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cheerfully as she entered thebustling market and purchased several dozen eggs. They were a little awkward to carry, but she was careful not to grimace. A kitchen maid would be used to carrying such burdens, and Emma did not want to spoil her disguise. Besides, she was fairly strong, and it was only five short blocks home.
    â€œThank you very much, sir.” She smiled at the grocer, nodding her head.
    He returned her grin. “Aye, you new around here? You sound as if you hail from the Colonies.”
    Emma’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t expected questions from the grocer. “Why, yes, I did grow up there, but I’ve been living in London now for many years,” she lied.
    â€œAye, I’ve always wanted to see America,” he pondered.
    Emma groaned inwardly. The grocer seemed ready for a long, engaging conversation, and she really needed to get back home before Belle started worrying about her. She started backing out that door, smiling all the way.
    â€œNow you come back sometime, little missy. Who did you say you worked for?”
    But Emma had already scurried out the door, pretending that she hadn’t heard his question. By the time she was halfway home, she was in high spirits, whistling happily, quite certain that she’d pulled off her charade without a hitch. She walked slowly, eager to prolong her little adventure. Besides, she enjoyed watching all the Londoners go about their daily business. In her maid’s costume, no one paid her any mind, and she could stare quite shamelessly as long as she looked away whenever anybody glanced back at her.
    Emma craned her neck to watch an adorablelittle boy of about five or six years scamper out of an elegant carriage drawn by a pair of matched bays. He clutched a small cocker spaniel puppy, scratching it between its ears. The black and white puppy returned his affection by licking the boy across the face, and he squealed with laughter, prompting his mother to poke her head out of the carriage to check up on him. She was a beautiful woman with dark hair and green eyes that shone with obvious love for her son. “Don’t you move from that spot, Charlie,” she called to the boy. “I’ll be with you in one moment.”
    The woman turned back toward the interior of the carriage, presumably to speak to someone. The little dark-haired boy rolled his eyes and shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited for his mother. “Mama,” he implored, “hurry up.” Emma smiled at his obvious impatience. From what her father had told her, she’d been exactly the same way when she was small.
    â€œJust one minute, scamp. I’ll be right down.”
    But right then, a calico cat streaked across the street. The puppy suddenly let out a loud bark and jumped out of Charlie’s arms, chasing the feline into the street.
    â€œWellington!” Charlie shrieked. The little boy broke into a run, following the dog.
    Emma gasped in horror. A hired hack was barreling down the street, and the driver was completely engrossed in conversation with the man sitting next to him, not paying the least bit of attention to the road. Charlie would be trampled underneath the horses’ hooves.
    Emma screamed. She didn’t stop to think as she dropped the eggs and raced into the street. When she was but a few feet away from the boy, she made a headfirst dive through the air. If she hadenough momentum, she prayed, she’d knock them both out of the way before they were run over by the hack.
    Charlie yelped, not understanding why a strange woman had jumped at him, slamming herself into his side.
    Just before Emma hit the ground, she heard more screams.
    And then there was only darkness.

Chapter 2
    E mma heard voices before she opened her eyes.
    â€œOh, Alex!” a female voice wailed. “What if that maid hadn’t been here? Charlie would have been trampled! I’m a terrible mother. I should have been