An Extraordinary Lord
Page 30
Veronica shot Merritt an aggrieved look over Ivy’s head. “But I’m married now. I can’t live there with you anymore.”
“Not live with us,” Ivy clarified as she pulled back. “Help us. Help us find a fresh start, like you did.”
When Veronica began to shake her head, at a loss for words, one of the other women interjected, “You can help us run the Court to start. Filipe left it to us, but we don’t know the first thing about running the place. Ivy tries, but…”
“But there are others who would rather run it,” Ivy confirmed. “Men who want to take it over for themselves, use it for their own profits. It should be ours, not theirs. You and Lord Rivers can help us keep it.”
Veronica darted a glance at Merritt, who wasn’t at all surprised by that request. Oh, that devil knew what the women wanted… “You’ve already agreed to help, haven’t you?”
“I bought the warehouse for you yesterday.” He casually shrugged a shoulder. “That’s my wedding gift to you.”
She blinked hard, trying to absorb that. “You bought me a warehouse for my wedding gift?” She twisted up a sarcastic brow and muttered, “And to think that most husbands so thoughtlessly give jewelry.”
He grinned. “Something told me you’d like this better.”
She did, blast it. As long as she owned the building, the women and children who lived there would never be cast out into the street. She could fix it up, put in real windows, doors, shutters…walls. No more sailcloth dividing the large floors into living spaces because that was all they could afford but real rooms where they could all be warm, dry, and safe. She could protect them.
But a tingle of apprehension licked at the backs of her knees. That wasn’t why all the women were here. They didn’t have to come here to tell her about the warehouse. No, Ivy had said they were here for a fresh start, and merely saving the warehouse wouldn’t give them that.
She frowned. “You came here for more than just the Court.”
Several of them nodded. “We want you to teach us to fight,” another woman called out from the back of the group. “To train us to defend ourselves—”
“More than that,” another interrupted. “I want to work, make my own wages and way. Fernsby said he needed to find another thief-taker to work with him. That’s what I want to do.”
“And me,” another called out.
“I want to patrol like a watchman—”
“I want to work with reformers—”
“In the courts—”
“The law—”
“Hospitals—”
“However we can, wherever we’re allowed to,” Ivy finished decisively for all of them. “But we can’t do it without you.”
Veronica gaped at them, barely able to fathom what they were asking of her. Or how much work it would take, the long hours, the struggle… Most of the women standing in front of her couldn’t even read or write, let alone do legal or medical work. As for fighting, some had never touched a knife in their lives except to peel potatoes. Was it even possible to teach them all they would need to learn?
Merritt slipped his arm around her waist and leaned down to bring his mouth to her ear. With that uncanny way he had of reading her mind, he told her privately, “Anything you do to help them will make a difference in their lives, no matter how small. And you will be able to help them. I know it.”
His confidence in her warmed her like a ray of sunshine. Yet the task ahead was enormous. “I wouldn’t even know how to begin.”
“You won’t be alone. I’ll help you. So will the Duchess of Hampton. She has her own organization that she uses to advocate for women, which she calls Angel Wings.” He eyed the women in front of them as he slipped behind her and encircled her in his arms. He drew her back against him and murmured the temptation in her ear, “This could be your own group of angels to work with.”
“The Angels of the Armory,” she whispered. The possibility of it all overwhelmed her too much to find her voice.
“This is what you wanted all along.” He nuzzled his cheek against hers. “The chance to make a new life.”
“No,” she softly corrected him, unable to keep a knot of happiness from forming in her throat. “The chance to be with the people I love.”
When she turned around in his arms and rose up on tiptoe to kiss him, her heart ached to overflowing, and she knew…
She’d finally found the place where she belonged.
About the Author
Anna Harrington is an award-winning author of Regency romance. She writes spicy historicals with alpha heroes and independent heroines, layers of emotion, and lots of sizzle. Anna was nominated for a RITA in 2017 for her title How I Married a Marquess, and her debut, Dukes Are Forever, won the 2016 Maggie Award for Best Historical Romance. A lover of all things chocolate and coffee, when she’s not hard at work writing her next book or planning her next series, Anna loves to travel, go ballroom dancing, or tend her roses. She is a terrible cook who hopes to one day use her oven for something other than shoe storage.
Escape into the passion and adventure of the Lords of the Armory series from award-winning author Anna Harrington!
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