron’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I will. Yes. Thank you.”
Morgan tipped his hat and took Harriet’s elbow once more. “Shall we, my sweet?”
Together they stepped out of the shop, with Gryff and Rhys close behind, and as soon as they were a safe distance along Hart Street Harriet gave her elation free rein.
“It worked! I can’t believe it. Oh, thank you! You were all magnificent!”
Morgan smiled down at her, then turned to his brothers. “Just like old times, eh?”
“I liked your use of the phrasepiratical imitation.” Gryff chuckled. “It added a nice seafaring touch.”
“We were always a good team.” Rhys grinned. “Although you could have let me give him a little cuff around the ear, just to drive the point home. We let him off too easily. Remember that pickpocket we caught trying to steal your watch outside the theater?”
“We tied him to a lamppost with his own cravat to wait until the constable came,” Morgan explained for Harriet’s benefit.
“And pelted him with fruit,” Rhys added. “Drury Lane has some very obliging orange sellers.”
Gryff hefted the heavy printing plate in his arms.“Enough reminiscing. This thing’s heavier than a cannonball. Where’s the carriage?”
The Davies carriage was waiting on the corner, and Gryff deposited the printing block inside with a groan of relief. He clambered in, followed by Rhys.
Morgan turned to Harriet and took the sheaf of fake maps from her arms. “Get in; we’ll give you a ride back to Bury Street.”
Harriet was about to protest, but Rhys simply reached out, grabbed her hand, and hauled her up into the carriage. “Come on, don’t be missish. Whatever dreadful tales you’ve heard about Davies men, I promise we’re only half as bad as they say.”
Since escape was impossible, Harriet settled herself on the seat with a wry laugh. “Oh, yes, I was brought up on terrifying bedtime stories of wicked Davies monsters who eat unwary young women for breakfast.”
The seat rocked as Morgan shouldered his way in and sat in the empty space next to her.
“Only if they ask very, very nicely,” he growled.
Harriet’s stomach did another little flip. She didn’t entirely understand his meaning, but just thewayhe said it made her sure she should be blushing.
Chapter Fourteen
Harriet had never in her life imagined she’d share a carriage with all three Davies brothers. Not unless she’d been kidnapped and was about to be sold for ransom. But here she was, with both Gryff and Rhys swaying on the padded bench opposite her and Morgan’s broad shoulder and solid thigh bumping against hers with heart-pounding regularity.
The three of them filled the space, but it was Morgan’s proximity that sucked all the air from her lungs.
“Will you be attending Carys’s costume ball on Friday, Miss Montgomery?” Gryff asked politely. “She’s spent a small fortune on decorations and entertainments, I hear.”
Rhys nudged him in the ribs. “Just be grateful she’s bankrupting a Montgomery now, instead of us.” He laughed and wiggled his eyebrows at Harriet. “Your poor Tristan must be ready to wring her neck by now.”
Harriet laughed. The surprise wedding of her cool, constrained cousin Tristan to their flamboyant, wonderfully creative sister, Carys, had both shocked and titillated theton.
