Taking a deep breath, Madeline turned around to march toward her carriage. She could at least achieve something positive today.
As she glanced back, she saw that the two children were slightly distracted and had fallen a little behind.
“Wait!” The boy realized this and made a run for it. “Do not leave me behind.”
But his foot caught on something, possibly a protruding root, and he went down hard on the ground. The sound of his knee hitting the gravel made her stomach lurch.
“My knee!” he cried, with tears rolling down his cheeks. “It hurts!”
Without hesitation, Madeline dropped to her knees beside him, prepared to comfort him. It no longer mattered if she dirtied her dress; it was already soaked and muddy.
“Hush now, little one,” she murmured, keeping her voice soft and soothing as she touched the boy’s leg. “You are going to be all right. Now, let me see…”
Before she could do much more, a voice roared from a few feet away.
“Release him at once!”
Chapter 3
“Release my nephew at once, or I shall deliver you to the authorities,” the same voice said.
Madeline, still shaken from her unplanned soak in the lake, could not quite fathom what the man was angry about. After all, the children were left unattended, and that was through no fault of hers. She was only trying to help.
A shadow fell over her. The owner of the voice was tall and broad, momentarily blocking the sun that was warming her after her unwanted plunge into the lake. She lifted her face to see a man of towering height with wide shoulders and a stern face, making her almost expect to be pulled out and moved elsewhere. His piercing blue eyes were full of loathing, yet she could not help but think that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Until he opened his mouth to speak again.
“I said, unhand my nephew. Let go of my niece.” He did not raise his voice. The only sign of his fury was the muscle that ticked once in his jaw.
Never mind his looks. He is absolutely rude.
“I beg your pardon?” Madeline said through gritted teeth, her voice and body trembling from shock and anger.
She was not the sort to anger easily, but the man who was glaring at her at the moment had managed to awaken an ire that she did not know she was capable of feeling. It did not matter that she was still kneeling in a soaked and muddied dress, trying to soothe a crying boy.
“You heard me,” the man growled, his lips curled in a sneer that did nothing to diminish how annoyingly handsome he was. “I am not in the habit of negotiating with abductors, but were you planning on taking my niece and nephew for ransom?”
Those words were enough to wake Madeline from her spell. The man might be pleasant to look at, but he was incorrigible.
“I... What? Do you think I am abducting them?” Madeline spluttered, pushing herself up to meet the man’s fiery gaze. It did not matter that the man was about a foot taller than she was. “Do I look as if I am taking them away when I look like I just emerged from the bottom of the lake? Be thankful that these poor, unattended children are not the ones trying to rise from the waters. If I were not here, who knows what could have happened to them!”
The girl, who clearly appeared to be the older of the two, stepped forward. “She is telling the truth. She is merely trying to help us, Uncle. She was worried about us and was offering to bring us home.”
Madeline knew the girl meant well, but she wondered whether the statement would improve things or make them worse. The children’s uncle’s face stayed as hard as granite. His gaze stayedlocked onto hers.
“Albert, bring Emily and Alexander to the carriage,” he ordered the man standing behind him. He must have been his footman or driver.
Madeline shook her head in disbelief as she crossed her arms over her chest. Although she was still angry, the intensity of her initial feelings had lessened, and she was beginning to notice the bone-deep chill of her soaked body. She shivered.
“As your niece and nephew have proven, I was indeed trying to help,” she began through clenched teeth. “Meanwhile, you left two children unattended in a park with several people milling about. Yet, you have the audacity to accuse me of a crime? London is not a place for you to leave the young ones alone.”
The man’s face was no longer stern with anger. However, what replaced his expression might even be worse. He looked impassive, as if what had happened mere seconds ago was nothing. He reached for his leather wallet from his breast pocket. Madeline heard the clinking of coins, and she felt herself go cold all over. The trembling she felt was no longer from the chill.
“I do not have time for this, so spare me,” he continued in a monotone that was more aggravating than his furious voice. “A woman who looks like she emerged from a swamp should not lecture me about my responsibilities.” He counted silver and gold. Why was the man carrying such a large amount of money on his person? “I do not believe your rescue narrative. How much do you need for your trouble? Will twenty pounds keep you away from my family?”
“P-pardon?” Madeline’s cheeks had frozen from shock. All she could do was blink her eyes.
“Your fee for all the trouble,” he explained, handing her the money. “How much do you want for helping my niece and nephew?”
