Seducing the Ruthless Rogue

by Tammy Jo Burns

  “I really don’t see how that is any of your business, or why I should answer you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do, and they do not include standing here wasting my breath talking to you.”

  “What is it about me that riles you so much, Miss Graham? Is it the fact that I am Scottish?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Then you have heard that I am a bastard.”

  “In your actions, Director?”

  “In every sense of the word, Miss Graham.”

  She paused mid-stride and turned to stare at him with a look of unbelief. “I highly doubt that, Director.”

  “It’s true. You should ask my my brother or his wife. Even my grandmother will tell you, though she hates to say the word.”

  “No, I am not even going to broach this topic with you, because I could not care less.”

  “Ah, your curiosity is piqued though, isn’t it.”

  “No, Director, it isn’t. Now, as I said earlier, I have people to see. I wish you a good day,” she said and climbed back into the waiting hack.

  Mack stood and watched the carriage leave. Now, what exactly was the woman up to? he pondered. He turned and ambled back towards the assembly, listening intently to the speaker and wondering why Miss Cassie Graham was so interested in the plight of factory workers.

  ***

  Cassie fumed inside the moving conveyance. Why did he continue to plague her? And what right did he have to take her journal from her? It was a good thing that she wrote in her own code, though he had not believed her. All the better. She looked back and saw him moving towards the group once more. “Irritating Scotsman,” she muttered.

  Finally, the coach pulled up in front of a familiar mansion. She took a deep breath and paid the driver, then walked up to the front door. She knocked and waited for the door to open. The butler opened the door and looked at her expectantly.

  “Might I help you?”

  “Yes. I am here to see Lady Thompson. I apologize for not having a calling card, but if you could tell her…”

  “Cassie!” a little girl’s voice exclaimed.

  “Jemma, how are you, Poppet?” she asked, bending and lifting the little girl in her arms. She relished the feel of the little arms tight about her neck. Cassie missed not having siblings, and swore that she would have more than one child if she ever married. She almost laughed aloud at that thought, for marriage was most assuredly not in her plans.

  “Jemma, where are you?” she heard a familiar voice.

  “Here, Mama,” she called.

  “Oh, Miss Graham, it is so good to see you. Please come in,” Abby said. “Jemma, Miss Graham does not need to be carrying you to and fro.”

  “Cassie, remember?” The woman nodded. “And Jemma is perfectly fine where she is, aren’t you, Poppet?”

  “Yes,” the little girl nodded before resting her head on Cassie’s shoulder. She began twirling a loose tendril of Cassie’s blonde hair about her finger.

  “She’s been asking about you,” Abby said, leading Cassie to the parlor.

  Cassie sat in a rocking chair while Abby sat on one end of the settee. “Shall I have refreshments prepared, Lady Thompson?”

  “That won’t be necessary…”

  “Yes, please do, Riggs,” the beautiful duchess entered the room. Cassie started to rise, but the woman waved her hand in dismissal, “Stay where you are. You have your arms full.”

  “Thank you, Your Grace,” Cassie said. She managed to sneak a peek at the little girl and saw that her eyes were fluttering closed. “You both look much better,” Cassie said, flashing a smile at Abby.

  “Mikala and His Grace have seen that we have been well cared for. And then there is the food,” Abby said as two maids entered the room, one carrying a tray of food and the other carrying a tray with a teapot and cups.

  “Perhaps one of these days I will be successful in having her at least call him Gabriel,” Mikala laughed.

  Abigail blushed and quickly began pouring tea. She passed tea to both Cassie and Mikala and the women settled into a companionable visit. A knock sounded on the door and Mikala cocked her head.

  “I wonder who that could be? Please excuse me,” Mikala said. She stood and left the room.

  “She doesn’t act very much like a duchess,” Cassie confided to Abigail.

  “Judith!” Cassie and Abigail heard Mikala exclaim.

  “No,” Abigail chuckled softly. “From what I remember, she never did fit society’s dictates. She is just so full of life. She and Lord Hawkescliffe have been so welcoming.”

