‘Anger. I am furious that someone tried to break into my home. Vengeful. I want nothing more than to make those responsible forupsetting…’ He paused, shook his head slightly, before saying, ‘I want revenge on the people who have caused these problems. I am sorry if that upsets you.’
‘You mean because the people responsible are my parents?’
He nodded tightly.
‘Those two people stopped having any bearing on my life a long time ago. I am ashamed by the association.’
‘You have nothing for which to feel shame.’
They came to a wide landing that disappeared in both directions on either side. Tobias made to step to the right, before swinging round and striding to the left. He came to a stop outside a door. ‘I will leave you here. I understand your maid is already in there waiting for you. Try and get some sleep.’
He gently lowered her to the floor. In his arms some of her fear had faded, but away from him, cold rushed over her once more and she started to tremble again.
‘Grace.’ His voice was low and urgent; his fingers brushed her elbow.
‘Yes.’
There was a long silence, broken when he said, ‘Sleep well.’
He turned and strode away, his silhouette vanishing in the morning gloom.
Chapter Fifteen
Breakfast was a late, quiet affair. The adult members of Tobias’ family were pale and drawn with Edward’s two wards picking up on the mood and glancing around the table with pinched, anxious faces. Even baby Arabella was fussy, refusing to be anywhere other than her mother’s arms. Only Lotte appeared unaffected. In his usual spot at the head of the table, Tobias watched his niece perform her morning ritual of seating her doll on one of her uncles’ heads, where Dolly surveyed her kingdom before Lotte jumped her onto the table and placed her in front of a plate so that the toy could eat her own food. No doubt Tobias was too indulgent. His own parents would certainly not have allowed such frivolous behaviour, and Miss Dunn would have had an apoplectic fit at such casualness. Tobias was not about to stop Charlotte’s antics; to see the happy playfulness in her eyes dim would kill something within him. If that made him appear weak in the eyes of others, then so be it.
This morning there was an ache around his heart, one he suspected was reflected in his brothers’ chests too, if the way their pained and weary gazes kept flicking towards their niece was anything to go by.
They had to keep her safe. Tobias had to keep them all safe. He hadn’t been able to protect Sebastian, but he would be damned if Charlotte’s grandparents would hurt another member of his family.
He turned his attention to Grace and fury rushed through him, burning his veins; his fingers flexed against the starched white tablecloth. The vivacious woman who had crossed swords with him, who had told him off and openly challenged him, was now sad and diminished, curled in on herself. She was staring at her plate, the food on it untouched. Even if the Ashbys had not come after his family, he would loathe them for what they had done to their daughter. Grace lit up every room she was in; in a ballroom she sparkled, at a formal dinner, she was the guest everyone turned towards, who engaged everyone in conversation. But on hearing what her parents had done, a light had gone out in her and Tobias hated that.
Last night, when he had set her down in front of one of the guest suites, she had started trembling so violently, he had been able to sense it, even though they were no longer touching. It had taken all his restraint not to pull her into his arms, to offer comfort but also protection from the world outside. He was fighting an unprecedented urge to barricade her into a castle, along with the rest of his family, so that he could patrol the perimeter like some sort of chivalric knight from medieval times.
There was, of course, an option he could take that vaguely resembled that image, although he wouldn’t be marching along ramparts in clunky armour. As the head of the family, he tried not to exert his authority in a way that was cruel or limiting to any of their freedoms. Not after the debacle of Miss Dunn, who had taken advantage of the small amount of authority she’d had over him and his brothers. She’d been foul to Tobias, who’d been old enough to recognise that she wanted to break his spirit, that she saw his lack of communication as slow wits and had been manoeuvring to play a larger role in the dukedom than he was ever going to allow her.
The male guardians his parents had put in charge until Tobias was of age had been more concerned with manipulating the money they were in control of, than the welfare of five boys. Naively, Tobias had thought her animosity only extended to him, had believed that she wanted to wear him down enough to keep control of him. He had been wrong. When he had been away at university, her reign of terror towards his younger brothers had been far worse than when he was around. It was Sebastian who had alerted him to the problem and by then, the worst had been done. His brothers had been scattered and divided and Tobias had lacked the ability to find the right words and deeds to bring them back together. His guilt was unending. He hadn’t been around to protect his brothers when they had needed him most. He had failed the people who relied on him the most. He would never let them down again, not a single one of them.
His guilt normally kept him from asserting his authority, but he could not sit idly by; this time he needed to act.
Speaking normally came better when he had planned what he was about to say. In this case, he had barely slept, thinking of nothing but what he should do next for his family. For once, his speech came easily.
‘We will head to Glanmore Park,’ he said, referring to the family’s country estate. ‘We can manage our protection there far more easily than if we stay in town.’
Grace slumped further down in her chair, and that flicker of rage burned stronger.
‘Do you not think it would be better if we stayed here and looked for the people behind last night’s break-in?’ asked Edward.
Tobias was grateful for the way Edward didn’t mention Grace’s parents by name; her face flushed red anyway and Tobias thought that if she got any lower, she would disappear beneath the table.
‘None of us are going to gambol about London playing at being investigators,’ said Tobias. He would not back down about this. Sebastian had not taken enough precautions with his own life; Tobias was not going to do the same with his remaining brothers. ‘We will employ people to do that for us.’ He could see that Edward was about to protest, but Tobias was not going to allow him to, not this time. ‘At Glanmore Park, we can control who comes in and out of the building. In central London, there is always someone calling—post boys, butcher boys, grocers, to name but a few. We never see these people. They could be anyone.’
‘I will never sleep again,’ muttered Edward.
‘If anyone comes within ten miles of the estate, we will know about it. I will have people stationed at all the local inns, who can report to us if they spot anyone matching the description of… matching the description given to us by our intruder last night. We will be in a far safer position than we are here.’
Even Edward nodded along with Tobias’ logic, which made things easier. They were going regardless, but Tobias hadn’t wanted to waste time and energy arguing. There would be details to iron out later, but he wanted them on the road no later than at first light tomorrow. It would mean a lot of packing, all of which would have to be done without alerting Grace’s parents to the fact that they were leaving town, which led him neatly to his next point.
‘Grace will, of course, travel with us.’
