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“They can hardly keep her a prisoner against her will, Dorcas.” But then he understood the girl’s fear. That’s exactly what they’d done to her.
“You got ter save ’er, m’lord. You can’t let ‘ make her sign a contract.”
Silverton smiled kindly at the girl. “I’ll save her, Dorcas. They can’t do anything to Kitty she doesn’t want. Believe me, once we march right up to Maggie’s and demand that they let her go, Kitty will be allowed free, and then she’ll come with me, and everything will be all right.”
“I ain’t goin’ near there. I can’t, m’lord. An yet...Kitty needs me.”
“She’ll need you when she wants a good maid to help her with all those things a lady needs, and you’ll be there, eh, Dorcas.” He patted her shoulder. “Have no fear for her safety. Kitty is probably drinking tea and in no danger at all.”
Dorcas looked dubiously up the road. “An afta yer get ‘er out? Where’ll she go, m’lord? Where will I go?”
“Why, you’ll come to me, of course. Kitty always comes to me when she needs help.” The knowledge suddenly filled him with the greatest excitement. And desire. Kitty needed his help. And she had nowhere to go but home to be with him.
Home to be with him. Where she belonged. She desired him as much—more—than she did Lord Nash. She’d admitted it numerous times; the only reason she’d chosen Nash was because he offered her marriage. Well, Silverton could offer her much more than Nash when it came to matters of the heart.
With a thrill that coursed throughout his entire body and made him feel quite lightheaded with joy, he turned his footsteps towards Soho.
He was not surprised by the unctuous welcome he received when he was shown into Maggie Montgomery’s sitting room.
“Lord Silverton, to what do I owe this pleasure?” she purred, pouring them both a snifter of brandy.
“I’ve come to fetch Kitty La Bijou.” With a smile, he tossed back the shot, its welcome warmth feeding his anticipation. Soon he’d have Kitty all to himself. Forever and always. He’d set her up in a handsome townhouse, and he’d shower her with all the gowns and jewels she could desire.
He knew he ought not to think in this manner with Miss Mandelton due to arrive in London in the next month. But Kitty needed him. He could not fail her now.
Guilt over what he owed Miss Mandelton could wait, and he knew he’d feel it keenly. After all, Miss Mandelton needed him too. They needed each other.
She needed a husband, and he needed a wife. A wife who would cause no scandal; who would be easily accepted into society. He had a duty to his parents, to his family name. He’d never been more shocked than to learn that Lord Partington was Kitty’s father, but even Lord Partington had understood it was impossible for Kitty, a bastard, to marry a peer of the realm.
“Miss La Bijou?” Maggie looked discomposed for the first time. “You’ve come here for her?”
“Yes, I saw her. And now I’d like you to take me to her.”
He rose, and Maggie rose also, frowning. “There is a minor matter that needs attending to first.” She ran the tip of her tongue over her top lip. “You see, it concerns a ruby necklace. A very valuable ruby necklace. There is a gentleman on his way to claim it. Miss La Bijou has wrongfully acquired this valuable item, and I shall be out of pocket if I simply hand the young lady, still wearing the necklace, into your hands, my lord.” Her smiled gained confidence as she no doubt took in his anxiety to be reunited with Kitty. “No need to look so concerned. Yes, this gentleman ain’t one you’ve a mind to see, I’d wager, but you were ‘ere first an’ I reckon if you can offer me the right kind o’ money we can both say goodbye feelin’ happy ‘bout matters.”
***
Kitty sat hunched miserably on the wrought-iron double bed with its blue satin coverlet and comfortable cushions. A small fire lit the grate. It looked as if the room were awaiting guests.
But surely not her.
And she surely did not want to be here.
She put her hands up to cover her face and tried not to cry. How could her life have spiraled downhill so quickly? Half an hour ago she would have married Lord Nash, had it not been for his treachery. And now she was here, a prisoner in a brothel. Would she be forcibly coerced into becoming one of Maggie’s girls? It wasn’t possible.
No, it wasn’t possible, for Lord Silverton would save her.
The bolstering thought flitted through her mind at the precise moment she heard a hasty rapping on the door, which was thrust open, and there he stood, smiling and handsome, his arms outstretched as he advanced toward her and she threw herself into them, reveling in his warmth and the wonderfully familiar smell of his cologne, woody and masculine, which sent tendrils of desire all the way through her.
“Oh, Silverton, I thought you’d never come!” she cried, which wasn’t entirely true, but it was nice to be able to give vent to a heartfelt outpouring that expressed that her very desires and hopes had come true. “At first, I wished you hadn’t come to the church because of how it made me feel here”—she tapped her heart—“and now I’m so glad you did because, oh, I need some comfort right now.”
“I know just how to comfort you, Kitty, my love,” he murmured against her lips. “You were very aware how ready I was to step in if you only wanted me enough.”
Kitty twined her arms about his neck and pressed herself against him. Her body was on fire, and the hand he slipped into her bodice was only stoking her lust. “I wanted marriage more than anything, I’ll admit it, but I loved you more, it’s true. Though I thought I loved Nash until he betrayed me,” she added, sadly.
Silverton put his hands on her shoulders and held her away from him; and as Kitty gazed at his face with its kind blue-grey eyes that smoldered with passion, beneath which there was no dueling scar, and the lovely springy waves of his hair that framed his handsome yet strongly made face, she knew she’d always been fated to kiss those sensitive lips and to lose herself in the passion of his kiss—and surrender her body to his.
“I shall never betray you, Kitty,” he promised, cradling her in his arms, then whisking her feet off the floor and placing her on the bed. “Be mine, Kitty?” His eyes were pleading as he cupped her cheek, joining her on the bed and gently toying with the top button of her gown. “Will you?”
