He listened to the woman’s words in disbelief. His hands clenched into fists atop his knees. “She was but a girl,” he said, doing his best to keep his tone even and calm.
“A foolhardy girl,” Lady Wilmington said.
“Cleo,” Lady Glenridge chided, then turned her serene glance to Alex. “Your Grace, Mia is our sister and we shall always hold her in great affection. But it is simply impossible for us to bring her back into our lives.” She shook her head and at least had the decency to look somewhat shamed by the situation. Her prim hands folded tightly into her lap. “There would be no way to explain the situation. And I don’t believe my husband would be too keen on the idea.”
What she probably meant was she didn’t want her husband thinking he could have two sisters in his bed. The Earl of Glenridge was a noted philanderer, it was well known that he had an insatiable hunger for women and shared his bed with a new one nearly every night. Sometimes at midday, too.
Alex knew despite all of these things, there were ways he could force them to do the right thing, but he wouldn’t always be around to monitor how they treated Mia. He couldn’t, in good conscience, hand her over to these women unless he knew for certain she’d be well cared for. All that considered, he wasn’t completely satisfied allowing them to merely go on with their lives with no heed to Mia’s needs. But for now he would walk away.
Chapter Fourteen
Mia and Rachel sat in the front parlor where two footmen had carried Rachel in an hour before. Her ankle was swollen and bruised, but the doctor Alex had summoned had assured everyone that it was not broken and merely needed elevation and for her to stay off of it for at least a week. Mia did not need to see her friend’s face to know she was more than annoyed. Rachel’s hand hadn’t stopped rubbing against the luxurious fabric on their settee for nearly ten minutes now. The scratch-scratch of her fingers rubbed against the rich upholstery.
Mia fought a chuckle. “My dear friend, what is troubling you so?”
Rachel’s hand stopped abruptly. “You know how I dislike being fretted over.” She took a breath. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate Lord Carrington’s kindness and generosity, but to allow us to stay here, and then assign servants to carry me around as if I were some bit of royalty, it’s simply too much,” she said.
Mia smiled. “Remember, your injury is only part of the reason why we’re here at Danbridge. If it shall make you feel better, then consider only the issue of the intruder to the cottage. That is the main reason why we are here. To keep us safe until a criminal is caught.”
Rachel leaned forward and patted Mia’s arm. “You are a dear friend, I do hope you know that.”
A moment later the door to the parlor opened.
“I’m looking for Lord Carrington,” a man said.
Before Mia could answer the man, Rachel gasped.
“Edward?” Rachel said, her voice shrill with surprise.
“Rachel Webster, imagine meeting you here. You look well,” he said. His voice declared him dapper and charming and instantly Mia was intrigued by who the man was and how Rachel knew him.
“Rachel?” Mia said. She came to her feet and faced in the direction from which his voice had come. “Will you introduce me to your friend?”
There was a long pause before Rachel answered. Mia was unsure if unspoken words passed between Rachel and the man or if her friend was simply getting her wits about her before talking. “My apologies, Mia,” Rachel said when she finally spoke. “Edward Simms, Earl of Fairbanks, this is my dear friend and employer, Mia Danvers.”
Mia grabbed Rachel’s hand and gently squeezed it. “I am not your employer,” she said gently. But she wanted to reassure her for other reasons as well. Mia knew very little about the man whom Rachel had once loved, but she knew one thing—he was the Earl of Fairbanks. Rachel had given her that much of his name. So she kept her hand on Rachel’s for added comfort.
“What a pleasure to meet you, Miss Danvers,” he said. Though he made no move to get close to them or to sit himself, his voice had grown closer as if he’d walked further into the room. “How is it that you two lovely ladies came to be here at Duke Carrington’s home?” he asked.
“I have an injury,” Rachel said quickly.
“Yes, she fell yesterday and has a bad sprain on her ankle,” Mia added.
“How long has it been, Rachel?” he asked.
“Thirteen years,” she said.
“A very long time indeed,” he said.
“I hope life has been kind to you,” she said.
Suddenly Mia felt very much in the way of this intimate reunion. These two had once loved one another, perhaps they should be alone. But she didn’t know if her friend would want to be alone with him.
“Most kind,” he said. “And yourself?”
“I am Mia’s companion,” she said. “We live in a cottage at the edge of Lord Carrington’s property.”
“Edward, I believe Hodges must have sent you to the wrong room. My study is across the corridor. Ladies,” Alex said from the doorway.
“I was merely catching up with an old friend,” Edward said. Mia heard his footsteps as he walked toward their settee. He bent and must have taken Rachel’s hand because Mia heard the distinct sound of lips to flesh. “Always a pleasure, Rachel. I do hope I’ll see you again.” Then he stepped away. “Very nice to have met you, Miss Danvers.”
A moment later she and Mia were once again alone in the room.
“Oh, Rachel, are you alright?” Mia asked.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Rachel asked but her voice held no confidence.
“Because you clearly still have tender feelings for him.”
“I have no such thing,” she said.
Her friend smiled, but said nothing more to argue. “How did he look?” she asked.
