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He moved a still trembling Jess out of the doorway and into the hall, leaving neither Lloyd nor Carruthers any opportunity to speak. It was clear from the look on the magistrate’s face as soon as he entered the hallway that he abhorred having his authority challenged, and was determined to have the last word.
“It is a foolish person indeed who threatens me,” the man drawled as his gaze raked Marcus with insolent defiance.
“I am not threatening you. I am merely stating a fact. You know nothing about me,” Marcus challenged. “You know nothing about who I am, where I come from, or who my connections are. You would be a fool if you challenged me, without the wherewithal to gather the facts about how much damage I could do to you. Now, you are breaking the law entering this house without a reason, and trying to force yourself upon a lady, especially when I have already told you she is my fiancée. If you knew she is engaged, Lloyd, why are you pestering her?”
“You are lying. Jessica is not engaged,” Lloyd protested.
“Jessica is my fiancée, I tell you,” Marcus declared. “Until you have proof to say otherwise, keep your damned hands to yourself. If I find you anywhere near this house again; I will take a formal complaint about you to the Lord Chief Justice himself.”
A heavy silence settled over the room. Lloyd still stubbornly refused to move. He turned an accusatory glare on Jess.
Terrified, Jess stepped as close to Marcus as it was possible to get. She was blessedly relieved when his arm instinctively tightened around her. She had never been so grateful for anybody’s protection in her entire life. Now that she was safe, she watched Marcus battle with the stubborn magistrate with keen interest.
Typically, Lloyd turned the situation into something sleazy and sordid.
“I didn’t realise that you had that kind of arrangement going,” he drawled.
The gaze he threw at Jessica effectively branded her as nothing more than a common whore.
“If you call marriage to be that kind of arrangement then yes we are, and I can only be glad of it,” Marcus retorted flatly.
Jess felt tears pool in her eyes. She knew Marcus was doing his level best to protect her but, as she stood in the hallway nestled against him, she had wonder what it would be like if his statement were real. It would be heavenly to have someone like him beside her, there to protect and love her unconditionally.
If only, she mused with a heartfelt sigh.
Marcus shook his head warningly at her when she opened her mouth to say something. She dutifully lapsed into silence. At the moment, she was so darned grateful he was there she would have done anything he asked of her. If Lloyd had to believe she had a closer association with this man than they truly had then, it could only work in her favour. Now, if only Marcus stayed long enough for Lloyd to turn the focus of his attention elsewhere, she knew she would be able to rest comfortably in her bed at night.
Lloyd stormed toward the door but hesitated briefly in front of Jess.
“I warn you now that I will catch your brother red-handed. He is a thief, and should be behind bars.” He threw a dismissive look at Marcus. “I will be back.”
“Make sure you have good reason to come here again, Lloyd,” Marcus challenged as he watched the magistrate stalk out of the door. “Or you will not cross the threshold.”
When Lloyd whirled around to say something, Marcus slammed the door in his face.
“He is livid,” Jess whispered. “He won’t like being thwarted like that.”
“I don’t care,” Marcus snapped. “Just stay inside today, Jessica,” he pleaded softly.
At her ready nod, his hand slid down her arm to capture her fingers in a gentle hold. He studied the marks on her wrists and shook his head.
“How long had he been here?”
“He arrived a couple of minutes after you left. He hasn’t been that lecherous before,” Jess whispered. “I didn’t know what to do.”
“Men like Lloyd are just as criminal as the criminals they catch. If he is in this house threatening you without cause, and does something like that, you are at perfect liberty to do whatever you need to do to protect yourself. Smash him on the head with something, or kick him. Do whatever you need to do, but get out of the house and run for help. It is up to him to account to the locals why he has done what he has. He will then have to explain to them why he has been in your house in the first place.”
“The villagers hate him,” she whispered.
Now that the threat had gone, all of the emotion she had refused to show in front of Lloyd came raging to the surface.
Marcus hauled her into his arms as soon as he saw the tears, and held her tenderly while she wept.
“I know. I have seen him trying to pick on Ben in the tavern. The man is an oaf. Neither him nor Carruthers, have anything to do with the law,” he sighed and made a mental note to mention Lloyd in his missive to Sir Hugo. “Just tell Ben what has happened. Then he will have no excuse if he keeps doing stupid things which put you in danger. If his behaviour is giving Lloyd an excuse to come to this door, then he has to stop. It is as simple as that.”
Jess frowned, in spite of her tears, and leaned back to look up at him.
“Just who are you?” she whispered.
