“You have to save her,” she whispered. “Please, Phineas. Save my sister.”
Chapter Eight
“Good God, man, who died?” James exclaimed.
He was staring up at Phineas from a wingback chair in the main room of their club, where, just moments before, he had been sipping brandy and playing chess with his cousin, Nathan Goldwin, the Marquess of Ketterdon.
Phineas had just strode in and made a beeline for the men, whom he’d known would be there, as they always were on weekday afternoons. Something in his expression must have alarmed them though, because they were both gazing up at him, concerned looks on their faces. James looked practically bemused.
Phineas, however, didn’t see what was so amusing. He had come straight to White’s after escorting his wife home, and rage filled every inch of him. This rage, however, gave him purpose. Everything felt clear, the way it always did when he was close toachieving a long-sought goal and knew exactly what to do next to ensure his victory.
“No one yet,” he growled. “But Lord Carfield might be meeting a very unfortunate end soon if I have my way.”
James let out a longahhhhof understanding. “What has he done now? Did he make a move to protect the mines?”
“What? No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s Violet, his daughter. He’s promised her to Lord Redfield.”
“Well then, I don’t envy the girl,” Lord Ketterdon said, stretching out and reaching for his glass of brandy. “Although I suppose she’ll be a widow soon, which is some consolation…”
“There will be no marriage,” Phineas snapped, making him pause with his glass halfway to his mouth, looking confused. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“All right, calm down, man.” James stood up and put a hand on Phineas’s arm. “Sit down and have some brandy, tell us what’s going on.”
“I don’t have time for brandy,” Phineas said. “I need your help to stop this marriage, and I need it now.”
“Of course, we’ll help,” James reassured.
Even in his single-mindedness, Phineas felt a flair of appreciation for his old friend, who was so willing to jump to his aid, even without understanding the reason.
Lord Ketterdon, however, looked uncertain. “I’m happy to help if I can, Your Grace, but is it our place to meddle in another family’s business?”
Phineas couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t understand the urgency of the situation. The memory of Iris’s tears, and her terror, was flooding him with panic. He’d barely even stopped to consider what it was he planned to do, or how unquestioningly he was leaping to his wife’s aid. All he knew was that he would go to the ends of the earth to keep this wedding from happening—to ensure Iris’s happiness.
Now, he fixed both men with a glare and declared, “Itismy business. I made my wife a promise, and I intend to keep it, no matter what.”
“There’s nothing we can do!” Violet cried, her voice much louder than Iris was used to.
She was usually so calm and collected, the kind of person who spoke only when she had something important to say, and even then, she had never raised her voice to make herself heard aboveothers. Now, however, there was a slightly hysterical edge to her voice, and her eyes were wild.
They were sitting on the sofa in Iris’s parlor. Several hours had passed since the letter had arrived from their father, and so far, Iris had not sent her sister home. If their father wanted Violet to come home, he would have to come here andtakeher. That was the only way Iris was letting go of her sister.
So far, the Viscount had yet to try and force Violet to come home. Why should he? The law was on his side. Until Violet was of age, she was his to marry whomever he wanted. And while most rectors wouldn’t marry an unwilling woman, there was always someone that you could pay off to perform a ceremony against the bride’s will. If anyone could find such a man, it was their father.
“We can’t give up,” Iris told her sister sternly. “I will keep you here if I have to, but I won’t let you marry that horrible man!”
“But, Iris, I am technically Father’s property.” Violet’s eyes were filled with unshed tears, and it broke Iris’s heart to see it. “If you keep me here, he could send the Bow Street Runners to bring me home…”
“It won’t come to that,” Iris assured her, even as doubt tinged her words.
Wouldtheir father resort to such unsavory tactics? He wouldn’t like the scandal attached to it, but as he had demonstratedrecently, he was willing to sacrifice the family’s good name to further his own ends.
“What about your husband?” Rosalie asked anxiously. She hadn’t said much since the revelation of Violet’s betrothal, which was unusual. Instead, she’d been sitting on the sofa, holding Violet’s hand, crying quietly. “He’s a duke. Can’t he do something to help us?”
Iris bit back the angry reply she wanted to make. Phineas had already let them down enough. He had promised that he would protect her sisters, but he had failed to prevent this from happening. And she didn’t believe for a second that he couldn’t have discovered her father’s scheme ahead of time.
