Has something happened?
“Were those constables I just saw?” she asked, and he noticed that her hands were shaking. “Did something happen with my father? Did they find him? Has he hurt someone?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing about your father,” James said quickly, although he cursed himself that he hadn’t thought of this right away and reassured her at once. “It has to do with the dog fighting rings on my land. I need to go out there tomorrow to see what I can do to put an end to it.”
“All right,” Violet breathed, nodding. “I’ll let Rosalie know that we’re leaving in the morning.”
“Woah, woah, woah.” James held up a hand. “I didn’t say that you and your sister were coming with me. In fact, there’s no way you are. It’s too dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” Violet repeated, and she looked as if she were about to laugh. “The dangerous thing would be to stay here,without you to protect us, while our father is still on the loose! In fact, if we’re leaving town, then Mother should probably come as well. She won’t be safe either.”
“You’ll all be perfectly safe here,” James insisted, folding his arms. “I’ve hired more guards since the incident with the flowers, and there have been no other attempts to harm you or intimidate us since then.”
“Yes, because you’ve been here!”
“Violet… you don’t understand,” he said slowly. “These gangs that run the dog fights are very dangerous. And with the number of people who have a vendetta against me, it would just be too risky to bring you along. Your lives could be in danger, and I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
Violet, however, had put her hands on her hips, the look in her eyes brooking no argument.
“Some small-town gang is nothing compared to my father,” she snapped. “He didn’t run dog fighting rings—he ran an entire criminal enterprise. He has more power than you know. I suspect I don’t know most of it either. And he isn’t afraid to kill those he loves. It is far more dangerous for Rose, Mother, and I to stay here when you’re gone than to go with you.”
“But—”
Violet stepped off the bottom step and put a hand on his arm. Her beautiful green eyes blinked up at him.
“I’m not afraid of a gang of men who abuse dogs,” she stated more quietly. “In fact, I rather thinktheyshould be afraid ofme. But Iamafraid of my father, and I don’t want you to underestimate him. Just because we haven’t heard from him in a while doesn’t mean he isn’t still out there, biding his time.”
James wasn’t sure if it was the persuasiveness of her argument or the warmth of her hand on his arm, but at last, he relented.
“All right,” he sighed. “You can come. But under no circumstances are you allowed to get anywhere near the gang members.”
Violet smiled. “And when you have ever known me to disobey your orders, Your Grace?”
“Your husband seems very interested in your safety,” Rosalie noted as she peered out the carriage window.
Violet, who was sitting across from her and trying not to feel motion sickness, snorted.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her temper flaring a little because of how hot and uncomfortable she felt. “I had toconvince him to let us come with him. He was going to leave us at home, where Father could find us easily.”
“Darling, don’t scare your sister,” their mother, who was sitting next to Rosalie, interjected. “We don’t know that your father would have been able to harm us. And His Grace said he has the house guarded now.”
“Anyway, that’s not what I meant,” Rosalie continued. “I was talking about the guards outside the carriage.”
“The what?!” Violet moved to the edge of her seat and drew back the curtain, peering out at the road.
Her husband’s carriage was behind them. He’d needed the space to work, so he had taken the smaller of their two carriages. He’d given the large one to Violet, her mother, and her sister.
In addition to her husband’s carriage, however, were several men on horseback who, she realized, had pistols hanging at their sides.
“And look, he’s riding behind us,” Rosalie pointed out. “So if we were attacked, our carriage would be able to get away, and his wouldn’t block ours.”
“You don’t know that’s the reason he’s behind us,” Violet scoffed.
“Yes, I do. I heard several of the groomsmen talking about it when they were hitching up the horses.” Rosalie smiled at her.“He’s so dashing, your husband. He’s protective of you, but he doesn’t even crow about it. Most men would—they’d want you to know how strong and powerful they are. But His Grace has never done that. It must mean he really cares about you.”
Violet fell silent for a moment, thinking about this. She supposed it did make her feel better to know that her husband took her safety seriously. But wasn’t that the bare minimum? She had given up her chance to have a happy married life with children so that he would protect her and her family. She didn’t need to fall over herself with gratitude simply because he was fulfilling his end of the bargain.
“That’s enough of your romantic foolishness,” she said to her sister.
