Apparently not. Had all the women in his life gone mad? He probably should have known Thea would go and confront the woman, but Mama?
His mother smiled as if she was doing nothing more than paying a social call. Devil a bit. He’d sort them out later.
“Wait a minute. I’m going with you.” He jerked on the bell pull and a footman’s head popped in. “Get the town coach, immediately.”
“Yes, my lord.” He closed the door. Dom could hear him running down the corridor. Damn. Tom must be distraught after revealing what he had to Thea. “Where is the child?”
Thea shoved a long pin in her hat. “He is asleep for now. Sally is with him with orders not to leave him.”
He opened the door and stood to the side. “Shall we go?”
When Thea reached him, she stopped. “I am glad you decided to come with us. A marquis is just what is needed if the job requires intimidation.”
He almost dropped his jaw. Then he wanted to laugh. She had finally found a good use for his rank. His uncle would have had apoplexy by now, yet Dom had never felt so alive in his life.
“That’s what we marquises do best.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “I shall meet you in the hall.”
As she hurried out, he returned to his desk and removed a small, but accurate pistol from the top drawer. One never knew when rank might not be enough.
Chapter Fifteen
Twenty minutes later Dom’s coach came to a stop in front of a modest house on St. George Street. The façade looked innocuous enough. Pale gray, from the London grime, there were a few steps up to a door whose knocker needed polishing. Still, the house gave the appearance of being respectable.
Roger, one of the two footmen Dom had accompany them, opened the carriage door, then walked up the shallow steps and pounded the knocker. A slight girl with mousy brown hair and an apron covering her drab blue gown opened it.
Not looking at the maid, Roger announced, “The Marquis of Merton wishes to speak to Mrs. White.”
The small bit of color in the young woman’s face drained. “Don’t know that she’s here to visitors.”
The girl was obviously more afraid of her mistress than some random marquis. Dom stepped around his footman. “Perhaps you should inquire.”
When the maid tried to close the door, his servant stopped it with his foot, and said affably, “Here now, you don’t mean to leave their lordship and ladyship out here, do you?”
The maid glanced at Roger, then Dom. “I guess not,” she grumbled. “Come in if you must, but I’ll tell ye, she don’t like seeing company.”
“Right old screw is she?” the footman asked.
The girl seemed to soften a bit. “Ye could say that. As soon as I find another position, I’m gone.”
Thea, now standing next to Roger, smiled. “Thank you very much for allowing us to come inside.”
The maid stared wide-eyed and bobbed a quick curtsey. “Yes, my lady. I’ll fetch my mistress, right away.”
Thea glanced around the hall, swiped her finger on the newel post, and looked at her gloved finger. “This place could use a good cleaning.”
A few moments later, a young matron came down the stairs holding the hand of a child about the same age as Tom. When she reached the bottom tread, she looked up. “Oh, I am sorry. I did not see you there. Have you come to look at the empty rooms?”
Dom was about to deny any such thing, when Thea shot him a warning look. “Why, yes we are. Have you lived here long?”
The woman smiled. “Only a couple of months. I had planned to return to live with my mother while my husband is arranging our home in Canada.”
Thea wrinkled her forehead.
“Oh.” The woman gave a small laugh and put her hand to her mouth. “I must sound like such a pea-goose. My husband is in the army and will be stationed in Canada for the next few years. We shall join him after he has arranged housing. I was going to stay with my mother, but Mrs. White has been so kind that my husband and I decided I would remain here until he sends for me. If he pays the rent in advance, she will even give us a reduced rate for the time I am here with my daughter.”
Thea glanced down at the child. “Such a lovely little girl.”
The young woman got a sort of misty smile. “Thank you. She is so good and will be rewarded with a little brother or sister in a few months, which is the reason my husband does not wish me to travel with him.”
