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Sir Owen stopped short and frowned at the scene that met his eyes, but he shook his head and said, “Well, it is amazing to me just how much can happen in a short space of time in the country!”
“Sir Owen…have you word?” Mandy asked going forward and allowing him to take her hand and bend perfunctorily over it.
“No, I am afraid not. However, I discovered that someone close to Elly Bonner, a Hawkins fellow…well, it is nothing, just an odd thing.”
The duke went forward, his blue eyes intent, “What is this odd thing?”
“A slip of the tongue…nothing really. However, the Hawkins fellow did come into York for a few things…”
Speenham seemed keenly interested, “Hawkins? Who is this Hawkins and what has he to do with anything?”
“We believe he may lead us to Elly Bonner,” Sir Owen answered him, and turned to Mandy. “What of Ned? Did your uncle actually manage to take him in?”
“Indeed, he tried, but they have escaped, as I shall, for I won’t stay in this house with…” she looked at Alfred, “…him.”
“Indeed, gamine, your uncle is not your legal guardian. I am,” stuck in the duke.
“Now, hold on here,” Alfred blustered.
“Hold on? For what?” the duke eyed him threateningly.
“You just can’t walk out of here with my cousin. My father…well, he is a magistrate as well as her uncle and although he has chosen to overlook her crime…her part in Ned’s initial escape…there is no saying that he will continue to do so if…”
The duke was already taking Alfred by the collar and seething with the fury of his words, “Speak like that and I will take great pleasure in knocking out each and every tooth you possess in that sordid button mouth of yours!” the duke warned. “You will remember as I have already informed you, that Miss Sherborne is my ward and as such, under my protection. If he chooses, though I highly recommend he does not, to bring charges against her, he will live to regret it, as I will make certain both his and your future will be fraught with pain and discomfort.”
Sir Owen, his hands folded in his arms stood slightly back, leaning against a near-by bookcase and watched with keen interest.
Alfred spluttered, mumbled and moved toward the side table where he poured himself a stiff drink.
The duke bent his arm toward his ward and said, “Let’s get you home, gamine, for I do not approve of these relations of yours. From here on out, I think you should not have anything to do with them.”
“Thank you…yes, I should like above all things to leave here,” Mandy said feeling very much like skipping along with him. She was going to be one and twenty and at that moment felt like a young girl at his side, happy to allow him to look after her. Life, she thought, was full of unexpected surprises.
He had her horse brought with his from the Speenham stable and saw her skirts spread around her as she sat her horse astride and she told him, “Brock, you are my hero, and Ned would say—a great gun. I do most humbly thank you.”
He laughed. “It is absurd, but to hear you compliment me instead of insult me is more than I can bear. Do stop.”
She giggled and then remembered her brother was now out of reach. “They are safe…yes?”
He regaled her with the tale the guards had recounted to him and they both laughed before he said, “I am pleased to tell you that your resourceful twin and your man Chauncey are free and I am certain, quite able to find a place to stowaway while we find Elly…and we shall. I can feel we are getting close.”
He mounted his horse and they started off together as he said, “I don’t mean to take you directly to Sherborne…is that acceptable?”
“Oh yes,” Mandy thought, knowing she would go to hell and back and then make the trip again for this man.
“I am loathe to have you in the same house with Agatha Brinley. For all we know, she may have killed her stepdaughter and I am not about to allow her to harm a hair on your exquisite head.”
“Then…where…?”
“To Skip’s manor.”
“No, that is…well, it is a bachelor’s residence. People may forgive me for helping my brother escape and hiding out with him, but they would never forgive me if I flout convention and move in with two bachelors.”
“I mean to have your nanny brought to Wharfdale Manor by the end of the day. I know you have her pensioned nearby, as I manage your finances. It will serve,” he said softly and reached for her ungloved hand. “I will always look out for your interests, love.”
She blushed as the heat rushed through her body. He cared. Did that mean he loved her? Could this big wondrous man actually love her? She was naught but a country miss…a hoyden without London polish—and yet the way he looked at her was more than the lust they had shared. Could he love her? Could he?
Chapter Sixteen
