“Yer merchant?”
“That man in the stable is the Duke of Rutledge.” The raspy words barely made it past her lips. There was a hitch in Connor’s step before he hefted her higher in his arms and hastened his pace. “I take it you’ve heard of him?”
“Aye.” The word was tight. “And his son.”
Connor hadn’t spent long in London, a single Season while Fiona was courted by a curious conglomeration of suitors before settling on the Marquis of Aylesbury. Regardless, a fistful of months had been long enough for him to be familiar with the Duke of Rutledge’s fearsome reputation. A man condescending of lords and servants alike. Who scorned any who offered him no advantage. A man of unpredictable temperament, political and financial power, and perverse proclivities.
The duke should have been banned from polite society. Would have been, if he didn’t have the Prince of Wales’s ear.
The son, Viscount Dormer, was rumored to be far worse than the sire. Years back, he’d ruined one earl’s daughter rather publicly. Although there’d been the obligatory offer of marriage to douse the scandal, the girl’s father argued he’d rather a ruined daughter than let her wed a man like Dormer.
The viscount had been banished from London for it. Connor hadn’t heard much more on the matter. That alone spoke volumes.
That was the man Piper’s mother arranged for her to wed?
I suppose I should have known selling her only child to the devil to obtain her goals would rank low on a list of my mother’s sins,she’d said.
Och, the man was far worse than the devil himself.
Her body quaked in his arms. Like a whipped dog. She nearly strangled him with her hold around his neck. “I hadn’t thought I’d react so. It was the shock. I never expected…”
Connor held her tight as he could, hoping to convey enough strength and security to soothe the tremors away.
Her tepid distress when he’d first happened upon her unexpectedly months ago was nothing in comparison to the blatant fear he saw when he carried her out of the stable. Eyes wide, nearly black with her pupils dilated. Blankly staring as if she saw nothing before her, seeing only the past.
What had Rutledge’s son done to her?
* * *
“Put me down,” Piper whispered when they reached the gate to the kitchen court and he fumbled with the handle. “I can walk.”
His head shook of its own accord. “Nay, I’ve got ye, lass.”
“Please. I…I don’t want to worry Hilde.”
Unwilling to argue with her soft plea when his main goal was to see her safe from Rutledge’s notice, Connor set her on the ground. Her hand was like ice in his hand as he gripped it, towing her through the service hall.
“Mr. MacKintosh!” a stern voice boomed as they passed the housekeeper’s office. They stopped as Mrs. Davies appeared in the door. Her gaze softened on Piper, then mutated into a scowl when it settled on him. “Whatever are you thinking? She cannot be here. Not now.”
“I’m well aware of the threat, Mrs. Davies.”
He continued down the hall and was forced to a halt when the housekeeper caught Piper’s free arm.
“I know this house is a labyrinth, capable of housing the Queen’s court without anyone stumbling across another,” she hissed. “In this instance, however, I cannot have you take that chance.”
“She is safest here with me,” Connor argued. Anxious knots curdled in his stomach. Every fiber of his being screamed with the need to see Piper to safety. Nearly every one. The rest demanded he banish her foes and lay her fears to rest. “Once I see her safely to my rooms, nae one will find her there.”
“And how do you propose to get her there?” the older woman demanded. “The halls are crawling with the duke’s men searching the house for my lady. Furthermore, he’s brought his majordomo and valet, who are above. Lady Sedmouth’s maid and companion roam freely besides. This is the worst possible place for her.”
“I disagree. The fewer people who ken where she is, the fewer who can be bullied into exposing her.”
The older woman drew herself up. “We would never.”
Mrs. Davies glowered at him, lips pursed, then waved him imperiously toward a narrow hall off the main corridor. She opened a door and motioned for Piper to enter, holding up a hand to stop Connor. “Wait here. Better yet, make yourself useful and call for Edith and Agatha.”
“Bugger it, woman, we have nae time for games.”
“It’s all right, Connor,” Piper whispered. “I know what she’s about. Will you find them?”
