“I’ve come for you. What did you think, that I’d let all that money go? I never took you for a fool.”
Phoebe and Anna might be capable of defending his wife, but she was Kit’s to protect. He made his way to Mary, standing behind her. Raising his quizzing glass, he asked in a bored drawl, “Who might you be?”
Tolliver glanced briefly at Kit, then said to Mary, “You may as well come with me now. You wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
She leaned into Kit the slightest bit. “Really?” Her tone was haughty and dismissive. “Who do you think is going to hurt all of them?”
“I have men,” he said, looking at the group. “They know how to fight.”
Kit wanted to laugh. There was no one in the square but a few children and their maids. Instead he said, “You and me. Now. Unless, that is, you’re afraid to fight a man.”
Tolliver stared at Kit as if noticing him for the first time. “I don’t know who you are or why the hell you’re concerned. This is between my cousin and me.”
“I’m her husband.” He raised a brow. “And I don’t particularly care for scoundrels who swear in the presence of my wife.”
Tolliver stepped back as if struck. “You’re married?”
Kit inclined his head.
The idiot began to laugh. “Your birthday isn’t until next year. It’s all mine. I’ve won!”
Kit supposed they should have left it at that, but he couldn’t. “You’ve won nothing. Your father is here.”
The man’s face paled and he lunged at Mary.
Kit reached out to push her behind him, but before he could succeed, Mary drove her fist into the man’s nose. Blood sprayed out, and Tolliver went down with a thud.
“Ow!” Mary cradled her hand. “Why did no one tell me that would hurt?”
Kit couldn’t help but grin. “For your first time, you did a wonderful job. Would it be too much to ask that next time you allow me to strike the blackguard?”
“If I’d had any idea I’d injure myself, I would have let you do it this time.”
Kit wrapped her hand in his handkerchief. “You need to ice it immediately.”
He turned to Marcus and Rutherford, who had picked Tolliver up. “I suppose the best thing to do with him is take him to the watch until his father can fetch him.”
“Probably something that should have been done a long time ago,” Marcus agreed. “Huntley’s already gone to find a constable.”
Later that afternoon, after her hand had been iced and the swelling reduced, Kit snuggled next to Mary in bed. She wore a silk confection the likes of which he’d never seen before. “Where did you get that?”
“Caro. She brought it from Italy.”
Although he dearly wanted his wife, some things had to be discussed first. “I had looked forward to smashing your cousin to pieces.”
“I’m sorry, but despite the pain, it felt amazingly good to hit him.”
“What do you think Tolliver will do when he discovers his mother is delusional?”
“Find his own way. I never really liked him, but it is a shame his mother filled him with all that nonsense.”
“And his father was not around to counter it.”
Mary glanced at him with sadness in her eyes. “That’s true. I wonder who they would have married if our grandmothers had been involved.”
Kit groaned and pulled Mary on top of him. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“They have been extremely successful.”
