“Going where?” she murmured as she leaned heavily against him.
“Back to Dutton Hall, but I am staying with you. No one will harm you again,” he said as he swept her up into his arms. “To hell with society’s rules.” He kicked the door open and nearly stumbled into Aaran Graham.
“Graham?” he asked in obvious surprise.
“I came to offer my assistance,” his brother said.
“Rheem gave her a large dose of laudanum.”
“I had my coachman bring the carriage closer. It is on the other side of the tree line marking the street.”
“You are a blessing.”
“Duncan has men out on the street looking for Honfleur’s coach and coachman. From the maid’s description of the woman with him, it was the housekeeper.”
“That is what I suspected also, but we may discuss this in more detail later. Our girl here requires her rest.”
Aaran hustled ahead of them and opened the carriage door. “Mr. Jamison will assist you.”
“Yes, my lord, permit me to crawl inside to catch the lady up, then we will be off to Dutton Hall.”
When they reached Marksman’s home less than a half hour later, Navan turned Lady Annalise over to the maid who had assisted her mistress earlier. “I will be in the chambers at the end of the hall if her ladyship requires anything.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He turned to find Lord Graham still in the open door. “I did not realize you remained,” Beaufort said as he looked once more at the sleeping Annalise.
“Are you proposing soon?” Graham asked.
Navan nudged his friend from the room. “I am still considering the possibility.”
“Marksman will not approve,” Graham suggested with a grin. “Especially as you would be taking his sister so far away from him.”
“At the moment Marksman does not have a say in the matter. It will be Lady Annalise’s choice. If necessary, we will go to Scotland or Jersey to marry. Marksman gave up his rights to have a say in his sister’s life when he permitted Theodora to drag him around as if he were an obedient puppy.”
The following morning,Beaufort ordered breakfast for them both to be delivered to the lady’s room. “I pray you are hungry, my dear,” he said as the maid Sarah admitted him to Lady Annalise’s chambers.
“Famished,” she said with a smile. She had made her way to a nearby chair and table before his arrival. “I pray I shall not embarrass you, my lord. Sarah tells me Mr. Rheem gave orders for me not to dress in a day gown until he inspected my injury today.”
Navan smiled, for he had repeated Rheem’s orders to the maid. “Just pleased to view you recovering. I asked Glenstorm to have Cook include your favorites.”
“Then the meal will be Cook’s sweetened bread with butter and honey,” she said with another smile.
He waited until the butler and footman had set out all the plates before he excused them. “Leave the door open, Glenstorm.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You frightened me quite thoroughly, my girl,” he said as he drank his coffee and watched Lady Annalise butter the bread and take a bite, before closing her eyes as she chewed and then sighed. Beaufort found himself smiling contentedly.This could be my life: her at my breakfast table. At my side in society. His eyes drifted to the bed, as his mind announced,In my bed. The idea pleased him enough he felt himselfbegin to harden.
“I am thankful,” she said as she briefly closed her eyes to savor the food a second time, “for your care.”
“Might you tell me what occurred?” he asked cautiously. “Titan recognized the man who shot at you as Honfleur’s coachman.”
“Yes. Mr. Stark and Mrs. Sable have combined their efforts. They claimed they would kill me at Amgen House and leave my body there. When Mrs. Sable said we were in Whitehall and I noticed the light-blue house that Lady Emma had described to me previously, I thought I had no choice but…”
“You were excessively brave,” he remarked.
“I am a woman who had no choice. Last night, I was thinking how selfish it is of me to remain at Dutton Hall. I do not think Mr. Stark will give up so easily, and I would be placing Alexander and Theodora in danger.”
