Talon banged on the heavy oak front door of Thomas Hayden’s country estate for almost half an hour before he roused someone. When the prune-faced, wizened old butler finally answered, he didn’t seem pleased to see his former mistress. Nor did Kate seem glad to be home, for all that she’d pushed so hard to get here.
The butler left them waiting in a dark, chilly parlor. He went to summon his sleeping master, mumbling under his breath about the unseemly hour of their visit. Talon was surprised Kate didn’t put him in his place.
Then again, with each passing moment, her tension and nervousness grew. He wondered what kind of man her father was to inspire such fear.
He wanted to take her hand again, remind her she wasn’t alone, but that didn’t seem proper, given the circumstances. He’d taken far too many liberties as it was.
She’d made her choice, and he was certain she had the strength to live with it. The last thing she needed was his help.
“Shall I leave?” The darkness made him feel as though he should whisper. “You’ll be safe here.”
She shook her head. “No. Please don’t go. Not yet.”
Before he could reply, there was a noise out in the hall. A small, bewhiskered man in a burgundy dressing gown swept into the room, followed by the lantern-wielding butler.
“Kathryn.” The man’s loud, mean-spirited voice belied his size. “What is the meaning of this?”
Thomas Hayden’s beady gaze fixed upon Talon. He sized him up, a frown of displeasure on his sour face. “Who are you? What are you doing with my daughter at this time of night? Where is her escort?”
“My name is Talon Montgomery,” Talon replied, managing to control his anger. “I am Kathryn’s escort.”
“He’s Daniel’s brother, Papa,” Kate interjected. “I asked him to bring me home.”
Hayden glanced back at Talon in surprise, obviously wondering about his relationship to the earl. Then he shook his head. “This is no longer your home, Kathryn. You should be in London with your husband, not gallivanting around the countryside in the middle of the night.”
Talon stood close enough to Kate to feel her cringe. “Let her tell you why she’s come.”
Hayden’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click, and he threw his daughter a bull-headed glance. Talon’s stomach clenched because he suddenly knew the son of a bitch wasn’t going to listen to anything she said.
She took a deep breath. “I want to annul my marriage, Papa. I need you to help me.”
“No.” Hayden didn’t even pause to consider it. “It’s out of the question. The marriage with young Sinclair is a good one, far better than you deserve, being your mother’s daughter.”
Her breath caught. Talon sensed that if her father had meant to wound her, he couldn’t have chosen a better weapon.
“We haven’t consummated our vows,” she managed to tell Hayden in a soft, trembling voice. “Daniel prefers men, so there will never be an heir. Sutcliffe is furious and plans to banish us.”
“Watch your mouth, girl.” Hayden didn’t seem at all surprised to hear he’d married his daughter to a sodomite, merely shocked she’d dared to voice it out loud. “I won’t abide such talk.”
“You won’t abide it?” Talon put a reassuring hand on Kate’s shoulder, infuriated by her father’s callous attitude. “Sutcliffe intends to send your daughter to Carolina for something that isn’t her fault, and all you can do is chide her for daring to tell the truth?”
“Good riddance, I say. She’s been nothing but an inconvenience to me since the day she was born. I knew she’d grow up to be a faithless whore like her mother, and I see I was right.” Hayden’s gaze narrowed on Kate. “You’ll tell any lie to gain an annulment so you can be with your lover, won’t you?” He shook his head and backed away. “I won’t be a party to it. I wash my hands of you, Kathryn. Don’t ever come here again.” Then he turned his back on his only daughter in obvious dismissal.
Talon started after him, a growl of anger in his throat, but Kate placed her small, trembling hand on his forearm, stopping him. “Please, don’t make it any worse. Just let him go.”
Glancing down, he took in the bruised, haunted look in her eyes and the brittle stiffness with which she held her body. She looked on the verge of complete collapse. “Come with me,” he murmured for the second time that night. “It will be all right.”
She allowed him to put his arm around her and lead her through the darkened house and out to the waiting curricle. After helping her up, he settled beside her, taking up the reins once more.
