A missing young man owing eight thousand pounds … he’d heard whispers.
When she said her brother’s name was George, it clicked. George Burrows. They’d been at Cambridge together before George had fallen in with exactly the sort of crowd that led to owing money to men like Bragg.
“You’re Lord Sulton’s sister.”
“Yes.”
The pieces fell into place. The Sulton family’s decline had been fodder for gossip for months. Properties sold, staff dismissed, the Marquess himself increasingly absent from society events. And his sisters left to bear the consequences.
“Get up.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re leaving. Now.” Aaron grabbed his coat from the hook by the door.
Louise shot to her feet, panic replacing her momentary calm. “No! You can’t. If Bragg thinks I’ve failed …”
“Bragg will think exactly what I want him to think.” Aaron caught her arm gently but firmly. “But we’re not playing his game, Lady Louise. We’re leaving through the back entrance, and you’re going to tell me everything on the way to your home.”
“You’re kidnapping me?”
“Don’t be dramatic. I’m extricating you from a situation you should never have been placed in.” He guided her toward thedoor. “Besides, you’re the one who attempted to swindle me, if we’re being technical about crimes.”
She tried to pull free, but his grip, while gentle, was implacable. “You don’t understand. He has men watching. If he sees us leave?—”
“Then it’s fortunate I know this building better than he does.” Aaron led her not toward the main stairs but through a narrow servants’ corridor. “There are advantages to having friends in the staff.”
They emerged into an alley where Aaron’s carriage waited, his driver alert despite the late hour. Aaron helped Louise inside, then gave sharp instructions to the driver before joining her.
The carriage lurched into motion. Louise pressed herself into the far corner, as far away from him as space allowed.
“You’re making a terrible mistake.” Her fingers gripped the edge of the seat. “Bragg doesn’t seem like he forgives betrayal.”
Aaron stretched his long legs, taking up more than his share of the seat. “Bragg is a parasite who preys on the desperate. It’s time someone reminded him that not everyone can be bought or bullied.”
“How wonderfully heroic of you.” The words came out sharper than she intended. “The great Duke of Calborough, saving damsels whether they want it or not.”
“You’d prefer I left you to complete your seduction? By all means, we can turn around. I should warn you that your technique needs considerable work.”
Heat flooded her cheeks. “I would have managed.”
“Really?” Aaron shifted forward, closing the distance between them. “You couldn’t even pour a drink without your hands shaking. How exactly were you planning to manage the rest?”
Louise’s hands clenched in her lap. “I would have found a way. I had to find a way.” Her voice broke on the last word. “Oh God, Emily.”
Aaron’s expression shifted. “Who is Emily?”
“My sister. She’s six years old, and now Bragg will—” Louise pressed her palms against her eyes. “He said if I failed, he would take her to a workhouse or worse. I have to go back. Please, Your Grace, you have to turn the carriage around.”
“Sacrificing yourself isn’t the solution.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” The words exploded from her. “Let him take my little sister? Stand by while he destroys what little we have left?”
“You could have gone to the authorities.”
Her laugh was bitter and short. “With what proof? How delightfully naïve you are, Your Grace.”
Aaron’s jaw tightened. “Naïve? I just extracted you from a trap of your own making.”