“Dashing. Far too dashing, if you ask me. More dashing than any man has a right to look.” Rachel sighed heavily. “I wish I didn’t care what I looked like right now, but damn it all if I don’t. I’m certain I look a fright and good heavens how he has changed. Gone is the thin awkward young man who had declared his love to me and asked for my hand and in his place was a devilishly handsome man who nearly stole my breath and every coherent thought in my head.”
“If you are uncomfortable doing so, I understand, but could you describe him as you do most new people I meet?” Mia asked.
“His brown hair was cropped short, leaving all of his features barren and available for staring at. Oh, Mia, he looked much like the sculptures you favor in the park, with chiseled features, his jaw was set in a firm line, though unlike those sculptures he had a slight tick of his pulse just beneath the scratch of his whiskers. His eyes were the same, though, heated and sultry and a mossy brown. I’ve never forgotten his eyes.”
“He does indeed sound quite handsome,” Mia said. She wanted to know more, but didn’t want to pry and didn’t want to force her friend to discuss something she wasn’t inclined to discuss. So she sat quietly and waited.
“I’d forgotten so much about him. Or tried to, at least,” Rachel said. “It’s been so long. I think I’d forgotten how handsome he was, how his smile, even if insincere, could make me feel ridiculously giddy inside.” She took several breaths before she spoke again. “Seeing him again almost makes me regret my decision not to marry him. But it had been the right thing to do. Marrying me, someone so beneath his station, would have ruined his family. Besides, he’s clearly done quite well without me. My aunt told me she’d heard he had made a fortune on some investments.”
“Is he married?” Mia asked, unable to deny her curiosity.
“Not that I know of. Last I heard he was working his way beneath every skirt in London.” Then she gasped. “My apologies, Mia, I did not mean to be so crude.”
“You never have to apologize for being honest,” Mia assured her.
“Oh, Mia, what am I to do?”
***
After Edward left, Alex started back for th
e parlor where the women sat. He’d gone to see Simon after his visit with Mia’s sisters. He stood outside the door, waiting before he entered. Keeping his visit with her sisters a secret from her was not an option. There had been far too many secrets where Mia was concerned. She needed to know the truth about them. About their callousness and selfishness in case she ever did believe she could rely on them.
He stepped inside and found Mia sitting at the edge of her chair and listening intently as Rachel read from Jane Eyre.
“Good afternoon, Alex,” Mia said as he entered the room.
“Your Grace,” Rachel said. She folded the book over her hand and eyed the floor, then him. “I would stand and curtsey if I could.”
“Miss Webster, that is not necessary.” He had wanted to speak to Mia alone, but there was no way to excuse Rachel, especially since she required assistance to walk. He opened his mouth to offer to send for refreshments, but Rachel spoke first.
“If I might,” Rachel said. “I should like to go and rest for a while before dinner. I am awfully tired.”
“Of course,” he said. He rang for the footmen and they immediately came to assist her back to her room.
“Mia, will you forgive me?” Rachel asked.
“You don’t even need to ask. You’ve had a trying morning,” Mia said.
“We shall read more of Mr. Rochester and his secrets tomorrow.” With that, she left the room.
“You remind me of him in some ways,” Mia said once they were alone.
“I beg your pardon?” he asked.
“Mr. Rochester and you. You share characteristics, though you have more kindness.”
He wondered if she would still think that when he told her where he’d been that day. She was far too forgiving when it came to her family’s behavior.
Yes, he hesitated to subject her to more pain, but he knew from experience that you needed to face those aspects of your life in order to be strong. Being too forgiving left her too vulnerable for them and anyone else to take advantage of her naïve nature.
“Is Miss Webster’s ankle causing her much pain?” he asked.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You mentioned she’d had a trying morning.”
Mia nodded. She sat back in her seat and folded her hands in her lap. “Your friend, Lord Fairbanks, he is the man with whom Rachel has a past. I’m not certain of what transpired between them, but I know they were once deeply in love.”
Alex tried to think of whether or not he knew of this past love of Edward’s, but nothing came to mind. It was not the sort of thing men discussed, he supposed. Then again, he and Edward had not spoken for many years while Alex had been an officer.
“I do hope seeing him again did not trouble her too much,” he said.
Mia smiled. “I suspect she shall endure. Besides, it is perhaps of fortune that they’ve reunited after all these years.”
In truth he hadn’t been overly concerned with Rachel and her trying morning. He had merely been biding his time before telling Mia of his own morning activities. There was really no way to be gentle about it so he opted to simply come right out and tell her. “Mia, I went and visited with your sisters today. On your behalf,” he said. He had done what was necessary to try to protect her, he reminded himself.
Her brow furrowed and her back straightened. “What do you mean you went and spoke to my sisters?” Mia asked. Her fingers curled around the carved arms of the chair.
“I knew you would not do so. They needed to know that you were in danger and are in need of protection,” he said.
“Of course I would not go to them, we do not have contact with one another, I explained that to you. What are they to do about this matter? They cannot protect me. I am dead to them, at least as far as everyone else is concerned.” Still her voice did not raise and there was something in its tight calmness that put him on edge. Mia was angry.
