“How many are experienced in fisticuffs or know how to disarm someone with a knife or pistol?” Benedick asked.
“I do not know,” she answered with hesitation. “I am certain some of them do since three of my footmen were raised in Seven Dials before they came to Westbrook House.”
“How old were they when you took them in?” Benedick asked
Lady Victoria frowned. “Nearly fourteen, so they experienced a good deal of fighting before they found a safe haven.”
He was glad to know that there were some men within the household that could probably hold their own against an assailant. One did not survive Seven Dials without learning how to fight dirty and win.
“They will do quite well in protecting my home. I can assure you of that. In fact, it was one of them who ran from the house and went after the man who grabbed me.”
“Yet, he did not catch him, did he?” Benedick reminded her.
“I do not need your protection, Mr. Valentine,” she declared stubbornly as anger flashed in her blue eyes.
Lady Victoria would rather risk her life than have him in her home. Unfortunately, she did not have a choice. Despite how she may feel about him, Benedick still cared very deeply for her, or the woman he had come to know when she wore a mask.
Two
Victoria had not known that Benedick could be so stubborn and infuriating. Then again, she had only known him a sennight, hardly enough time to come to know anyone really.
Except, she thought she knew him well. He had even captured her heart.
“Even if you refuse to grant me entrance to your home for protection, I can and will find a way in, and your footmen, no matter their earlier fighting experience will not be able to stop me.”
She knew he was correct because Benedick had a reputation not only in his position as an investigator with the Thames River Police, but experience from being a frequent visitor to Gentleman Jackson’s where he fought many, including his brother who was a pugilist of renowned reputation. Gentlemen rarely betted against his brother, Mercutio, and it was rumored that Benedick had only ever lost to Mercutio.
But those were fights in a ring where the other wanted to win without doing too much harm. It was not the same as someone attacking with an intent to incapacitate or worse, kill.
She also hated to admit that she was scared, but she certainly would not let on to Benedick. Her assailant’s fingers had dug into her upper arms so painfully that he left five bruises behind on each.
Victoria had believed him and had gone straight to her brother-in-law, Dr. Sinclair, who accompanied her back to Westbrook House where there were guards outside every door. He had then sent a missive to someone she had assumed was from Bow Street only to be surprised when Benedick arrived.
And now, Benedick stood in the entry in her home and ordered her butler to have the servants gather in the drawing room so that he could address them directly. Meanwhile, some of the men that Benedick worked with, who he apparently did not trust to keep her safe, took up temporary positions at each door leading to her home and by windows on either side of the house.
This was all too much and Victoria wanted to object to his barking orders, but it was also the safest she had felt since she had been accosted.
As the butler and housekeeper went to gather the servants, she led Benedick into the drawing room.
“I am sorry that my brother-in-law felt the need to prevail upon you.” Victoria knew that she should offer some form of apology since Benedick did not ask to be here, nor would he have ever requested entrance into her home for any other reason.
“I am glad that I was the one he summoned,” he returned. “Despite our differences, Lady Victoria, I would never forgive myself if you were harmed and I did nothing to stop it from happening.”
Except, he had been the one to break her heart so his words rang false.
She turned away and crossed to the window and looked outside. He certainly did not approve of her position in Society or he would not have emphasized Lady as if it disgusted him.
Was that one of the reasons he resented her? He had known that he was visiting with lords and ladies, as well as those without rank during the house party, yet it bothered him now.
Victoria did not understand him and maybe it was best that she did not try. He had already broken her heart once and she had barely recovered.
The overcast sky matched her mood, nor was such unusual for London, yet it seemed different today. She could not say exactly why, except it was more windy than usual and there was an odd heaviness in the air.
Strange, she had never considered air heavy, but it seemed to be today.
She shook her head. It wasn’t the weather that caused her disquiet but the fact that she had been attacked, then encountered Benedick who now stood in her home, and that was the reason everything seemed terribly odd. That, and the headache that had developed, pressure at her temples as if her head was being squeezed, the likes she never experienced before, which she blamed on the tensions from the day.
The butler and housekeeper entered a moment later and took a stance on either side of Victoria as the rest of the servants entered and waited to hear why they were all brought together.
