“Mason, darling,” his mother urged, “she has nowhere else to go.”
The tension in his spine stilled into something more reluctant.
“I found her by accident, quite literally,” she added with a faint lift of her brow. “On the road, mud-slicked and wild-eyed. She was ready to disappear into the night with no plan at all. Tell me, Mason, what woman throws herself in front of a carriage unless she truly believes she has nowhere to go?”
That was when he understood his mother. She could not save Isabelle, her own daughter, her own flesh and blood, but she was trying to help someone else instead. That stilled him like a cold slap to the face.
His mother approached him and placed a hand briefly on his arm. “You need not like her,” she whispered. “But you are a man who values peace. And you must admit, it is difficult to find peace knowing a young woman in your house has had to raise a fire poker in her own defense.”
Cordelia’s eyes flickered to his instantly.
“If Your Grace is concerned about my prolonged presence,” she began with careful courtesy, “I would like to reassure you it is not intended to last.”
He only lifted an eyebrow, a sign for her to continue, which she did.
“My birthday is in a month’s time. When I turn seven and twenty, my father’s inheritance will come directly to me, no longer held as a dowry nor overseen by any guardian. I will be free to do with it as I please. And Ipleaseto disappear somewhere where guardians, balls, and ducal tempers are not a daily concern.”
“What a loss to society that will be,” he scoffed.
“I rather thought so, too,” she replied, with a flash of dry humor, then looked away. “It is only until then. A month. After that, I shall vanish. I do promise not to clutter your house with any further bodies.”
He exhaled slowly. “Mother, would you give us the room?”
The Dowager Duchess paused, one brow arched in polite incredulity, almost as if apprehensive to leave them alone, even for a moment. “Why?”
He turned his head then and gave her a look he had learned from his own father. The Duchess sighed.
“Very well,” she said, rising with unhurried grace. “But if you make her cry, I shall undo you with a single letter to Lady Marguerite Entwhistle.”
Mason winced. “That woman keeps pet ferrets in her muff.”
“I’m aware,” said his mother with dangerous serenity. “One of them is named after you.”
With that, she swept from the room. Mason turned back to Cordelia.
She looked at him warily. “Is this the part where you sentence me to the dungeons?”
“Not quite,” he said, taking a slow step forward. “First, I want you to explain to me in detail what exactly happened in the library. And no funny business.”
“The library?” she echoed, innocently. “I simplyhadto kiss you, and I couldn’t?—”
“Miss Brookes, I warn you…” he growled softly, but that was enough to point her back in the right direction. “I believe you told the truth until the powder room. And perhaps the bird.”
She hesitated then admitted, “There was no bird.”
“I figured as much. Please, continue.” Regardless of all common sense, he found himself intrigued by her. There was something about her voice, the way she was able to draw him into her whimsical interpretation of events, which kept him constantly askingand then what.
“On my way back from the powder room…” She paused as her face colored violently. “Well, Lord Vernon was waiting for me in the corridor, which was odd, I thought… very odd. Because I’d only excused myself for a moment, and there he was, just…lurking.”
He nodded just once, urging her to continue.
“And then,” she continued, “he said something most improper. I thought perhaps I’d misunderstood. He’s older, you know, and his compliments always have that sort of musty edge, like they’ve been in a drawer too long and picked up the scent of camphor and poor decisions. But then he tried to?—”
She made a vague, flailing gesture. “Touch me. Not fatherly, not in the way ofguardianlyconcern, but in the way of very unwelcome suitors in bad novels.”
His posture changed at once.
“You are telling me,” he said, low and sharp now, “that Lord Vernon, who is your legal guardian, attempted to seduce you?”
