She shook her head. “I grieve for the women I left behind, not the men.” It was the truth. She had once tried to bring the women together to fight her uncle. But her uncle was not the only brutal man in the Spalding clan. Though several were decent men, there were not enough to fight her uncle’s hold. Which meant the women in the clan ended up silent and beaten. Even her mother’s disappearance had not roused them. Iseabail was the only soul to search, the only one to demand an answer.
She got a month locked in her room for her trouble.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bates looked at her sadly. “Your clan has not done well by you.” He glanced down at Lady Rebecca. “Which is why it is important to choose a man who is willing to fight for you, to give your sons everything they need to succeed, and—”
“Who cares what happens to the daughters?” Iseabail asked.
His head shot up. “I did not say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Iseabail lost the war against dismay. She had thought that of all the men she knew, he was the one who could help her. He was the one who might see her worth, but he was not that man. Though he had strength and his own kind of honor, women were a tool to be used for his ambition. He was the same as her uncle in that regard, and she was once again without recourse in an increasingly bleak world.
Sadie, ever observant, dropped back to walk with her. She took Iseabail’s arm and patted her hand. “Don’t give up yet. There is a man somewhere who will face down your uncle.”
“I no longer care about facing him down. I just want to live free of him.”
“For that, you need a husband.”
“Do I? Do I really?” she asked, a new idea forming as soon as she said it. She had skills. She was a midwife, if nothing else. There were ways to survive without a husband.
“If you aren’t married, he can always grab you and force you back home. You have no legal rights as a spinster.”
She knew that. But honestly, how would her uncle know she was in London? She’d been here for nearly a month now with no one the wiser. And even if he knew, London was a big city. How would he find her here?
She was mulling over those very thoughts. Could she truly find a life of her own, on her own? Then it all fell to pieces around her.
“There she is!”
She heard the voice, but didn’t exactly understand the words. The Scottish accent was thick, and though she’d understood it all her life, her ear had become used to the English tones. But she knew the growl and the menace it carried. And she knew the man whose voice sounded like boulders clashing with broken swords.
Hamish had been cut in the throat once and still managed to survive, albeit with a harsh voice. He was her uncle’s right-hand man and the villain who’d been promised her hand in marriage. And he was the sole reason she’d gotten the courage to run as fast and as far as she could.
Yet he was here. She saw him now, right here in Hyde Park, pointing his fecking dagger at her heart.
Chapter Ten
For all thathe was bent on charming Lady Rebecca, Reuben studied Miss Spalding’s face. She was frustrated, and well she should be. It was clear that her life was filled with people who wished to control her for their own ends. That was unfortunate, but Reuben hadn’t become one of the wealthiest men in London by turning his attention to every hard-luck story he came across. There were too many of them, and he had other things to do.
Such as charm the beautiful Lady Rebecca into becoming his bride. He’d had other ladies in his sights, but as often happened in his life, one particular option landed easily in his lap. And here she was, whispering to him that she had escaped her home to meet him in the park today completely against her mother’s dictates.
He’d already guessed as much, but it was nice to hear the confirmation as well as the tone of defiance in the girl’s tone. That was excellent progress. He would play on her sense of duty next since marrying him would erase her father’s debts and save her idiot parent from disaster…at least for the moment.
Her tender feelings toward her family would coerce her into marriage. In return, he would curb her father’s disastrous habits, set her up in a life of luxury, and then see what new opportunities would arise from having children well settled in the ruling class.
It was the way the world worked, if one was good at the game, and he did not appreciate Miss Spalding’s righteous anger at how women were pawns in men’s powerful games. He had a tender heart at times, strictly curbed for just this reason. Feeling for the weak interfered in the just application of power.
And so he should have been grateful to see that Miss Spalding was now in trouble. He hadn’t seen the men coming, thanks to his irritating conversation with the Scotswoman. His focus was on reeling the naïve Lady Rebecca into his arms. So when he heard her gasp in shock, his head snapped up and he instantly became aware of many uncomfortable things.
The first was that Miss Spalding’s clansmen were rough, violent men who were advancing on their party with great speed. That was unfortunate. He’d hoped to avoid them by setting their walk to an early hour. He’d thought that the Scotsmen would be too lazy to watch the area during the less important times.
Obviously, the men had discipline and were now headed toward their quarry. That was enough for him to grab Lady Rebecca and quickly move her out of the way. He set her next to a tree and stood in front of her as her protector.
Second, he saw Sammy Watts settled against an opposite tree smoking a pipe as if he hadn’t a care in the world. And he didn’t, so long as Reuben stuck to his promise and didn’t interfere in whatever the Scots intended for Miss Spalding. But that was a hard thing to do when he saw both Scotswomen settle into fighting stances. Neither had run. They must have seen it would be useless in their gowns and fashionable hats. The men would be on them in seconds.
So the women had decided to fight, and didn’t he look like a coward abandoning them to their fate?
He twitched with the need to interfere, but he had promised to do no such thing. And he never went back on his promises. Indeed, most of his fortune was predicated on general faith that his word was his bond.
