“He’s not here,” the man said. “I don’t know when or if he’ll return this evening, and if you knock on this door one more time, I will have you forcibly removed from this property.”
The door slammed shut again. Loretta’s shoulders slumped. Oh, why hadn’t she just sent the duke a note to come see her? He would have come. Why had she fled into the night without really thinking things through?
Loretta knew the answer. She’d wanted to see the duke now. She needed to see him. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit she wanted to cry on his shoulder, feel his strength, and hear his calming voice—even if it was to tell her he was right and she was wrong.
Sighing softly, she looked around. A light mist continued to fall. The chill had settled in and her feet were still freezing. What should she do? Go or stay in the hope the duke would be home soon? There was no doubt she wanted to stay, but what if Hawk didn’t return tonight? What would she do?
For the first time since finding Farley and her mother’s jewelry missing, she wanted to cry. That thought forced her to inhale deeply. She wouldn’t shed any more tears. She was strong. Capable. If she could withstand the isolation of Mammoth House for near three years, she could live through a cold night at the duke’s door. If he didn’t return by first light, she would be forced to start making her way back to her uncle’s house.
She sucked in another deep, cold breath. The wind kicked up and blew misting rain in on her. Shaking, shelooked around again. There was no place to go. Nowhere to sit and wait for Hawk, so she moved in as close to the corner of the door as possible, lowered herself to the ground, and covered herself with her cloak.
Some time later, the squeal of carriage wheels stopping and someone shouting “Whoa” disturbed her slumber. Was that the duke who had come home? She tried to turn and look but realized how miserably stiff her body was from the cold and from having curled into such a tight ball for so long. It took a moment to brush her cloak aside and unwind her legs so she could stand up. When she did, Hawk was coming up the walkway toward her.
His steps halted for a moment when he noticed someone standing in front of him. Then, recognizing her, he rushed up the steps and pushed the hood off her head as if to prove to himself it was Loretta standing by his door.
He grabbed her upper arms. “Hell’s teeth, Loretta! What are you doing out here? Your cloak is soggy and you’re shivering. What’s happened?”
Under the pale-yellow glow of the porch light, she could see his lips formed a grim line. His brow creased. Was he concerned or angry? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t be sorry she’d stayed. Just to see him—if only for a few seconds, a few minutes—was worth what she’d gone through to get to his house.
“I had to come tell you about Farley.”
Hawk’s eyes and expression instantly gentled. He immediately circled her into his embrace and hugged her close. Laying his cheek against her hair, he ran his hand soothingly up and down her back, over her shoulder, seeming to have no concern that her cape was drenched with rain and getting him wet, too.
Loretta burrowed into his solid warmth.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered and kissed the side of herdamp forehead. “I was hoping the physician would have better news for you about Farley. I’ve never wished him any harm. You know that.”
His comforting words and tenderness caused her throat to tighten. She raised her head, gazed into his eyes, and whispered, “He’s not dying of consumption.”
Hawk brushed his gloved fingers along the side of her face, his expression questioning her. “Then what does the physician think it is? Damage from the fever?”
Loretta moistened her lips and swallowed hard, before saying, “He thinks Farley’s health will be fine if given a little more time to heal and warmer weather. That’s not the reason I came over. What you said about his nature and how he would go back to his old way of life was true. This afternoon he stole my mother’s jewelry and left. The kindness he’s been shown by everyone didn’t change him.”
Hawk hissed and pulled her to his chest again, holding her tightly around her shoulders. Loretta rested her cheek against his coat and hid her face in the warmth of his clothing, drawing strength from his arms and the steady beat of his racing heart against her ear.
“I will strangle him until he coughs up every piece that he stole from you,” Hawk whispered harshly.
“I kept waiting for him to come back,” she said, not knowing if Hawk could understand her words muffled into his chest. “To realize what he’d done was wrong.”
“You know, I don’t think it was that Farley wanted to hurt you. I don’t think it mattered to him who the jewelry belonged to. He was only doing what came natural to him. He stole because it’s what he does. It’s the only way he knows how to live.”
Hawk’s words didn’t make her feel any better about what Farley had done or the fact she hadn’t been able to make him see there was a better life for him if he was onlywilling to accept it. “I wanted to help him. I should have listened to you when you told me he probably wouldn’t change.”
“I wish he’d appreciated your goodness and made more of an effort to accept help from you.”
Hawk’s words soothed her disappointment in what Farley had done. “I don’t know which hurts worse: that he stole from me after all I did to help him, or that it was my mother’s jewelry he took. I don’t remember her that well, so everything I have from her is precious to me.”
Hawk’s arms tightened around her again. “I’ll find him and get it back.”
She shook her head. “Where would you begin?”
“That’s not something you need to worry about. I will take care of it. I will start looking for him as soon as the sun rises. I’m glad you wanted to let me know, but you should have just sent me a note. It was dangerous for you to be out alone. Especially at this late hour.”
“I might have been hasty in my decision to slip out of the house.”
“Might?” He smiled.
Her throat tightened. “I knew you would understand how I feel.”
