“What about our staff?” she asked, sighing. “Mrs. Fielding, Hartley … they’ve stayed with us through everything.”
“I’ll arrange positions for them at one of my estates in the country. They’ll be safe and well-compensated.”
She turned to face him. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“I find it pays to be thorough.”
Louise studied his face, searching for deception, for some sign that this was another trap. She found only steady determination and something else, something that looked almost like concern.
“What if I refuse?” she asked.
The duke closed the distance between them, his cologne a whisper of warm spice and expense. “Then you’ll stay here, waiting for Bragg’s men to return. And next time, they might not be content with simply locking your sister away. Next time, they might decide that taking her would provide better leverage.”
The image his words painted made bile rise in her throat. Emily, dragged from the house. Emily in some workhouse or worse, one of those establishments Bragg had hinted at.
Her knees nearly buckled.
“You’re trying to frighten me.”
“I’m trying to make you see reason.” His voice was gentle. “You’ve been carrying this burden alone. Let someone help.”
“And when George returns? When this is over?”
“Then you’ll be free to leave, if you choose. Though I hope my aunt won’t have grown too attached by then.”
Louise looked around the ruined library, at the life they’d tried so desperately to maintain. The water stains on the ceiling had grown larger since last week. The cold seeped through cracks in the windows they couldn’t afford to repair. Even without Bragg’s threats, how much longer could they have lasted here?
“Emily needs stability.” The admission hurt. “She needs to feel safe.”
“She’ll have both at Calborough House.”
“And I’ll truly be a companion? Not …” She couldn’t voice the other possibility, the one that would destroy what little remained of her reputation.
His jaw tightened. “You’ll be exactly what I’ve said. My aunt’s companion. Nothing more, nothing less. Any member of my staff who suggests otherwise will be dismissed immediately.”
Louise pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to think through the chaos in her mind. Every instinct screamed against placing herself in this man’s power. But what choice did she have?
“Louise?” Emily’s voice drifted down from above. “Where are you?”
That decided it. Emily needed more than Louise could provide alone.
“All right.” The words came out barely above a whisper. “We’ll come with you.”
The duke nodded, his expression giving nothing away. “Good. I’ll wait downstairs while you pack.” He moved toward the door, then paused. “Bring whatever has sentimental value. I’ll send men tomorrow for the rest, but anything you leave tonight might not be here when they arrive.”
The implication chilled her. Bragg’s men would return, probably before dawn, to finish what they’d started.
She nodded, “Thank you, Your Grace.”
He only nodded back, and she climbed the stairs on unsteady legs.
Emily waited on the landing, a small valise clutched in her hands, her china doll, Clementine, tucked under one arm.
“Are we going on an adventure?” Emily’s attempt at bravery broke Louise’s heart.
“Something like that.” Louise smoothed her sister’s hair. “We’re going to stay with the duke for a while. He has a very grand house, I’m told.”
“Will the bad men find us there?”
