She was grateful he left it at that. They bid their farewells and headed out into the rain. Or would have if an elaborate blue coach with red trim hadn’t been waiting and a footman hadn’t immediately opened a door when they emerged. Benedict’s hand came to rest against the small of her back as he urged her forward. “Is that for us?”
“Yes. Inside. Quickly.”
The footman assisted her up, and she settled against the plush interior. The vehicle rocked as Benedict joined her, sitting opposite her.
“How did you come to have this?” she asked as it launched forward.
“It belongs to my brother Aiden. I was visiting with him and asked to borrow it to spare you getting soaked.”
“I appreciate your thoughtfulness as well as your insistence that Lady Jocelyn apologize.” She looked out the window at the sheets of rain, listened as it pattered the roof of the carriage, lulling her into a place of calm and quietness, completely opposite to the tenseness she’d felt in the shop.
“You are extremely skilled at displaying haughtiness,” he said quietly as though he, too, found the atmosphere peaceful and was loath to disturb it. “I must admit I very nearly clapped when you offered her your condolences.”
She gave her head a little shake. “I was already fuming because she’d threatened to deny Beth payment. I was going to skulk out after announcing that Beth would be making nothing for me, but then the sweet woman stood up for me and the lady I’d once been came to the fore and I couldn’t let Lady Jocelyn go unchallenged.”
“Beth will be paid for that trousseau.”
“It shouldn’t come out of your coffers.”
“It won’t. Lady Jocelyn’s family will pay, one way or another. I simply need to know who her father is. Or her eldest brother. Whoever sees to her care.” He shrugged. “Or perhaps I’ll have Chadbourne pay.” A bit of malice and glee wreathed his smile. “I like that idea better.”
She looked at his large gloved hands folded over his thighs. “When you say one way or another...”
“Perhaps they’ll lose more than normal at the gaming tables or something they wish to remain hidden might come to light if they don’t pay for work that’s been done.”
“You’re not going to actually hurt them.”
He heaved a heavy sigh and glanced out the window as though disappointed that she’d asked. “Let’s just say they’ll see the advantage to paying a seamstress who has put in hours sewing clothing for spoiled Lady Jocelyn.”
“If they should fail to see the advantage?”
The smile was gone when he turned his attention back to her. “I can be quite persuasive. And if not me, then one of my brothers. Mick, in particular, has the ear of a good many aristocrats these days, and they want to stay in his good graces. But they won’t feel the weight of my fist, if that’s what’s worrying you.”
She feared she might have hurt his feelings, so she gave him an impish smile. “I probably wouldn’t mind if Chadbourne felt it once.”
His laughter, deep and rich, rang through the confines of the carriage. “I’ll have to keep in mind that you’re a vindictive wench.”
With a long exhale, she studied her hands covered in worn gloves, knotted in her lap. “A woman scorned and all that.” She looked up. “Beth told me that you and your brothers helped her out of a difficult situation with her landlord.”Difficultbeing a paltry word for the situation in which he’d been extracting payment with sexual favors from the sweet seamstress.
“That was Gillie’s doing.”
“She said you confronted him.”
“Because Gillie asked us to.”
“Did he feel the weight of your fists?”
“Several times.”
“Is that the reason they call you Beast?”
“Part of it.”
“And the rest?”
He merely shook his head. She wasn’t in the mood to push. He’d stood up for her today. He could keep his secrets.
“How was your visit with your brother?” She missed her own brothers, but wouldn’t put them at risk by sending word she wanted to see them.
