Then no more words were uttered. Clancy ran at him, and Dimity swallowed down her scream in case it distracted him. Lord Raine did what looked to be a turn in the air and kicked him hard in the jaw. Clancy fell like a tree. Next came the others, and Dimity held her breath, but only in awe as Gabriel Deville dispatched each with a series of movements. Each was elegant, using his hands and feet, and she’d never seen anything like it before.
In what seemed like a matter of minutes, all the men were lying on the ground moaning.
“Let us leave before they wake or others arrive,” Lord Raine said. He wasn’t even breathless.
“B-But what just happened?”
“I fought and won.” He shrugged into his jacket, took her bag. He then clamped a hand around her wrist and walked; she could do nothing but follow.
“I don’t understand what just happened.” She strained to look back over her shoulder at the men who were attempting to regain their feet.
“I fought, and won,” he repeated. “Come along now, don’t tarry.”
“Who taught you to fight that way?”
He didn’t answer her.
His carriage waited, the driver, Toddy, acknowledging her with a nod. They knew each other, as she did all the staff in Lord Raine’s household. Her humiliation rose again, as now everyone would know that she had been found in such a place.
Lord Raine opened the carriage, and before he could stop him, Walter had climbed inside.
“Manners suggest the woman goes first, Walter. In you get.” He motioned Dimity to follow her dog.
“Can I ask you again to drop me at a boarding house, my lord?” She didn’t want to go to his house. Memories of happier times waited for her there. “Please. It is the right thing to do.”
“Right for whom?” He was close to her now, those eyes boring into hers.
“For all concerned.”
“How about for tonight you come with me, and tomorrow we discuss you finding lodgings? It is late, and I doubt anyone would wish to be roused, especially a future landlord, at such an hour. Plus, there is Walter to consider. Not all lodgings will take him in.”
“Very well.” Dimity sat in the carriage, back straight. She would survive this, as she would survive the pain of not knowing who she was, because that letter from her father’s sister, the woman she’d believed was her aunt, had said quite clearly,“you are to be commended, brother, for taking a child who is not your own into your household. God will look kindly on you and the girl.”She had to be that girl. Dimity felt adrift suddenly, even more so than when her brother had cast her out of her home
The first tear fell as the carriage started moving.
Chapter Five
He watched her as the tears rolled silently down her cheeks. Her shoulders were back, hands clenched in her lap. Heat settled in Gabe’s chest as she wept. He wanted to reach for her, pick her up and settle her on his lap. Instead, he took out another blanket and tucked it around her. Then handed her his handkerchief.
“Th-thank you.” She took it, pressing the cloth to her eyes. “I-I am grateful for what you’ve done this night for me, Walter, and Mrs. Beadle. Even if I don’t appear to appreciate it.”
“I understand pride, Dimity, as I believe I told you.”
“Will you tell me where you learned to fight that way?” Her eyes were red, hair down and tangled. She looked so sweet, he sat on his hands to stop from touching her.
“That is an incredibly long story, and tonight is not the night to hear it. Now will you tell me what’s going on, Dimity?”
Gabe watched one of her hands reach for the locket she wore. He’d seen it many times. Gold, the front had an intricate engraving. He’d never gotten close enough to see the detail clearly.
“There is nothing to tell.”
“I am no fool, Dimity. You lived with your father and brother when you taught my sister piano. She never mentioned your life was a struggle. Then I visit your home and a young boy tells me your brother tried to sell you, then threw you out of your own house.”
“Liam.” She sniffed. “It would have been he who talked to you.”
He nodded but remained silent.
“My f-father was a good man, my lord. My brother isn’t.”
