Rosalind believed him, but she was no fool. As the exact likeness of her mother, she could not stay here and continue to risk her father’s wrath. She would have to leave one day. But she would need a way out, a place to land.
If only there was a man who could find in his heart to marry her, she might be able to escape. But who would want the broken daughter of the cruel Lord Kincade?
The past faded, leaving a bitter taste upon her lips and tiny thorns embedded in her heart.
This home was the one she’d made for herself, the one her late husband had let her run. It was her world, and that damned fool Lennox thought he had the right to take it all away from her? To cast her out?
She stared at the note and realized she hadn’t finished reading it.
I am not a cruel man. If you wish to discuss the situation, you may join me at my estate. However, you may not take your coach as that too falls under my control now. I’m sure if you were to come to me, we could come to some arrangement that would benefit us both.
Lennox
“Anarrangementthat would benefit us both?” she muttered. Anger and panic rippled through her, dueling for dominance. That damned bloody Englishman. She wanted to strangle him, but the truth of her situation was dire. He had full control over her and was toying with her the way a cat would a mouse. Something had to be done. Perhaps Emily’s suggestion to seduce the man was indeed a good idea. Rosalind sensed an opportunity here. If Lennox desired her and believed she’d come to heel, she would prove just who was the one in control when she broughthimunder her command.
But she was taking her own coach, Lennox be damned!
I have to face him. Perhaps the duchess’s advice about seduction wasn’t so unreasonable after all.
“What is it, Your Ladyship?” Pevensly asked. His dark brows knit together in concern.
Rosalind stared at the address on the parchment, frowning, then handed it to him.
“You may read it, but please do not inform the rest of the staff—I don’t wish them to worry. Would you please have my coach pulled around in an hour? I am going to sort this out. Rest assured I will come back. Please do not let the servants grow overly concerned.” She left Pevensly gaping after her in the hall as she rushed up the stairs, calling for her lady’s maid.
“Yes, Your Ladyship?” A woman not much older than her appeared through an open doorway at the top of the stairs.
“Pack my valise at once. The best clothes you can find. Don’t bother with hats. I won’t have space for the boxes.”
Claire met her as they walked toward her room. “Is this about that man who came by earlier? Pevensly was near frantic when the man left. Seems he suggested you would not be happy when you returned from your errands this morning.”
There was no point in hiding the truth from her. The woman’s observations missed nothing; it was why she made an excellent maid.
“Lord Lennox has just tried to buy my life away through my debts. He’s ordered me out of this house.”
Claire raise a hand to her lips, but just as quickly that hand curled into a fist. “Surely you won’t let that stand.”
“I will not. I plan to travel to his estate at once to remedy this error.”
Claire nodded. “Ah. Then I shall be accompanying you, of course.”
“No, that won’t be—”
“It will be,” Claire insisted. “You’re alady. You must have a maid accompany you, and none of the other girls know you as well as I do. I’ll not lose my head in a time of panic.”
That much was true. Claire was a mother hen who watched over the household, but the woman had a backbone of iron too.
“Very well, you alone may come. But be warned, the means I intend to use to regain my life are best kept private.” She trusted her staff, but secrets were always easier when one did not have too many keepers. “Thank you, Claire. Pack as much as you can. We leave in an hour.”
She left her maid to pack while she went to her study to write a few hasty letters. She had a number of business partners who would need to be apprised of the situation immediately. Rosalind could only pray that they would be forgiving given the dire situation. She knew Sir Hugo Waverly would be most understanding. He, more than anyone, was aware of her competitive history with Lennox. Indeed, he had fostered many ideas that had led her to triumph over Lennox in battles of bidding and company purchases.
She sorted through the letters on her desk and paused when she found a palm-sized package addressed to her. The ink on the return address was blurred from rainwater, but it seemed to be from Scotland. Her heart began to pound as she unfastened the twine and opened the parcel.
An object wrapped in a handkerchief fell into her hands. She unbound the handkerchief and studied the object.
It was a pocket watch. Turning her attention to the handkerchief, she noticed an all-too-familiar letter K stitched into the corner. Kincade. Her father carried these. A lump grew in her throat at the thought. Had he finally discovered where she was? Had he known all along? Would he come for her and demand she return to Scotland with him?
She blinked back tears as she unfolded the cloth further, finding a single sheet of parchment tucked inside. A letter. She read it with shaking hands.
