He scowled. “Is that your concern?”
“It most certainly is. I’m responsible for every child under my care, and no matter what claim you may think you have to her, I’m not letting this one out of my sight until I am satisfied that you are who you say you are. Tell me your name.”
“My name is Reeves Langford,” the man said with a scowl. “I am the Duke of Greystone. And I have no time for this nonsense. I’m here to get my daughter.”
A weight settled into the pit of Bridget’s stomach. She had to admit, she had hoped the man would give the wrong answer, for at least then she would have known what she needed to do.
But he had answered correctly. Thatwasthe name of Emma’s father, as far as she knew. The question was, how could he have known Emma was here? Prudence had never responded to the letter Bridget had sent. She didn’t know if her cousin had even received it. And with that much uncertainty, she couldn’t trust that the man was who he claimed to be. She couldn’t risk it. Emma looked so frozen, so fearful. Of course, she always looked that way—but shouldn’t the presence of her father have thawed her? What if this man wasn’t her father, but was actually the “monster” Emma had been so frightened of?
Emma still wasn’t moving. The man scowled and began to move across the room in her direction.
Bridget stepped between them. “Sir, I’m not going to permit you to take this child.”
He stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Do you think you’re going to stop me from taking my own child?”
“I think I’m going to stop you, yes.” She shivered as his eyes bore into her. He was terrifying. He was much bigger and stronger than she was, and if she was being honest with herself, she knew that she didn’t have a prayer of stopping him. If he wanted to take Emma, he would pick her up and move her aside as easily as Bridget might set aside a napkin, and then he would throw Emma over his shoulder and be off.
She knew that. But even so, she had to try.
She fully expected the man to shove her aside, so she was surprised when his scowl deepened, and he barked, “Move.”
“No,” she said firmly, her voice sounding much stronger than she felt.
“Do I need to call the authorities? You’re keeping my daughter from me. It’s kidnapping.”
“I can’t know that you’re her father,” Bridget insisted. “If she’s really your daughter, you ought to be thanking me for not handing her over to the first man who walked in claiming she was his.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what you want me to do to convince you.”
Bridget didn’t know either. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt this child again,” she said. She knew that at least.
“And you think I would hurt her?”
“You claim to be the Duke of Greystone, but how can I know you’re who you say you are? If youarethe duke, how did you even come to find out Emma was here?”
“I was informed by a friend.”
“By what friend?” Bridget folded her arms. “I didn’t tell anyone she was here.”
“And you expect me to see you as anything other than a kidnapper? Keeping my daughter without telling anyone you had her?”
“Sir—”
“Your Grace,” he corrected.
She wasn’t going to give him that while she was still so unsure. “This is an orphanage,” she said. “Surely, you’ve realized that. I’ve kept her here for days. I’ve fed her and cared for her. And if you were really her father, I would let her go with you. But you have to give me something. Some way to be sure. It’s out of concern for her safety that I insist on this.”
“Well, you must have told someone she was here,” the man said. “Because I was told by my friend Leonard that this was where I’d find her.”
Leonard.
Leonard was the name of Prudence’s husband, the Duke of Desford.
It made sense.
But she had to be sure that Emma would be safe. “Your daughter has suffered,” she said. “I don’t know if it was in your hands. But father or not, if she doesn’t want to go to you, I’m not going to force her. I won’t let anyone harm her again. If she wants to go to you, she can, but if she doesn’t …”
“I’ve had enough of this,” the man said in a low, ominous tone. “You’ll have to step away from my child. Move, or I’llmakeyou move.”
