Lily sagged a little, relief plain on her beautiful face. “Then we must go up and stop Prudence.”
“You’ll stay here. I won’t have you put into a situation where she might attack you again,” he said.
She shook her head. “No. I’ll come with you.”
He wanted to argue, but he could see there was no time. His Lily was a stubborn one. So he took her hand instead and they fled the room together, up the stairs. He could hear faint sounds of voices from above, which meant they were likely raised. Lily’s hand tightened in his at the sound.
“No,” she murmured.
“We’ll make it right,” he promised as they finished climbing the stairs and turned toward Alice’s door. Lady Westinghouse was already exiting and her expression was smug. In that moment, George hated this woman. Hated her for forcing her daughter into a life she didn’t want, hated her for harming Lily as a child, hated her for hurting her today, both emotionally and physically.
He pushed that hate down and released Lily’s hand as he stepped up to her. “Lady Westinghouse,” he began.
She looked at him and then past him to Lily. Her eyes narrowed and he found himself shifting to put his body in front of hers as protection. “If you are aware of any problem, my lord, because of interfering family members, I can assure you that it is taken care of. You needn’t trouble yourself.”
He stepped forward but she widened her stance and blocked the door. “Lady Westinghouse, what have you done?” he asked.
She thrust her shoulders back and lifted her chin haughtily. “Ihave ensured you a fine wife with a good pedigree, my lord. And I have kept both our families from scandal. You ought to thank me, rather than listen to my whore of a stepdaughter who is only trying to turn you with her charms all while she claims to love her sister.”
He stepped closer again. “Have a care, my lady,” he said softly. “You have no idea of what you speak and I won’t have you disparage Mrs. Manning that way.”
Her eyes snapped with anger. “You do not want her disparaged even while it seems you have defiled her and the honor of my daughter? Do you not think that could come out if you choose to pursue a path that violates our marriage agreement?”
“Prudence!” Lily gasped behind him.
He ignored her and leaned even closer. He was more than a head taller than Lady Westinghouse and he loomed above her. “Do you want to tangle with me, my lady. Truly? You will find I’m much harder to blackmail than an eighteen-year-old child who wants desperately to please you and save her love.”
“So you know of her love. How she has these filthy feelings for another woman. And worse yet her own maid!”
George glanced at Lily and found she had covered her cheeks with her hands. She was trembling at the cruel revelation of her sister’s most private secret. He could understand why, for Society hadn’t very liberal views on such things. He, on the other hand, was a rake. He had seen a great many ways that love, both physical and emotional, was made. It wasn’t a surprise to him. He certainly didn’t judge Alice for it. He actually wanted to protect her even further, not just for Lily’s sake but for her own.
“Neither Alice nor I have anything to be sorry for, my lady. We have done no harm to anyone.”
Lady Westinghouse’s eyes narrowed, but he saw the flicker of her fear. “Would your parents say the same, my lord? Would they not be humiliated at your actions if they were to come out.”
“I once paraded drunk and naked through Hyde Park on a day of a royal parade,” he hissed. “You cannot touch the limits of what and who I am. Now move.”
She hesitated, but then stepped aside, folding her arms as he tried the door. It was locked.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Lady Westinghouse said, smoothing her skirt. “Making something out of nothing.”
“Alice,” he called out. “Please, it’s Lockhart, I would like to talk to you.”
Lily stepped up beside him. “You aren’t in trouble, dearest, we only want to help. Please unlock the door.”
There was no answer.
“She’s resting, that’s all.” Lady Westinghouse shook her head, pretending now that threats and assaults hadn’t been of recent memory. “You are both being ridiculous.”
“What if she hurt herself?” Lily whispered, and the fear on her face was so plain that it tore at him.
“Alice, please open the door or I shall be forced to break the lock,” he called out.
When there was no answer again, he stepped back and then slammed his shoulder into the door near the locking mechanism. It was a thick, finely made thing and he frowned that it hardly gave. He hit it again.
“My lord, you must stop!” Lady Westinghouse cried out. “You are making a scene!”
She wasn’t entirely wrong. The sound of him trying to break the doorwasstarting to cause commotion in the house. He could hear voices from downstairs, his family and their friends, calling out to find out what was happening. None of it mattered now, not if Lily was right. He could only pray she wasn’t.
