“This is outrageous,” she muttered darkly.
Then he remembered why he was angry. “As outrageous as you jumping out of a hack, running down the street like a… a street urchin. What the devil were you thinking?”
“Penny said her sister was with her when Mr. Jervis came after Penny. I thought if her sister escaped, that perhaps she was keeping an eye out for Penny. I saw a girl, and when I called out, she dashed off.”
“Wouldn’t you, if a lunatic was chasing you down the street?”
She ignored him. Likely because she knew he was right. She halted in her tracks, spun to him, and poked her finger in his chest.
He rubbed the spot. “Ow, what is that for?”
“You told Welton and Shufflebottom we were to be married.”
“That dandy and his tale-bearing cohort likely had the news all over London by midnight once it was circulating. I have news for you, Maeve Pendleton, soon-to-be Lady Harlowe. You might as well get used to the notion of our wedding. It’s inevitable.”
“But…” Her voice trailed off in a helpless whisper.
“I’m sorry, darling.” Harlowe glanced over his shoulder and saw Shufflebottom still watching them with undisguised curiosity. “I’m afraid you’re out of options.”
He looked down at her and saw her eyes on Welton and Shufflebottom as well. Her shoulders fell. He put an arm about her shoulder and squeezed. “I shall do my best to prove my worthiness, my lady.”
Her head snapped around.
The resignation in her eyes was disheartening.
“Darling, I don’t understand. You asked me to marry you. Why are you balking now?”
Her eyes glistened. She shook her head, seeming at a loss for words.
“If it was my ungentlemanly reaction, I assure you it wasn’t you. I was caught by surprise. I couldn’t understand why you could want a man who’d lost his mind, been confined to an asylum.” He took out a handkerchief and pushed it in her hands.
She dabbed the moisture from her eyes, and after a moment, she nodded. “All right,” she said without lifting her head.
He assisted her inside. “Back to Cavendish Square, Baird. Take the long route.” He climbed inside.
“Good heavens, I just remembered.”
“What?”
“Mymother. She will jump on this little snafu like a suffocating blizzard. You’ve really done it now, my lord.”
Harlowe grinned at her back. Exactly what he was counting on. “I believe I can handle your mother, my lady. You are no longer alone.”
Twenty-Nine
The ride home, while longer than it should have been, was not… horrible. Harlowe sat next to her rather than across. He pulled off her glove and linked his fingers with hers, his thumb massaging the soft part of her hand between her thumb and forefinger.
“We shall take this every day to look for Penny’s sister.”
Maeve’s throat constricted with emotion. She couldn’t speak, just nodded. Nor could she bring herself to look out the window for the tears rolling down her cheeks. His hand, holding hers, rested in her lap, and one large drop landed on his hand. His large, capable hand. She would make him a good wife. She would raise Nathaniel as her own. Into a young man of whom Brandon would be proud.
He took the handkerchief and wiped her tears away. “We’ll do our utmost to find her.”
“Why are you being so nice to me? I’ve acted like an ingrate. I ask you to marry me. I snub you in front of your family. You save me from my mother… It’s like you’re some kind of guardian angel.”
“That is a very apt description. One I have every intention of living up to.”
Maeve turned her gaze out the window and studied the shadowed crannies, but was unable to make anything or anyone out. Certainly not a ten-year-old girl.
