Page 21 of Her Unsuitable Match

“As well you should be,” Lady Fredericka snipped from her seat. “Philippa, I don’t care what circumstances brought us to this point. I have already given instruction for our things to be packed. Richard is the head of this family, and we will remove to Grosvenor Square as he requests.”

Adam spun on his heel. “Absolutely not. The moment you two have her there, you’ll let that spineless eel into the house to go about a farce of a courtship. I’ll not let you do that to my sister.”

“Philippa is under my care,” Richard said, puffing his chest out with self-importance. “If I say she removes to Grosvenor Square or to Bangkok, it will be done.”

With her eyes still on Elaine, Philippa made her announcement. “I am going nowhere.”

“Nonsense, child.” The dowager took up her pug and began to stand. “Come along and do as you’re told.”

Philippa came to her feet, meeting Richard’s eyes and mirroring his stance. “No, Mother. I don’t think I will. Not anymore. It seems I need to remind all of you that I came of age two months ago. I am three and twenty. By rights, I should have received my inheritance from Father and be well on my way to establishing my own household.”

“Philippa,” her mother gasped. “You are a child!”

Richard glowered at her. “A spoilt child.” He stepped toward her, looking down his long nose—broken by Henry, and so somewhat crooked—into her eyes. Their eyes were a match for each other, though Richard’s had never been particularly warm when he looked upon his sister. “Your inheritance remains with me for another year. My solicitor has made that case quite clear.”

“Actually.” Philippa resisted the urge to rise to her toes to bring them closer to eye level. “He hasn’t made that case at all. He hasn’t been to court. Yet.”

Narrowing his eyes, Richard loomed closer. “Nor will he need do so. Because you will obey me.”

For an instant, Philippa had to fight a smile. Richard had no idea that she had seen her own legal expert. Nor did he know that his sister had the intelligence to seek out counsel to thwart him. Keeping calm, Philippa played her first card against her brother. “No, I will not.”

“I will support our sister in this.” Adam peered around Richard’s shoulder. “If you attempt to remove her from my home, I swear by all I hold dear that I will fight you before every court of law who will hear my case.”

Casting a grateful look to Adam, Philippa hurried to shake her head. “That will not be necessary. You see, my dear brothers, I have already taken the first steps to gaining my independence.” She raised her chin in the air.

Richard laughed. “I am a peer of the realm. Philippa comes with me if I say she does. If you attempt to stop me, Adam, I’ll see you imprisoned and brought up on charges of assaulting a peer.” He took hold of Philippa’s arm. “I can see the sooner we get you away from this place, the better. You are a child under my care, at least until I can convince some poor fool to take you off my hands.”

“Let me go.” Philippa pulled as hard as she could, but Richard’s grip didn’t loosen. He’d never laid a hand on her before. His blue eyes burned, his features appearing strained.

A thin, nasally voice spoke from the doorway. “I must insist you unhand that lady, Lord Montecliff, or we will need to take legal action against you for your assault of one of His Majesty’s subjects.”

“Mr. Tuttle-Kirk?” Elaine blurted at the same time as Richard choked out, “What is he doing here?”

“Not him again,” added Lady Fredericka with marked disdain. “Who let that horrid little man in the house?”

Philippa, held fast as she was by her brother, couldn’t turn to the doorway. But she felt a mix of hope and dismay. Her solicitor had come with news for her, no doubt. Grievous news, if he felt the need to arrive at her home rather than send her a note or wait for her promised visit the next day. Mr. Cobbett must have turned down the marriage proposal, which meant a longer, harder fight for her ahead.

Nevertheless, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I have retained Mr. Tuttle-Kirk as my legal counsel. We are even now preparing our case against your interpretation of our father’s will.”

Richard looked down into her eyes again as his face turned red. “You are taking me to court?”

“Indeed. And I intend to make it a most public case. I intend to write the papers myself about all the particulars of a British peer taking advantage of his younger sister.”

He glared down at her. His words came out in a hiss. “I must warn you, little sister. You are making a mistake.”

“As are you, Lord Montecliff.”

Philippa’s whole body grew still, her ears pricked, and her heart beat a new and more excitable rhythm. That wasn’t Tuttle-Kirk or Adam speaking. It was Myles Cobbett.

“Take your hand off of Lady Philippa at once, or I will remove it myself.” Despite the calm, even tones of the former soldier, Philippa sensed an undercurrent of danger in every word. Richard must have as well, as he released the bruising hold he’d taken of her arm and stepped back.

He wasn’t finished posturing, however. “And who are you, who dares to speak threats to an earl?”

Philippa turned around, and there stood Mr. Cobbett in the doorway, half a step behind Mr. Tuttle-Kirk. The two had come together. Did that mean what she hoped it did?

Mr. Cobbett’s gaze collided with Philippa’s, and he gave her the barest nod. “Myles Cobbett. Former Lieutenant in the King’s Army. A friend to the Gillensfords, and someone who does not take lightly to men of any rank accosting young women.”

Richard glared at Mr. Cobbett, then Tuttle-Kirk. “You are making a mistake. I will see to it that you are never permitted to work in England again. Mark my words.”