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Sabrina rose, keeping a firm hold on her reticule. “Hannah, you go home in the curricle with the groom. I’m going with Mr. Kendrick and Tilly.”
“Are you sure, my lady?”
“Quite sure.”
Hannah bolted for the door.
“Sabrina—” Graeme started.
She laid a hand on his arm. “I need to do this, sir. Ineedto help.”
It was foolish beyond belief to let her come, but Graeme had a terrible sense that he would crush something inside her if he said no. He knew what that was like, and how damaging it could be.
Tilly gave an urgent tug on his sleeve. “Mister, please.”
“The both of you will doexactlyas I say, is that clear?” he said.
They returned identical nods.
While Tilly headed for the door, Graeme took Sabrina’s arm. “You will doeverythingI say, lass, or I will put you over my knee for a good paddling.”
“M . . . Mr. Kendrick,” she spluttered. “Really!”
He was biting back a grin when the door flew open and a squat, toad-like man stepped into the room. Dressed in a bottle-green tailcoat, bright pink vest, and tall beaver hat, the fellow looked ridiculous.
Tilly, however, let out a yelp and skidded to a halt right in front of him.
Instantly, the man lashed out and cuffed the girl, knocking her into the lap of a startled customer who managed to keep her from hitting the floor.
“Ye little bitch,” the toad growled. “I warned ye not to run.”
It took but a moment for Graeme to find himself with a hand wrapped around the man’s neck, pinning him to the doorframe with the other hand.
“Old Bill, I presume,” he snarled.
Bill gurgled as he desperately scrabbled and thrashed, managing to land a weak kick on Graeme’s shin.
Graeme slammed him hard into the door. “Stop struggling, ye bastard.”
Sabrina suddenly was at his side. “Mr. Kendrick, you’ll choke him to death.”
“All right by me,” Tilly said as she wiped her bloody nose with her coat sleeve.
Graeme tightened his fingers around Bill’s throat, and the man’s face turned purple.
A small fist punched him in the shoulder. “Graeme, please stop it.Now.”
Her use of his name cut through the killing rage clouding his brain.
She punched him again. “You simplycannotkill a man in the middle of a coffee shop.”
He glanced down into her pale but determined features. “Are you sure?”
“Quite sure.”
She was right, of course. It would be massively inconvenient, involving constables, magistrates, and piles of paperwork. With the king still in Edinburgh, Graeme didn’t have time for such nonsense.
He pulled Bill away from the doorframe. “I’ll deal with you later.” Then he drilled the toad in his jaw, dropping him to the floor in a graceless heap.
