Page 31 of A Father's Insistence

Chapter Fifteen

Theodore

“Ican’t believe you’ve been so stupid. What were you thinking? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t think you were thinking. Well, not of anyone but yourself.” The angry masculine voice comes out of my lounge as I walk in through the front door.

My stomach is sore from the fight with Nicholas, and I’m sure he got a punch in that will leave me with a black eye tomorrow. All I want to do is go to bed and not have to deal with more hassle. I nod at my butler with a request to let me know what’s going on.

“Earl Linton, sir.”

“Joanna’s father?” I query with bewilderment.

“Yes. From what I can gather, Lady Hamilton left the premises without means of communication and got lost. Thankfully she had some money on her and was able to remember her father’s phone number.”

“She did what?” I hiss.

“She left the house, sir.” My butler cowers down at my sudden angry outburst.

“And you let her?” I stand up tall against him. I’m furious knowing Joanna was out there alone, and at a time when Nicholas Cavendish is probably baying for blood.

“I’m afraid she was rather sneaky in her ability to dodge those watching her.”

The angry, raised voice comes again from the lounge, but this time accompanied by a sorrowful whimper from my wife. I loom large over my butler.

“Then you’d better remind everyone that Lady Hamilton does not leave this house without a guard. If it happens again, I’ll be looking to change my staff to a set who can follow orders.”

I don’t pay my butler any more attention. My fury is now focused upon my wife for putting herself into such a dangerous situation. If she thinks the telling off she’s getting from her father is harsh, then she’s in for a big lesson once I start on her. My heart is beating so fast. Why would she be so stupid? I pound my way across the marbled floor, my dress shoes resonating in a series of eerie clicks. Thrusting the lounge door unceremoniously open, I stomp into the room, and with a growl, I start to admonish my errant wife.

“Is it true?”

Joanna and her father both freeze and look at me with wide eyes.

“What?” her Father stutters at me. The look of concern in his eyes draws me in, and I can’t ignore the uneasy feeling I’m getting in the pit of my stomach, telling me he’s worried about something other than a daughter with no regard for her own safety. He’s like a deer caught in the headlights. I’m about to question his reaction when Joanna steps in.

“I’m sorry.” She comes closer to me, and I’m drawn into the sadness in her eyes. “I was stupid. It was such a foolish thing to do. I would have been all right, but a man bumped into me, and I lost my sanity a little.”

My anger begins to dissipate, and Joanna’s fresh lavender scent calms me. I pull her close and press a kiss to the top of her forehead.

“Did he hurt you? I’ll find him.”

“No. It was an accident. I wasn’t really looking where I was going.” Her eyes glass over momentarily, and I know there’s more to this story than she’s telling me. I won’t push her here and now, though. Alone, later, is a different matter. She corrects herself by taking a deep breath and breaking our eye contact. “I promise I won’t do it again. I just wanted to experience freedom, having not had any in ages.”

“You’ll never have it while the Cavendish brothers are breathing,” Earl Linton interrupts with his matter of fact response. I’m so captivated by Joanna’s beauty I’d almost forgotten he was in the room. She weaves a spell around me and draws me completely into her love.

“She’ll be safe soon. The Cavendish brothers will be out of London in twenty-four hours.”

“What?” the Earl responds, looking confused.

“Joanna provided me with a piece of information, which will secure the freedom of my sister and niece along with that of Tamara, their friend.”

“Freedom? Information? I don’t understand. What have you done?” he shouts at his daughter who steps closer into my side, her hands shaking.

“Calm yourself in my house, sir. I won’t have you shouting at my wife like that.” I place myself between father and daughter as I vent my growing frustration that a good day, which was developing into a triumphant one, is now looking like it’s shrouded in more issues.

“I want to know what is going on? If this involves my daughter and can come back on me, somehow, then I need to be informed,” the Earl demands.

“It will not reflect on you,” I interrupt. My anger previously soothed by my wife is now growing again at her father’s arrogance.

“Will you just tell me what is going on?” Earl Linton slams his fist on a table. It rocks, and the glass ornament on it crashes to the floor.

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