Bennett was rapidly losing patience. ‘Spit it out, man! I have no blasted idea what you are talking about.’
‘That does not surprise me, Your Grace. As a bachelor, you have been spared the awful trials of attempting to understand a woman’s mind. Believe me, there is no arguing with them when they believe that they are in the right, or that the path they have chosen is the only route to travel. That is when they getthatglint. I have learned, through bitter experience, whenthatglint arrives, no matter how wrong the woman might be, reason will not sway her. Nor will lordly commands. The best course of action is to take a step back and allow them to do what they are set on doing—but to be prepared to step in and salvage the situation should the need arise. Hence, when Miss Mansfieldforcefullyinformed me that she had no intention of heeding my warnings, I found another way to keep her safe. A compromise, of sorts, although it was one she was not aware of. The very worst thing you could do to a young woman like Miss Mansfield is to forbid her from doing something.’
‘Nonsense.’ Bennett had heard enough of this idiocy. ‘That is just cowardice, Lovett. I told Miss Mansfield that she was forbidden to visit Seven Dials again or she could pack her bags and leave.’
‘And how did she take that, Your Grace?’
‘Despite her claims to the contrary, I fully expect her to see the logic of that decision once she has calmed down. You will see, Lovett. Sometimes all that is needed with a woman is a firm hand.’
His aunt chose that moment to barge through the door without knocking, wearing a face like thunder. ‘What on earth have you done to poor Miss Mansfield, Bennett? She has stated her intention to leave this house immediately.’
Bennett stifled a groan. ‘I merely informed her of the fact that she is not to visit Seven Dials again.’ Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lovett smirking. ‘I am sure that she is just being a little rebellious.’
Aunt Augusta glared at him as if he were mad. ‘She is already packing her bags, Bennett.’ Then she marched towards him and began to jab her finger into his chest. Clearly it was a day for females to jab him in the ribs. ‘You will fix this, Bennett. Have you any idea how many years it has taken me to find a half-decent companion who does not bore me to tears? I am immensely fond of the gal. She told me about your heavy-handed behaviour towards her in the carriage. How dare you threaten to dismiss a member ofmystaff? I have myownhousehold, Bennett, which I pay for with myownmoney. You do not support me and you never have. It is notyourplace to decide who is and who is not a suitable companion for me. You only have to suffer my company for one month every year; surely you can tolerate Amelia for such a short period of time?’
‘Heavy-handed!’Could his aunt not see the state of his nose? ‘I will have you know that, had it not been for my intervention, yourdearMiss Mansfield would likely have come out much worse at the hands of those ruffians. And are you aware thatpoorMiss Mansfield is consorting with Radicals?’
His aunt flapped her hand at him dismissively. ‘The gal has a great sense of civic responsibility, that is all, and a heart of gold. I think that it is admirable that she feeds all those poor wretches soup.’
‘You would not say that if you had seen Seven Dials. That place is a den of iniquity. Filled with thieves and layabouts. It is no place for a young lady.’
Again, Aunt Augusta appeared nonplussed. ‘Most normal young ladies, yes. But Amelia is made of much sterner stuff than most.’
‘Have you not seen her? She is barely five feet tall and looks as though a gust of wind would blow her over.’ But she had bravely stood in front of him, ready to fight beside him. And she had jumped on that bruiser’s back and, in doing so, stopped him from receiving a sound beating from two men simultaneously. ‘It is ridiculous that she thinks that she would be safe in a place like that alone.’
‘For pity’s sake, Bennett, stop being so high and mighty. Amelia lived in Seven Dials forthree yearsall alone and managed well enough.’
‘What?’ That did not bear thinking about. Petite, lovely Miss Mansfield came fromthatslum? ‘She told me that she lived in Cheapside.’ Andthatplace was bad enough.
‘She did. For a while. Amelia has lived in many different parts of London.’ His aunt’s face suddenly became closed and Bennett realised that the wily old bird knew a great deal more than she was prepared to let on. ‘Make it right, Bennett. I shall never forgive you if Miss Mansfield leaves. Try to see things from her perspective.’ Then she sailed out of his study imperiously.
Perspective.
What was it with women and that blasted word? First Miss Mansfield, now Aunt Augusta. As if his own perspective on the world was somehow incorrect. As if he were the one in the wrong because his own view of the world was skewed. Well, he wasn’t going to apologise.