Which if he were honest with himself was precisely what he wanted. Though he would have preferred her anger be directed at her worthless siblings, he would take her anger with him. “You are their responsibility,” he reminded her. Lady Glenridge’s words rang in his ears: We will always hold Mia in great affection . . . He cleared his throat. “You are their family, it is their duty to care for you,” Alex said. Whether those two featherbrained women realized it or not, it was the truth. Family protected family, no matter what.
She came to her feet, planted her fists on her waist, and looked right at him. “I am no one’s duty.” In that moment he would have sworn she could see him and a surge of something powerful pressed through him. Regardless of whether or not she wanted him to, he would protect this woman.
“You’re missing the point, Mia. They needed to know the truth. And I gave them the opportunity to do what was right,” he said, doing nothing to disguise the vitriol in his voice.
“How am I missing the point? If you wanted us to leave, Alex, all you had to do was ask. We can go stay with Rachel’s aunt,” she said.
“I said nothing of you leaving. You are safe here. My intention was to call upon your sisters’ sense of duty and have them take the responsibility your mother so callously tossed aside.”
“Yes, you’ve made it abundantly clear that you believe me to be anyone’s responsibility but yours. I do realize you are not duty-bound to care for me.” She wrapped her arms around her body and suddenly looked half angry, half a scared young girl. “I never asked you for any of that.” Then she shook her head as if to argue with herself. “No, that’s not true. I did. I came here. More than once. I did call upon your good nature. And for that I am sorry.”
“Mia,” he said. He went and stood near her and reached out and cupped her cheek. “This is about your sisters. You will always be welcome at Danbridge.”
“It’s not fair to blame them completely. My sisters were forced to live a lie. Tell everyone around them that I was dead. They probably began to believe it for themselves,” Mia said. She turned her head away from his touch. He let his hand linger there in the space between them for a breath and then dropped it to his side.
“Are you making excuses for them?” Alex asked. “Mia, I saw them. In their fine dresses with jewels dripping off of them. They have more than enough money to take care of you. They could put you in an estate in the country, provide the kind of life you deserve. They could preserve that damned story about you being dead if it’s so bloody important.”
“You are not actually required to take care of me,” she said. “In fact, I’d prefer you not. While I certainly appreciate your charity in allowing Rachel and I to stay here, I do not appreciate you seeking out family members to insist they take me in. I will not be your charity case,” she said. “Or theirs, for that matter.”
Anger burned so hot inside Mia, she feared her insides might melt. Briefly she wondered what angered her more, the fact that he’d tried to persuade her sisters to welcome her back into their fold or the fact that they’d declined to do so. She didn’t want to admit it, but their rejection stung. She believed she had already forgiven her family’s betrayal, but this certainly made her wonder if she’d merely forgotten or, worse, just pretended to do so.
It stung, too, that he’d tried to pawn her off onto someone else. No, she wasn’t his responsibility, she knew that. She’d tossed it in his face, claimed they could go to Rachel’s aunt, which they could for a time. Rachel would be welcomed to stay, but Mia, she’d have to make other arrangements at some time. For the last nine years, Mia had taken for granted her life here at Danbridge. And since the murder, Alex’s insistence on keeping her and Rachel safe had made Mia feel, well, safe. Frankly she wasn’t too keen on giving that up. But it didn’t change the current situation.
“I have to keep you out of harm’s way,” he argued.
“No, you don’t.” Though she longed for him to continue to do so. Did that make her weak? Ultimately she knew that if he did pawn her off on her sisters, it was likely she’d never be near him again. And that, fo
r reasons she didn’t care to examine, scared the hell out of her.
“If I don’t, who will?” he countered.
“I will. I’ve lived on my own, with nothing but the assistance of Rachel and we’ve managed quite nicely without you or my sisters.” She stepped over to where she knew he still sat. Without another thought she reached out and jammed her finger into his solid chest. Whether she craved his protection or not, she’d be damned if he’d treat her as some sort of invalid. “What gives you the right to think you can order me about? Simply because you’ve inherited some prestigious title and now everyone around is to bow to your every whim? Well, let me tell you one thing, Alex Foster, your title means nothing to me. I’m not impressed by who you are, and I’m most certainly not intimidated. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no different than any other man on the street. Well, with the exception that you want to control my life.” She stopped talking long enough to realize she was actually winded.
“I need to keep you safe,” he said. He’d grabbed both her arms. The warmth from his body radiated toward her, urging her to lean forward and accept what he offered. It seemed his breathing was labored as well.
“You don’t understand,” he said softly. “What shall I do if this killer finds you? What the devil do I do then?”
She pulled one arm free and brought her hand to his face. He leaned into her touch, and she felt his eyelashes brush against her fingertips as he closed his eyes.
Here she’d been so angry at the thought of someone trying to take control of her life that she hadn’t stopped to think about why he’d even bother. What he must be feeling with the prospects that his brother was a vicious murderer. “Have you come to believe that Drew might be the killer?” she asked.
“No, but I believe he’s had contact with the killer.” He paused for several moments before he said, “I told him.”
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