  “And you are sure you are in good health?”

  “Yes. Mikala insisted I be examined by both a physician and a midwife. Both pronounced me fit beside needing to put on more weight. The babe has been more active the last few days, too.”

  “I am so very glad.”

  “Me, too,” Abigail said softly.

  “Ladies,” Mikala said entering the room and pulling an older woman with her. “I would like for you both to meet Gabe’s grandmother, Judith.”

  “Judith, this is Lady Abigail Thompson and Miss Cassie Graham. The little girl in Cassie’s arms is Jemma, Lady Thompson’s daughter.”

  “Your Grace,” Abigail stood and curtsied before the older woman could stop her. Cassie followed suit as well as she could with her arms full.

  “Everyone sit,” Judith said. “It feels so very good to be out of that carriage.”

  “You mean you couldn’t find some way to pass the time?” Mikala asked slyly. She laughed, her husky voice filling the room as the older woman blushed. “Abigail—”

  “Mikala Hawke, I will never speak to you again if you breathe one word,” Judith said.

  “It is your news to announce,” Mikala said with an indulgent smile. “I was merely going to tell Abigail our plan.”

  “Oh, yes,” Judith beamed at Abigail. “Abigail, Mikala wrote me and told me your story. I know your family and it hurts my heart that they would turn their back on their child and granddaughter as they have,” she held up her hand when Abigail started to speak. “I am not going to get involved in family affairs. What I am going to do is take you and that sweet child back to the country with me.”

  “Oh, but I have already been enough of a burden on your family,” she shook her head.

  “My dear, never consider yourself a burden. Now, tell me more about yourself,” Judith said. The two women chatted for quite a while when Judith grasped Abigail’s hands and cried, “That’s it!”

  “What is it, Judith?”

  “I have a very dear friend who lives in a large manor house, almost a castle, really, outside of Fishguard, Wales,” she said.

  “Fishguard?” Abigail asked. “Isn’t that the place of the last invasion on England by the French?”

  “Yes,” Judith agreed. “My friend, Cecilia, the Dowager Countess of Haverson, and I write each other regularly. We had our season together and became the best of friends.”

  “Judith,” Mikala prompted before taking a sip of tea.

  “Oh, yes. Well, Cecilia’s mother has had some sort of attack. It has left her paralyzed on one side of her body. It seems she has gotten some mobility back, but Cecilia is in desperate need of a nurse and companion for her mother.”

  “But what does that have to do with me?” Abigail asked.

  “You could fill the position.”

  “Oh, no, Lady Judith, you are mistaken. I’m not a nurse, and I am going to have two small children soon,” Abigail shook her head and sat the teacup down.

  “But you are,” Judith countered. “You, yourself have told us how you helped care for soldier’s wounds. You would be an asset to Cecilia’s mother.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I couldn’t think of anyone better,” Mikala said.

  “But where would I live? I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Abigail shook her head.

  “You would not be intruding. Cecilia and her husband, Lawrence, spend most of the
ir time here in London. Their daughter is grown and married with children of her own. Their son is somewhere fighting in this bloody war, worrying his parents to death that something will happen to him.”

  “I must think about it.”

  “You have a week. That is when I return to the country.”

  “Thank you, Lady Hawke,” she said.

  A wail pierced the air. “That would be your great-granddaughter,” Mikala said, standing. “Come, I know you are desperate to see her.”

  Cassie and Abigail watched the other women leave the room, arm-in-arm. Cassie stood and walked to the settee and laid Jemma down next to her mother and unwound her hair from the little girl’s finger. She stood upright and stretched.

  “She’s getting too big to hold,” Abigail said, a smile in her voice. She brushed the little girl’s hair from her face. She took one of the little girl’s chubby little hands in hers and rubbed her thumb back and forth across the back of it.

  “What are you going to do, Abby?” Cassie asked her.

  “I don’t know,” she replied.

  “It might be the answer you are looking for.”

  Abby nodded her head.

