Page 13 of Maid for the Marquess

“Only the master is furious. In his study, drinking and cursing. That never bodes well for Madeleine.”

“Madeleine?”

“Miss Madeleine Smythe, the girl he wagered to you,” she said with a sad shake of her head. “Please, my lord, I beg of you, take her when you go. If you leave her here, I fear for her.”

“She is his daughter. Surely⁠—”

She interrupted me. Something that surprised me since few dared to do so. “She will suffer even more so because of that,” she pleaded. She grabbed my elbow, looking terrified. “You have no idea, my lord. Please take her. Even being ruined is better than the life she has.”

I was shocked at her forwardness and sickened at the thought of what this young girl’s life must be like. I made a fast decision. “I will take her, but you must accompany us. I refuse to ruin her.”

She shook her head in wonder. “You are a good man, my lord. And the little mistress is a rare gem.”

“We will leave an hour before dawn. She can take only what she can carry.”

“She has little to take, my lord. I have only a small bag.”

“Be at the stable, then, at the appointed hour.”

She turned, then paused and looked at me, tears in her eyes. “Bless you, sir. You have saved her. You have saved both of us.”

Edward smirked at me after she departed. “It is a good thing we brought the carriage and the horses, then.”

I waved my hand. “I will ride with you. The women can have the carriage. I will assist you loading it. We will have to be quiet.”

“The amount of drink consumed tonight, I doubt we will disturb many.”

“I pray you are right.”

“We return to Wheaton?”

“Yes. I have no desire to venture to London. The marriage season is winding up, and I want nothing to do with the anxious mamas and their darling debutantes. God spare me.”

Edward laughed.

“The country suits me best.”

He nodded in agreement, clapping me on the back.

“Both of us, my lord. Both of us.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ll go now to rest a while. Dawn will come early.”

“Thank you, Edward.”

He threw me a wink. “Always, my lord.”

CHAPTER 6

MADELEINE

The carriage swayed over the road, each revolution of its wheels taking me farther from the only home I had ever known. My stomach was knotted with a peculiar combination of anticipation and dread.

He was taking me.

The dark-eyed stranger. The man my father gave me to as if I were of no greater import than a painting on the wall or a mahogany chair. As if I were an object rather than a daughter of flesh and blood and bone. But then, perhaps to the baron, that had been all I ever was. One more possession, his to do with as he liked until he grew weary of me and passed me off to the next household.

You will no longer be a millstone around my neck.

And the stranger, Lord Wheaton. The man who had examined me before callously declaring I would do.