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Arthur didn’t think that she’d ever looked at him this way before. A heady mixture of tenderness and desire surged through him. If he found the right words now would she…?
A hail from above drew his eyes to the window of the private parlor. Tom stood there with his hand raised. Arthur waved.
The señora looked up as well. “Odile is in a bad way, I think. I would like her to see a doctor.”
“I have a good physician in town. Can she make it so far?”
“I’m quite worried for her, but let us go and ask what she would like to do.”
When he saw the young opera dancer lying on the settee, ashen and weak, Arthur was once again filled with rage. She was such a small, fragile-looking girl, and clearly she had been treated shamefully. What sort of man could do that? What sort let it happen? Because the staff had known very well what was going on in that place. How did people come to care so little for others’ pain?
When consulted by the señora, Odile begged to go home to London. The thought of staying anywhere near the house where she’d been imprisoned clearly terrified her.
Arthur moved closer. “We want to care for you.”
She cowered away from him. No one had ever gazed at Arthur with such sick fear. He hated it, and hated the reason she now felt it. Those responsible should pay for this. He retreated to the other side of the room.
Señora Alvarez soon joined him. “It is clear that staying here would be worse for Odile than the drive to town. However hard that may be.”
And so the arrangements were made, and they all set out—Teresa and Macklin in the curricle, the six young women in a roomy post chaise, and Tom riding beside.
“Where are we going to go?” Señora Alvarez asked after a few miles on the road. “The dancers lost their lodgings when they were taken away, and Poppy and Jill have none.”
“I’ve been considering,” Arthur replied. Six girls, most of whom showed clear signs of ill usage, would not be welcomed at an inn or hotel, even with ample funds. And after their imprisonment, they would not care to be shut into strange rooms alone. He thought they might do best if they were together. “I believe the best plan is to take them to my house for a while to recover,” he answered.
Her mouth fell a little open. “Your…”
“You could stay with them there, as reassurance and as a nod to propriety.” He hadn’t thought of this until just now. But he found the idea of installing her in his home very appealing.
Señora Alvarez seemed to grope for words. “Have you gone mad?” she asked finally.
“Not that I’m aware.”
“Nod to propriety,” she muttered. “You know very well that I offer no such thing.”
“Ah, well, youappearvery proper.” He was more and more pleased with his plan.
“Lord Macklin!”
He reined in his high spirits. But not his determination to convince her. “These poor girls need peace and quiet and safety,” he said. “Time to see a doctor. And it seems to me best that they be kept together for a while. So that they can support each other as they heal. My house satisfies all those conditions.”
“But word would spread. This would cause a great scandal.”
He had thought of this, and found he didn’t care a jot. “I have lived a life untouched by any hint of scandal,” he replied. “Perhaps it’s time to add a bit to the mix.”
“Will you be serious? This is not a joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
She stared at him as if trying to probe the depths of his brain. Arthur endured the examination calmly. It was true that he wanted to impress her as well as help the unfortunate girls. But hedidwish to help them. There was no deception involved. “Your house,” she said.
Her heavy tone reminded Arthur of her history. He hadn’t thought that an invitation to stay with him might feel like a threat. Now he remembered the grandee who had done the same and then closed her in a trap. “You will be completely free to order things as you wish. I can ask my housekeeper to give you charge of all the keys.”
Her gaze at his face never wavered. “Your housekeeper would be outraged by such a request,” she said. “She would probably give you her notice.”
“We can explain what the girls have endured. And that they trust you. And so this temporary measure…” He trailed off. Mrs. Garting wouldnotbe pleased by such an arrangement. Nor was Chirt going to welcome these visitors. At first. He would come around. Probably. “My butler may be a bit…difficult. He has a rigid sense of propriety. I wonder if I should stay with friends, or at a hotel, until this is…”
“Running away and leaving me to cope with the complaints of your staff?” She seemed torn between amusement and irritation.