  “What is holding you back?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because Wales seems so desolate.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t all that bad,” Cassie said.

  “But the children…”

  “And you heard what Lady Judith said about that. Now, what is really bothering you?”

  “I am so very tired of change,” Abby said, tears shimmering in her eyes. She let her head fall against the back of the settee.

  Cassie rushed to her side and fell to her knees beside Abby. She placed a comforting hand on Abby’s arm.

  “In the beginning, Andrew was so charming. He was exciting and so very attentive. And then we snuck off to Gretna Green because my parents did not approve. We thought afterwards they would see that they could not keep us apart, and they would accept him.”

  “But they didn’t.”

  “No. Then I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I took up following the drum. Did you know that now I can tend wounds, wash clothing, and cook? I can also help dismantle and set up a camp. I can use a sword and a gun. I know it was not even four years, but it felt like so much more. I am just so tired of change and moving.”

  “Perhaps this is the answer for you, Abby.”

  “What happens if she passes away? What happens to us then?”

  “One step at a time.”

  “But I have to think like that. I have children I have to think of. Am I always going to be going from home to home, dragging my children with me? What kind of life is that for them?”

  Cassie could only wrap the other woman in her arms, letting her cry out her worries in silent, body-wracking sobs.

  ***

  Cassie assisted Abby and Jemma upstairs to the room they shared. She promised to return before the end of the week to say goodbye, because Abby had decided she had no other option than to take the position. Judith promised to set up an interview with Cecilia within the next few days, but foresaw no issues.

  “Where are you going?” Mikala asked, when she saw Cassie standing next to the door.

  “Home. Papa and Chang will be wondering where I am.”

  “No,” Mikala said. “I wanted you to dine with us. Send them a note telling them where you are so they will not worry. I’ll have a footman deliver it.”

  “I couldn’t impose.”

  “You would not be imposing,” Mikala said. “I hope that Abby will join us as well.”

  “She has had a rough time.”

  “Yes, she has. Please, stay.”

  “Perhaps another time,” she said, not feeling comfortable intruding on what would primarily be a family meal.

  A knock sounded on the door and Cassie moved out of the way so that the butler could answer it. On the other side stood Mack.

  ***

  “What are you doing here?” Mack demanded.

  “Stuart McKenzie, you will not talk to my guests that way,” Mikala ordered.

  “Your guest?”

  “I came to check on Lady Thompson,” she said.

  “Lady Thompson?”

  “Yes. She was born with the title of Lady because of her father’s title. So, that means regardless of who she marries, she retains that title. You are not so ignorant that you do not understand how society works, are you, Director McKenzie?”

  “Yes, Miss Graham, I believe I do. You see, even though your father is a knight, you have no title. Isn’t that correct?”

  “And what title do you have, Director McKenzie?”

  “I told you, bastard is the title I was born with,” he let the word roll off his tongue.

  “If I hear you speak that word again, I’m going to find the heaviest thing I can and put a knot on your head,” Judith said as she walked down the stairs.

  “Grandmother? What are you doing here?” Mack rushed over to her, lifted her off the bottom step and swung her around, hugging her.

  “And to think, a few years ago, he didn’t even know she existed,” Mikala said, a smile on her face.

  “I have several reasons for being here, but the most important will be announced at dinner. Now put me down and watch your mouth,” she said, slapping his arm. “I also came to see my darling great-granddaughter, which reminds me, when are you going to get married and start having children?”

  “Don’t start,” he growled.

  “I was just leaving. I had a wonderful time, Mikala. Judith, it was wonderful meeting you.”

  “Are you certain you won’t stay and join us?”

  “No, but thank you once more.”

  “Ho there,” Mack yelled to the driver. He made a motion and the driver turned the horses and made his way around the square. “Miss Graham,” he held out his arm to her.

  “Thank you, Director McKenzie,” she said and lightly took his arm. “Your grandmother is quite a force to be reckoned with.”

  “Especially when she and Mikala are together. It is truly frightful,” he said.

