“Don’t even think it,” Lucy said, coming forward to take his hand. “It has been a joy to have you here in spite of the distressing circumstances.”
Rob’s next words came out as a growl, one he didn’t intend. “Emma, don’t distress your father. Pack up his things while Miss Whitaker and I make arrangements to move him.” Still raw from his sister’s thoughtless words, he didn’t attempt to make it sound like anything other than a curt command.
He waited for Lucy to follow, biting back resentment when she paused and leaned over Emma, her words too soft for him to hear.
“She didn’t mean it,” Lucy said, following him into the hall.
“She didn’t intend to say it out loud,” he replied, abruptly walking toward the stairs and speaking over his shoulder. “The post carriage Ellis sent is at the front. We’ll need a board to strap him down. Martin Abbott can help us prepare the carriage. He and one of my men can accompany us. I’ll send them both back.”
“There’s no need. We’ve had no problem. There will be two more of your palace guard here and—”
His lips twitched at her cheeky nickname for his men, but he couldn’t like her heedless attitude toward her safety. “There is every need, and you, Miss Whitaker, are less than truthful. Robbins tells me you’ve forbidden Spangler the door.”
He reached the bottom before he realized she hadn’t followed, turned, and saw her in the shadows of the landing where the stairway turned. He waited until she descended to stop feet from him.
“I haven’t lied to you,” she said, choosing words with care.
“Has Spangler imposed himself on you?”
*
Lucy couldn’t dissemblein the face of Rob’s intense study. His eyes seemed to penetrate her most secret places, shaking her worse than Spangler had. Neither could she tell him the truth, admitting she had come to rely on his protection. Her independence and pride got in the way. She lifted her chin, forcing herself to meet his sharp green eyes. “What has Robbins told you?”
“He witnessed you backing away from the approach of the county’s most untrustworthy solicitor. You looked as if you prepared to bolt.”
She took a shuddering breath and looked away. “Never bolt, but I might have been forced to resort to an unladylike assault on his privates.” She wasn’t prepared to tell him more.
His robust laughter cast her confused feelings to the wind. “I would like to have seen that,” he said, getting himself under control.
“You think I can manage him.” She didn’t make it a question.
His gaze intensified, and Lucy waited for him to say what she already knew, that she might manage Spangler if she caught him off guard, but not if he launched a determined assault, not if he tried to force her in order to coerce her into marriage. She shuddered at the memory of a particularly vivid nightmare. “I can manage him,” she repeated, as much to reassure herself as Rob.
“You shouldn’t have to,” he replied. “Youdon’thave to. You have protection.”
An unfamiliar sensation of safety, of security, of shelter in the care of Rob Benson flooded her, a sensation she’d never known before, one she couldn’t trust.He’ll be gone soon enough, and I’ll have only myself to rely upon.Utter capitulation was out of the question.
“True,” she said, “but don’t you think three is more than I need?”
“No, I do not. We don’t know for certain who’s behind the sabotage, how lethal their intent, or the direction from which the next attack might come. Until we do, we won’t relax our vigilance.”
Fear shot through her, driving her heart to gallop. “Attack? Surely that is an exaggeration.”
“Are you sure about that?” He studied her carefully. “No? I thought not. Until we have better information, they stay. Besides, I don’t think your ‘palace guard’ would leave even if I ordered them to stand down. They don’t like to leave a job undone, and they’ve become mighty protective where you are concerned.”
Something in his warm gaze stopped her breath in her lungs. “Me, too,” he said, his voice a deep rasp, his eyes never leaving her face.
She opened her mouth, only to shut it abruptly when she watched his gaze trace her lips. She dropped her eyes to stare at the floor but, feeling like a ninny, lifted them again, filled with questions, to face his.
He stepped back. “There’s something else you need to know. I’ve had two offers for Willowbrook.”
Her heart sank. “Of course,” she said, her shoulders sagging. “That is to be expected.”
He nodded but didn’t look as happy as she might have expected offers to make him.
“The first came from Spangler,” he said.
“He wants it and expects to win. He told me so. The toad thinks I want to stay here so badly I’ll marry him—or worse, live with him without benefit of marriage—to get it.” The truth came out unbidden, and a sour taste filled her mouth.
