Of all her brother’s friends, none of them would ever be so uncouth, so disrespectful to a lady, or so obstinate. But she hated to imagine that Westerley had left London, forced to abandon his new wife in order to go searching for her. Stinging pricked the back of her eyes, and she blinked it away, setting her jaw. Right now she could not dwell on what her brother was going to say to her the next time she saw him. Or her mother. Or Felicity and Bethany.
Especially not with Culpepper’s carriage coming into sight, along with a handful of gentlemen standing near the road, looking imposed upon and annoyed. Culpepper’s tall thin form was noticeably amongst them.
Chapter 5
A Minor Skirmish
“Couldn’t you just ride past without stopping?” Tabetha knew she was asking in vain. Because Culpepper and his minions had already noticed them. Feeling hysterical for an instant, she wondered what they would do if Mr. Spencer urged his horse into a canter with nothing more than a tip of the hat and a casual, “Good day?”
Would Culpepper chase after her then?
“Let’s deal with this like adults? Shall we?” Mr. Spencer mocked, his chest rumbling beside her.
“Does Culpepper look angry to you?”
“He doesn’t look pleased.”
Unfortunately, her companion was right on that count. She doubted she’d seen so much emotion from the duke in all the time she’d known him. His eyes were narrowed into slashing squints, and his lips pinched so tightly together that they all but disappeared.
“Did you get lost, Lady Tabetha?” the duke called to her as Mr. Spencer pulled them to a halt.
“I—” She bit her lip. “Er—”
“It appears, Culpepper, that your betrothed has had a change of heart.” Mr. Spencer swung himself off the horse and then turned to assist her and Archimedes and her valise to the ground.
“Do I know you?” The duke focused his resentment on Mr. Spencer for barely a moment before dismissing him and pinning his beady gaze on her.
Not on her. On her shoulder. “Were you intending to steal my cat?”
The man beside her tensed visibly. Her brother had mentioned on more than one occasion that although Stone Spencer got along pretty well with most everyone, his temper wasn’t to be trifled with as his fists became involved more often than not.
“Spencer.” Mr. Spencer stepped in front of her, all but demanding Culpepper’s attention. “Stone Spencer.”
Culpepper blinked rapidly and then sniffed.
“I wasn’t stealing him. For the record. Archie followed me.” Tabetha peeked around Mr. Spencer’s large frame.
“Archimedes, if you please.” The duke stepped forward, but Mr. Spencer effectively blocked him from reaching Tabetha.
“You’ll keep quiet about all of this,” her rescuer stated confidently. “When you arrive back in London.”
“Too late for that, my dear fellow,” Culpepper answered.
Tabetha listened warily even as she tried to extract Archimedes’ claws from her shoulder, fully intending to return the cat to his rightful owner.
The puss clung to her for dear life. Dear God, had he already removed a layer of her skin?
“Not at all,” Mr. Spencer disagreed softly. “Simply keep quiet about this unfortunate excursion and her family will provide an explanation for her sojourn from society.” The cat dug into her deeper and let out a loud meow, causing Mr. Stone to glance back at her in annoyance. “Are you going to give the man his cat?”
Tabetha shook her head and winced. Archie was having none of this. “He doesn’t want to go,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
Culpepper shook his head as though speaking to a small child. “My dear Mr…. Spinner, did you say? My people in London are quite aware of my arrangement with Lady Tabetha. And there are some who are expecting payment upon my return. I’m afraid I can do nothing to halt their wagging tongues. It is the way of society. Now, would you kindly hand over both my betrothed and my cat?”
“That’s Mr.Spencer, and you can instruct them that they misunderstood.” Stone Spencer’s feet were planted shoulder-distance apart now, his arms folded across his chest.
“Now, why would I do that?” Menace threaded the duke’s voice even as two of Culpepper’s servants moved forward, flanking their employer.
Throughout the long drive, Tabetha had merely considered the men traveling with them to be rather sturdy-looking outriders, but at that moment, they more likely resembled henchmen.
