Page 19 of The Marquess of Secrets

Was that a boot peeking out from behind?

Grabbing the top crate, he pushed it aside, and the band of illumination fell upon the face of a woman in obvious distress.

God above, it’s Miss Best!

At her feet lay a rotten apple core and bread crumbs. Her eyes were closed, but she clutched her bundle tight to her chest. The blanket still hung about her shoulders as it had the last time he’d seen her.

Without hesitation, Harrison pulled the rest of the crates aside, then hooked his elbow under her knees and lifted her up into his arms. Her face was pale, perspiration beaded along her hairline. Blood had seeped through one of her tattered gloves.

“Miss Best!”

She did not answer, nor did her eyes flutter.

Harrison ran out into the street. “You there!” he called to the hansom cab driver. “Hop down and get the door.”

The man touched his forelock and did as commanded. Harrison placed one foot on the step.

“Forget Stepney High Street; make haste to forty-three Marylebone Road. If you can get us there in less than fifteen minutes, I’ll pay you with a gold guinea.”

The driver’s face lit up, and he touched his forelock again. “At once, my lord.”

The driver closed the door, and with a jarring start, the carriage was off at a brisk clip.

Miss Best lay across his lap. Pushing her hair from her face, Harrison was shocked to see how pale she was. Laying the back of his wrist on her forehead, he frowned. The poor woman was burning up.

“Why on earth did you run, Miss Best? If that is your name,” he whispered. “Are you this mysterious Lydia Chesterton the police are seeking?”

His finger trailed across her cracked lips. Dehydration. No doubt malnutrition.

He pulled off her glove and hissed through his teeth at what he found. A bite, no doubt from a rat. It had broken the skin and bled.

What are the odds that he alone would find her?

Fate had certainly taken a hand.

Harrison’s thoughts drifted to his visit last month with his family and Tremain relaying how he met his future wife, Eliza.

Eliza had been turned out of an earl’s house in disgrace and, during her journey, viciously attacked. Robbed and nearly raped. Tremain found her in a snowbank not far from the vicarage. His brother described the incident as if he was a knight of old, rescuing a maiden in distress.

How he’d been attracted to her from the first, though he’d tried to deny it. How it slowly but surely melted his frozen heart and brought alive every emotion he long-buried, including his overwhelming need to protect her.

There was nothing else Harrison wanted to do than to protect this lovely lady from the severity of life.

The strength of his protective instinct shocked him. Never experienced this with any woman before. As Tremain conveyed, every emotion crackled with newfound life and energy.

Dear God. What to do about it?

The first priority was seeing Miss Best well. In the meantime, he would try to understand what was happening and discover if the attraction was mutual.

Chapter 7

With slow increments, Lydia became aware of her surroundings. At first, the crackling sound of wood burning in the hearth entered her consciousness.

Fire. Am I in hell?

She opened her eyes, trying to blink away the haze obscuring her vision.

“At last, you’re awake, miss.”