Something dangerously close to pity filled his gaze. Sympathy from anyone would have been abhorrent, but seeing that rare show of tenderness in rock-steady Gabriel—it was almost more than she could bear.
She didn’t answer, too afraid that her voice would tremble. Of course this was about Daniel and Madeline. They had gone missing weeks ago and no one was doing a thing about it.
His sigh was weary but not unkind. “We’ve been over this, Lydia. Daniel wouldn’t want you to get involved. I’m certain he and Madeline are just deep undercover and—”
“No.” She stood up so abruptly she nearly knocked over the tea tray. “Don’t give me that rubbish. That’s what General Watters said too, but you know as well as I do that Daniel and Madeline always find a way to let me know they are all right. Always.”
Anger and frustration had her trembling but she clasped her hands together so Gabriel would not notice. She had hoped that the general would help her. As Madeline’s adopted father as well as their employer, he had been the first person she’d contacted when Daniel and Madeline failed to get in touch during their latest mission.
Months ago they had brought Lydia up north, posing as a merchant family, when they were really under orders to keep tabs on the rabble rousers who were threatening protests and strikes. It was an industrial county and from what Lydia could gather, a good portion of the local working people were unhappy with their circumstances in light of the latest economic downturn. It wasn’t the first time her family had been sent to an area where there was turmoil among the classes.
Ever since the war had ended, there had been unrest and dissatisfaction within Britain and, without a foreign enemy to ferret out, Daniel and Madeline had been assigned to spy on their own countrymen. It had all been very standard. A hum-drum assignment, Daniel had called it.
But that was before they’d gone missing.
At first she’d assumed, like the general, that they had gone silent to keep their true identities a secret. But after days passed with no word, no hidden code, no clues whatsoever, she’d sent the general a note.
The general had replied to her concerned letter with an abrupt and condescending response. We must assume they have gone underground, he’d said. Their silence was to be expected. It was common protocol, etcetera.
She bit back an oath at the memory of that callous note. What an infuriating old man. Of course she understood protocol, but what the general seemed incapable of understanding was that the Ashford family had its own protocol.
A carriage accident had left Daniel her sole guardian long ago, and he’d raised her on his own until Madeline entered their lives and became the mother figure she’d been missing. Since they were both in a dangerous line of work, Daniel and Madeline had developed a system in which they could be there for Lydia whilst still working for the crown. They had raised her to understand their way of life and to be completely capable should the worst case scenario occur and she be somehow brought into danger.
But they had been wrong in thinking that the worst case would be that she was in danger. The worst possibility was that they left her alone, safe out there in her ordinary world while they suffered—or worse, died—while doing their duties.
That was a fate she would not face, not if she had any say in the matter. Besides, what good was all that private tutoring in the art of espionage if she couldn’t put it to use?
She pushed aside a wave of guilt. If they knew what she was up to they would kill her.
However, if they were alive to kill her then she would accept that punishment. All that mattered was ensuring their safety. She’d happily sit through a million lectures on the impropriety and rashness of her actions if it meant they were home safe. Besides, she’d followed her family’s protocol. She’d waited the appropriate amount of time, then reached out to General Watters, and then, almost immediately after, she’d contacted Gabriel.
As one of her brother’s oldest and closest friends, Gabriel had sworn to protect her should anything happen to her brother. She almost hadn’t followed that step in the Ashford family contingency plan. Gabriel had offered to look out for her when she’d been just a child, for heaven’s sake. Surely no one expected him to take her in now that she was a fully grown woman of twenty.
But that was when the idea had taken hold. She didn’t need a guardian or a chaperone. What she needed was a husband. She could bring that up now, she supposed. Remind him of his promise to care for her. Gabriel might not have romantic feelings for her, and he seemed to despise the idea of marriage in general, but if there was one thing that could be said for Gabriel, he was loyal. To a fault, her brother always said. And Daniel should know, he’d been friends with Gabriel and Wren since their school days.
If Gabriel thought that marrying her would be the best way to honor his promise, he would surely do it. She opened her mouth to remind him of that vow but when his gray eyes met hers she found the words stuck in her throat.
She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She might have let go of her silly crush, but the idea of manipulating him into marrying her out of some sort of obligation toward her brother…the idea made her stomach turn.
Gabriel stood and she came to her feet as well, though he still towered over her. She held her breath as she waited for his answer, but his answer had nothing to do with proposals or matrimony. It seemed his train of thought had gone in the same direction as hers. When he met her gaze, he looked even more serious than usual.
“Lydia, I promised your brother I would keep you safe—”
She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.
“And I intend to do that the best way I know how.” He took a step toward her and she found herself holding her breath again, this time to keep from doing something she might regret. Like begging him.
She saw the resolute look on his face and knew what he was going to say before he said it. “Your brother would want you to be cared for.” He reached out and touched a finger to the bottom on her chin, tilting her face up so she was forced to meet his gaze.
For a man so large and brawny, his touch was devastatingly gentle.
“I will do everything in my power to find Daniel and Madeline, I promise.”
His gaze was fixed on hers, searching. She forced herself to nod, unable to speak as emotions filled her chest and made her throat ache from unshed tears.
“I need you to stay hidden,” he continued. When she stiffened, he hurried on. “I mean it, Lydia. If you get yourself in trouble, Daniel would never forgive me.”
She ignored the crushing weight those words brought with them. This was not a surprise. She’d always known Gabriel’s only interest in her was as Daniel’s little sister, the girl he’d sworn to protect. Nothing more.
As if an afterthought, he added, “I would never forgive myself.”
She forced a small smile and a carefree lightness in her tone that she did not feel. “I have no intention of getting myself into trouble.”
His brows lowered and his glower would have been formidable if she had not known him so well. “So you will drop this talk of marriage and allow General Watters and I to search for your brother and sister-in-law?”
She had never lied to Gabriel before and she couldn’t bring herself to do so now. Leaning back slightly, she moved just enough so his hand was no longer on her chin. She couldn’t think straight when he was touching her. And now was definitely not the time for those ridiculous feminine feelings to emerge, not when she had a family to save. “I cannot promise to sit idly by while they are in danger, Gabriel. You cannot ask that of me.”
Maybe it was the hoarseness in her voice, or the way she had dropped all pretenses, but Gabriel’s expression softened and his steely gaze turned warm. “Give me two weeks to look into this on my own before you do anything rash. Will you promise me that?”
Could she promise him that? She drew in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “All right. You have two weeks, Gabriel.”
He gave her a
small nod before turning and heading toward the door.
Her heart fell as she watched his back disappear through the drawing room door and his footsteps echoed down the hall.
She had a backup plan, of course she did. She was an Ashford through and through. Falling back onto the settee, she tried to ignore the grim reality of what she was about to do. She could only hope that Gabriel made good on his promise, otherwise in two weeks’ time, she would be married.
Just not to Gabriel.
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MAGGIE DALLEN IS a big city girl living in Montana. She writes romantic comedies in a range of genres including young adult, historical, contemporary, and fantasy. An unapologetic addict of all things romance, she loves to connect with fellow avid readers. Subscribe to her historical newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dgUNif or her contemporary newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL
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Earl of Charm: Wicked Earls’ club Page 9