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His mouth was set in a harsh line. “I had to pretend I was buying her…and the other children. The money was taken, and we fled, but the greed and evil in their heart encouraged them to follow us.” Tension stole through Richard, and something dark lurked within his gaze. “If I hadn’t found her, eventually my Emily would have been sent to the streets where she would be forced to sell her body for food, shelter…heat,” he admitted with a bluntness that stole Evie’s breath.
Dear Lord.
“I…” A spasm of pure disgust pierced her. She’d had no notion there were women and children who had to barter their bodies for basic human necessities. Worse, people existed who sold children. Once again, tears threatened to spill. “I cannot comprehend such a life.”
He began to absently stroke her arm, providing a comfort she’d not realized she craved.
“Is there more? I do not want to wilt from it. Please tell me.”
“There are many slums with women, men, and children sleeping in alleys and gutters. Homes that have never seen any heat in winter, a single room housing a family of ten or more, children working as pickpockets for those who run the underworld. Children working in factories and as chimney cleaners. Many have no recourse to doctors, hospitals, clean water, or good food. The country is in desperate need of political reform. It is Parliament and the House of Lords that rule Britain and leave those vulnerable to the clutches of ruthless and depraved men of London’s underworld. They are exploited and abused at every turn by the predators of the slums.”
“And you want to rescue them?”
“I want to offer a solution.”
She could hardly comprehend such a world existed only a few miles from the opulent mansion she resided in. A stiff wind blew from off the Thames, and Evie shivered, chafing her hand over her arms.
“Come here.”
Lifting a brow, she moved closer. He shrugged from his coat and bundled her into its wonderful warmth. If they were to be spied by someone of the ton, she would be irrefutably ruined. The notion now seemed so ridiculous it brought a smile to her lips.
“Let’s walk. It will help with the cold.”
They stood and strolled in silence toward the carriage. She pondered his words while his unfathomable gaze roamed the streets in that newly calculating manner of his. He had always seemed to her to be in possession of a quiet, self-contained power, but now something more volatile, more ruthless shimmered beneath the surface of the facade he presented to the world. The years of their easy banter and long walks together rushed through her thoughts. She could not believe that man still existed within him.
Was she foolish in her desire to wed him, when he was so changed from the man she had once thought she understood?
Chapter Six
Richard assisted Evie into the parked carriage, tapped on the door, and the equipage lurched into motion. The carriage rocked and swayed, taking her away from the cold, ugly streets of London. He pulled the blinds tightly closed so her presence within his carriage would not be noted by any of London’s gossips. Settling into his seat, he leaned forward and skimmed his thumb over the curve of her cheeks so tenderly a lump formed in her throat.
“Thank you for caring, Evie. I never expected you to visit this side of town, but I am damned glad you came.”
He lowered his hand, and she felt bereft of his warmth. “I’m glad, too. I’ll do everything in my power to gain interest for your charities.” There had never been a worthier employment for her intellect and time. She could not imagine how to start and hoped that at least conversations with the right ear would open doors. “I’d intended to call upon Adel this afternoon. I’m aware she’s become patron to several underfunded charities. I’ll take directions from her on where to start.”
His eyes glowed with approval and something far gentler that she was unable to interpret. “Why are you veiled?”
“I’d had the notion of paying you a call after I visited Adel.”
A dark brow lifted. “Without your mother or Elliot?”
Heat warmed her cheeks. “Hence the reason for the veil.”
“In the past, you sent around notes.”
“I never promised to be predictable.”
Richard leaned against the squabs with his hands folded casually across his middle. “Did something happen?”
“Yes. I’m to be married,” she said softly. “I fear I cannot escape the state any longer.”
Shock had glazed his eyes before he lowered his lids. He did not lift his head until he was composed and aloof. Evie hid her smile. She had seen that flare of discomfort, but she did not allow it to give her too much hope; her change of heart would have rattled anyone.
“I see, and when is the happy occasion?” he asked with a heavy dollop of sarcasm.
“According to Papa, I am to be engaged within the next few weeks.”
Some raw, visceral emotion leaped into Richard’s eyes, and they burned with a fire she hardly understood. His eye