  The hack pulled to a stop and he helped her inside. “Thank you, Director McKenzie,” she said, trying to be civil.

  “My pleasure, Miss Graham,” he said before shutting the door. He called out the address to the driver and then stood there, watching it drive off. Why was he watching it? Was he hoping she might open a window and wave at him? Perhaps she would… “Stop,” he directed himself. “She wants nothing to do with you, and you don’t have the time for a relationship.”

  “Mack, what are you doing standing out here?” Gabe asked as he rode up on his horse and dismounted.

  “Nothing. Been riding?”

  “Yes, but that’s fairly obvious, isn’t it?” He passed the reins to a groom who led the horse to the mews.

  “Grandmother is here.”

  “Wonderful. What mischief have she and Mikala been into?”

  “I don’t know, but I think it might involve Miss Graham and Lady Thompson.”

  “Shall we go see?” Gabe asked, clapping the other man on the back. They walked up to the door together. Gabe greeted his grandmother, then his wife. They all entered the parlor to await the announcement of the evening meal when another joined their number. “Hamlin,” Gabe called, and crossed the room, greeting the old family butler. He had retired shortly after Gabe and Mikala had married, declaring they needed someone younger to help watch the children they were sure to have.

  “Master Gabriel,” the old man said.

  “Oh, please, none of that,” Gabe said, shaking the man’s hand.

  “Now that all of you are present, I have an announcement to make,” Judith said. They all looked on expectantly.

  “I am no longer, Lady Hawkescliffe or Lady Hawke.”

  “What do you mean?” Gabe queried.

  “Hamlin and I were married at Gretna Green.”

  “What?” The word could be heard echoing about the room.

&
nbsp; “I have no plans to return to society, and I refuse to live out my life pining for the man I love. Your grandfather has been gone for years.”

  “Judith, I am so happy for you!” Mikala squealed excitedly, hugging Judith tightly, then Hamlin.

  “I am shocked but happy for you, too,” Gabe said squeezing her tightly.

  “Good for you, Hamlin,” Mack said, shaking the man’s hand, then he hugged his grandmother tightly. “If he makes you unhappy, you just let me know. I’ll take care of him.”

  “Mack, you’ll do no such thing.”

  “Supper is ready,” Riggs announced.

  “Riggs, we are celebrating! We need champagne!” Gabe announced.

  “Yes, Your Grace,” the man said, bowing low and leaving the exuberant group. What kind of master is it I work for? If they could hear what he was thinking, they would have simply laughed.

  Chapter 11

  Cassie felt inspired over the next few days. She wrote article after article about the plight of the poor and the working class. She even wrote an article about what members of the ton were willing to go through to have their children find successful matches. Cassie touched on the fact that men were willing to steal and barter human lives for the advancement of their lines with little thought as to what it meant to their children. She despised the social structure and how it rewarded those that were wealthy and did very little in life, and it came through in her writing.

  Once she had a sizable stack of articles, she bundled them in a portfolio and left the house. After walking several blocks, she found the boy she was searching for.

  “Good afternoon, Alfred.”

  “Afternoon, Miss Cassie. You need me to take that to the news office for you?”

  “Yes, please. How is your mother?”

  “Fine, Miss Cassie.”

  “And your sister?” The boy looked down, his lips quivered just slightly. “I will continue to pray for her,” Cassie said, putting a comforting arm around the boy and an extra half pence in his hand.

  “I’ll deliver this as soon as I sell my last paper.”

  “That’s fine,” Cassie nodded and patted the boy on his shoulder. “Thank you, Alfred.” Cassie walked off down the street, her heart heavy for the little family. Alfred’s little sister had been ill for quite some time, and her malnourished body could not fight the illness. It was a situation that saddened her and she felt a sense of hopelessness. She would give Alfred additional money when she could, but she and Chang had barely survived the last year. Now with another mouth to feed, it would be even more difficult. Perhaps Papa could work out something with the government—for every one of his inventions that they used, he would receive an income. She mulled over the option.