AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hardly. The few Marc did employ had been with him for years and were more loyal than he had a right to expect. “Well, you never know,” he said. “So, dohumorme.”
Caroline heaved a sigh. “Merton should have been pensioned off years ago, but Staveley adored him and vice versa. But now…” She seemed to choke backasob.
Marc tugged a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. “What happened to him was awful,” he said softly. Marc had never cared for Staveley, though he hadn’t hated the man. He’d just hated the fact that the fellow had married Caroline before Marc had noticed her. He hated that Staveley got to hold and touch and make love to her. But he hadn’t wished the man murdered. After all the death he’d seen in his life, he wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Well…there were a few exceptions to that. Galloway being one. St. George beinganother.
Caroline dabbed at her eyes with his handkerchief and shook her head once more. “I cannot do this with you,Lord Haversham,” she stressed his title as though to keep a distance between them. “I simply cannot. Please don’t seek me out again.” And then she lifted his piece of cloth backtohim.
Marc grasped her fingers under the guise of retrieving his handkerchief, but he didn’t let her go. Holding her hand made warmth course through him like it always did whenever he was fortunate enough to touch her. “You can hate me all of your days, Caroline. You can hate me with your dying breath. But youknowI care for you. You know I only want your safety. Sack your butler and hire someone else. I’ll send you Simmons, even.” Which was a fairly good idea now that Marc thought about it. If he couldn’t watch over her day and night himself, he had every bit of faith in the world that Simmons would keephersafe.
“I am not letting Tindle go simply becauseyoudon’t like him for some reason.” She snatched her hand back from his grasp. “So go find some impassioned actress or revel in Bramley’s ill-gained fortune or whatever it is you do with your time. Butleaveme—”
“Is everything all right?” the Earl of Peasemore asked, coming to stand right behindCaroline.
She glanced over her shoulder, and the fight within her seemed to drain away as though she’d been rescued. “Oh, LordPeasemore.”
The damned man. He might not be as stiff-assed as his cousin Carraway, but he was still a bloody nuisance. “Why don’t you mind your own affairs?” Marcgrumbled.
But Peasmore just shot him a bright smile that basically said to go bugger off and then turned his full attention on the beautiful, widowed viscountess. “I am at your service should you need anything,mydear.”
My dear? Marc itched to slam the young rake up against the side of the closest townhouse and give him a proper thrashing. If damned Peasemorethought—
“I don’t suppose,” Caroline began, blinking up at the golden-haired blackguard, “I could trouble you to escort me to CarteretHouse?”
Carteret House? One of the last places Marc would be allowed entry, which was probably why Carolinepickedit.
“It would be my honor,” Peasemore said smoothly and offered herhisarm.
Marc narrowed his eyes on the stubborn beauty as she linked her arm with the earl’s and let him lead her down Curzon Street. Damn her. She was not going to make this easy on him, not that he should have been surprised by that. But if she wouldn’t listen to reason, he’d have to take matters into his ownhands.
* * *
“I’m terribly sorry to impose,”Caroline whispered to Lord Peasemore once they were out of Marc’s earshot. Heavens, her heart was thumping wildly. But Marc usually did have that sort of affect on her, she just generally hid that a bit better. Today, she wasn’t in any sort of state to engage in their usual battle ofwills.
The earl smiled as he shook his head. “Nonsense. I’m happy to be of assistance. If you’d like I could try to blacken his eye. I’m not sure that I have the same right hook as Carraway, butforyou…”
From somewhere inside Caroline, a mirthless laugh escaped her. She was too shaken for it to be a genuine one. “Oh, you are charming,aren’tyou?”
Peasemore winked at her. “Thatiswhattheysay.”
Theysaid a lot more than that about the handsome earl, not all of it flattering. Or at least they had when she was in Town last. “Well, your reputation doesprecedeyou.”
He laughed that time. “I’m certainly in trouble if that’sthecase.”
Caroline wondered briefly if Peasemore was still entangled in a scandalous affair with Louisa Ridgemont, not that it was any of her concern. But one would think that a charming, handsome fellow would eventually want a wife of his own, as opposed to someone else’s wife. In fact, he was exactly the sort of fellow she would have, once upon a time, felt compelled to find a match for. “You are fortunate I am not matchmaking any longer, my lord. I would have found the perfect girl for you, despite yourreputation.”
The earl laughed again. “Have you retired your mantel,mylady?”
Caroline sighed. “I don’t think I have it in me any longer.” And she didn’t. How could she spend her time hoping to match the perfect pair when she felt so emptyinside?
“Not to fret.” Peasemore squeezed her fingers on his arm. “I’m certain it will just take time but then you’ll be back toyourself.”
She wasn’t sure if that was possible in the least. “And if I was, you’d willingly go along with my plans withoutcomplaint?”
The earl grinned widely. “I didnotsay that, Lady Staveley. No self-respecting rake goes to the altar of his own accord. Though I would be curious who you’d think to thrust inmypath.”
That was fair, she supposed. None of the gentlemen she’d helped find their own happy-ever-afters went along willingly, not at first anyway. That male stubbornness was exactlywhythey needed help. “If I was feeling like my old self, I suppose I’d ask you what sort of girl would interest you. I know a fair number,youknow?”
Peasemore laughed again. “Yes, I think you’ll be just fine in no time, my lady. I have nodoubt.”
