“He might come back for more money,” the housekeeper noted tentatively.
Sebastian shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t think so.”
“No?”
“He’s bold but he’s not brave. And he’s no good at taking a punch.” Sebastian watched the cart finally turn down the lane and disappear into the trees. Nodding in satisfaction, he skirted the housekeeper to come inside at last. “That will be the last of him.”
She closed the door behind them. “Are you certain it’s not because you threatened him ten times over?”
“It could be that as well. Did you hear?”
“I heard. Almost made me shiver in my own shoes. Here I was, thinking perhaps I did have a respectable duke living under this roof after all.”
That made him pause. He wasn’t accountable to her nor anyone else in the household. But he had hoped during his time at Eastwynd recently that everyone had begun to grow comfortable around him. There were fewer stares and anxious footsteps, at least.
“And?” Sebastian asked, wondering if he was going to hear mention about being a beast all over again. He didn’t like the idea of her or anyone else here thinking that. But also he didn’t want to let anyone go.
“And I think a duke can be many things. Including respectable, fierce, and a protector,” Mrs. Maple said simply. She latched the final lock before turning to offer him her docile smile. “Is there anything more I can do for you this evening, Your Grace?”
She was taking this remarkably calm now, which Sebastian was admittedly grateful for. There was still the mess to clean up in the next room. But for the most part, the house was quiet and all was still.
Shaking his head, he told her, “I don’t think so. If you could have a quiet supper tray delivered up to the library, that would be appreciated.”
The housekeeper nodded and went on her way. Into the drawing room she went, ordering the servants to clean up the broken furniture and glass like nothing had happened.
Sebastian sighed and looked down at his hands to note the neat bandages from his housekeeper would remain tight. They covered his knuckles and his forearm. The blood would be trickier to manage on the fabric, but he decided his valet was up to the challenge. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Taking a tentative step down the hall, he still half-expected someone to come tell him to leave. This had begun to feel likehome over the holidays but today… Well, a man didn’t usually come raging into his house like this.
It’s like nothing even happened.
His heartbeat, however, said otherwise.
He’d apologized to the household after dragging Thomas to his study and writing him a money order while having the man sign his promise to never bother them again. Whether a written statement like that might or might not hold up in court, it didn’t matter. It only mattered that Thomas was fearful enough to leave and never turn around.
Now, Thomas was gone and the house was getting tidied up. Sebastian had his hands wrapped and mended, so all was right again.
Almost. Isabel left. Is she still here? Am I to find her or give her peace?
He had been wondering this for hours now, desperate to see her again and be assured she was well. Except after his earlier behavior, Sebastian feared she would not receive him. Maybe she needed time. Maybe she had decided she needed to be afraid of him––there had been that worried look on her brow for just a moment that made him wonder.
As to remind him of her presence, the fluffy white cat emerged from around the corner. Her tail flicked high in the air beforeshe raced over. Bracing himself, Sebastian let Pearl dig her claws into his garments, climbing her way up into his arms in a flash.
“I want my cat back. I didn’t really think Thomas was taking him,” Annabelle had mourned pitifully when Sebastian had swung by with Ronan at his side early that morning.
Sebastian had considered returning Pearl. But then he thought of his wife, the delighted surprise when she received the cat and the pain of seeing Annabelle in his arms. “No,” Sebastian had said at last. “The cat stays where she is. Her home is happier and safer with us.”
He would replace the cat, of course, and would have his steward take care of that situation. Sebastian didn’t like to think of himself as cruel.
Pearl meowed and purred in his arms.
“Tonight,” Sebastian told her quietly. “I’ll give her tonight and, on the morrow, I will go to her. I will explain myself. And I will give her everything she wants and more.”
Even if it means nothing of me or everything of me. She can rip my heart from my chest for safekeeping if that is what she truly desires.
He walked slowly up to the library. It had been an intimidating room to him as a child, but had kept him safe from his father. Now, he knew it was a place where Isabel often lost herself,especially by the fire where they had wound up together multiple times in the quiet evenings.
Even so, Sebastian was surprised to reach the corner of the library and find Isabel there. His grip shifted on the cat and Pearl grumbled before flinging herself from his arms. Forgotten at once, she made herself scarce.
