Louise kneeled, taking Emily’s face gently in her hands. “No, darling. They won’t. We’ll be safe there.”
She helped Emily into her warmest cloak, then went to her own room to help her maid pack her belongings. Her hands shook as she watched the maid fold her two best dresses, neither particularly fine anymore. Emily’s christening gown, which she’d saved. Then, Louise went to her armoire and found her mother’s pearl earrings, the last jewelry she hadn’t sold. Herfather’s watch—George hadn’t taken it because it was broken, but Louise had kept it, nevertheless.
So little to show for twenty years of life.
Mrs. Fielding appeared in the doorway. “His Grace is right, my lady. You can’t stay here. Not after tonight.”
“I know.” Louise latched the valise. “He says he’ll find positions for you all.”
“Don’t you worry about us. We’ll manage, as we always have.” The older woman’s eyes filled with tears. “You just keep yourself and Lady Emily safe.”
They descended to find the duke waiting in the entrance hall, somehow looking imposing even surrounded by destruction. Emily hung back, intimidated, until Louise took her hand.
“Ready?”
Louise looked back once at the house that had sheltered them, however inadequately, these past months. Tomorrow it would likely be stripped bare, and their last connections to their old life would be scattered to the wind.
“Yes,” she lied, and followed him into the night.
The carriage waited, warm and luxurious in a way that made their circumstances even starker by comparison. Emily pressed her nose to the window, watching their neighborhood disappear into darkness. Louise kept her arm around her sister, trying not to think about what she’d just agreed to.
“It will be all right.” The duke’s voice came quietly from the opposite seat.
Louise met his gaze in the dim carriage light. “You can’t promise that.”
“No,” he admitted. “But I can promise you’ll both be safe. For tonight, let that be enough.”
Emily yawned, the evening’s terror finally catching up with her. She curled against Louise’s side, Clementine still clutched tight.
Safe. The word felt foreign on Louise’s tongue. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt truly safe.
Still, as the carriage rolled through London’s dark streets toward Mayfair, toward a new life she couldn’t quite imagine, Louise allowed herself the smallest spark of hope.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the Duke of Calborough could deliver on his promise.
Perhaps they really would be safe.
At least for tonight.
CHAPTER 4
“Welcome to Calborough House, my lady.”
Mr. Thornton’s perfectly measured bow would have been more suited to greeting a duchess, not a desperate woman clutching a battered valise and a frightened child’s hand.
Aaron appreciated his butler’s discretion as they entered the marble entrance hall, though he noticed Louise’s fingers tightening on her sister’s shoulder at the grandeur surrounding them.
The crystal chandelier cast dancing lights across Louise’s copper hair as she took in the soaring ceiling, the artwork, and the pristine Persian rugs. Emily pressed closer to her sister, eyes wide as saucers.
“Thornton, have Mrs. Hammond prepare the Blue Room for Lady Louise and the adjoining chamber for Lady Emily.” Aaronhanded his coat to a waiting footman. “They’ll be staying as our guests indefinitely.”
The butler’s expression remained neutral despite what must have been burning curiosity. “Of course, Your Grace. Shall I have hot water sent up immediately?”
“Yes, please.” Aaron turned to address the gathering staff. Mrs. Hammond had appeared from the servants’ hall, her keys jangling at her waist, followed by two housemaids—Mary and Sarah, if he remembered correctly. “Lady Louise will serve as Lady Merrow’s companion. She and Lady Emily are to be treated with the utmost respect and provided with anything they require.”
Mrs. Hammond curtsied. “We’ll see to their every comfort, Your Grace.”
“Where is my aunt?”