‘Shall I send for Miss Mansfield, Your Grace?’ Lovett was still standing staring at him, his face completely devoid of any emotion, but his eyes were blatantly laughing.
‘No,’ he replied petulantly and then huffed in defeat. ‘Kindly send word to Miss Mansfield that I should like totalkto her after dinner.’ Perhaps his tone had been a little dictatorial. And judgemental. It was not as if he had known that she had lived there. Had he known, he might not have been so forceful. ‘Tell her that I would like to...’ Wring her lovely neck. Kiss that smart mouth of hers to silence her until she saw things his way. Talk to her about the stars and forget that he was a duke for a little while. ‘Tell her that I would like to discuss a compromise.’
The butler scurried off, leaving Bennett alone with his thoughts. If he was brutally honest with himself, his anger was born more out of fear for what might have happened than at her blatant disregard for his wishes. Those three men had meant her harm—of that he was sure—and the thought of her being at the mercy of such men made him feel sick. When that man had grabbed her, Bennett had wanted to cause the blighter pain. Hell, he had wanted to kill the bounder who had thrown her to the floor. He still did. And now he knew that she might well have had to deal with such things repeatedly, and all alone, did not even bear thinking about. It was inconceivable to think that she had survived such a trial. And how had she come to live in Seven Dials in the first place? Was there no family left to have taken her in?
His peace was quickly interrupted by his mother, who was hanging on the arm of Uncle George. His uncle gave him a look that spoke volumes.Your mother is worried. Let her fuss.So Bennett subjected himself to being dabbed with witch hazel and endured his mother’s flapping with gritted teeth while he recounted a toned-down version of the events that had led to his injuries. Only then could he escape the confines of his study to change his clothes and organise his thoughts.
He did not want her to leave.
Why that was, Bennett was not prepared to consider, but as his anger subsided he acknowledged that he had not handled the aftermath of the incident as effectively as he could have. He had not allowed her to state her case and he hadn’t listened. He would try to see things from her perspective—even though he was perfectly certain that he had a very good perspective of things to begin with. He was a forward-thinking politician who was known for his sympathetic stance towards the poor. Hell, he had become known for being more forward-thinking than his own father, who had not cared one whit about the poor, so he deserved some credit. Once she had her say, Miss Mansfield would then have to listen to his side of things, when hopefully he could reassure her that she did not need to continue to serve soup in that hellhole because he, and other fine men in Parliament, had things well in hand.
As he approached the staircase, his eyes wandered up to the big mural on the ceiling, the very one that had been there for every single day of the thirty years of his life, and he paused. Perspective? As if he could not see something that was right before his eyes. Bennett scanned the hallway to see if anyone else was there. Only when he was absolutely certain there was nobody around to see him did he place himself in the very centre of the atrium and lie down on the floor.
It took less than ten seconds to learn that Miss Mansfield, damn her, might well be the one in the right after all.
* * *
Lady Worsted insisted that she come down to dinner, citing her nephew’s desire to make amends as the reason. Amelia wasn’t so sure. Whilst she felt extremely grateful and guilty in equal measure for the fact that the Duke had come to her rescue, she was still smarting at his tyrannical tone and his insistence that she had to abide by his rules or leave. She had been forced to leave one grand house in Mayfair because of Viscount Venomous’s unreasonable demands and being issued with an unreasonable ultimatum by the Duke had hurt—but it was not wholly unexpected. It was inconceivable that she would abandon her work at the soup kitchen; there had been far too many ultimatums in her life already, and none of them had led to a positive outcome for her.
Now, apparently, he was prepared to discuss a compromise and she was certain that his idea of a compromise and hers were very different things. No doubt, in his mind, it meant her capitulating entirely to his unreasonable demands in return for her being allowed to walk in the park once a week without asking his permission first. If she had wanted that sort of control in her life, she would be already married.
Unfortunately, Lady Worsted was also right. She had to endure Bennett Montague only until the end of December. Was it really worth throwing away the best job she had ever had just for a few more weeks of curtailed independence? At least back in Bath, even if the political societies were disorganised and provincial and the poor did not need her quite so desperately, she could come and go as much as she pleased. But it was not London and it never would be. In London Amelia made a small difference. In Bath she would be old and wrinkled before anything drastic was achieved.
