Page 88 of Trapped with her Cruel Duke

“Come,” he sighed. “Let us return to the house. If the smoke has cleared, we should all get some rest and deal with everything else tomorrow.”

He offered her his arm, but she moved past him. She did not touch or look at him as they all walked into the house.

It was like looking at a stranger, and his heart ached to see it.

I will make the Earl pay for this. He will rue the day he ever tried to hurt my wife.

CHAPTER 34

Louise waited in her room, listening to the bustle of the servants and the sounds of London waking up.

Dawn was breaking, the first spears of light spreading across the sky, the clouds tinged with pinks and purples.

After the fire was put out, Christian had taken her up to her room, all the while enquiring if she was well. She had simply told him she was tired and closed the door in his face, unable to voice any of the thoughts racing in her mind.

I cannot believe that my father would do something like this. I must speak to him. He could not have been so desperate. Surely, the stable boy was mistaken!

Northbridge Manor could be reached on foot, and Louise was relieved that she would not have to trouble the servants for a carriage. It was imperative that Christian knew nothing abouther movements, so she had sat in her room for hours until she was certain that he was asleep.

She waited another half an hour until the faint light of dawn made the streets safer for a lady and then snuck out of her room.

Keeping watch for any servants who might her pass by, she descended the stairs, pulling her cloak tighter around herself. Reaching the hallway, she could hear voices from the morning room as Fenwick shored up the windows and the clinking of glass. The smell of smoke was still thick in the air as she tiptoed out of the house.

The streets were fairly deserted. A few vagrants wandered by, and several street urchins ran alongside her, asking for coins, but otherwise, it was eerily quiet. Louise hurried through the streets, hoping that she did not encounter any trouble.

The walk to her family home was almost a quarter of an hour, and by the time it came in sight, several carriages had passed her by, and many men and women were up and going about their business.

Louise was unsure whether her father would be at home, but she wished to keep her arrival secret.

She went down the side stairs and toward the entrance to the kitchen. Praying that the door was unlocked, she turned the handle and sighed with relief as it opened. The narrow passage beyond it led to the back stairs.

Louise crept along, listening to the voice of the cook and the kitchen maids as they prepared breakfast, and then headed up the stairs to the main part of the house.

As she stepped out into the hallway, she was relieved to find that it, too, was empty—she had managed to sneak into the house without being seen by anyone.

It was always easy to tell if her father was home because he could not disguise his booming voice, but she could not hear anything suggesting that he was up and about.

She decided that the best thing she could do was hide herself in one of the rooms. If a maid or a footman entered, she was confident she could buy their silence for a few short hours until he returned. If her father rose and came downstairs for breakfast, she would know he had not been responsible for the fire.

The very idea that he could set my home ablaze is unbearable.

She headed to the nearest door and opened it quietly, sneaking into a small parlor. But as soon as she did so, she heard a moan from behind her and spun around.

She let out a cry of dismay as she saw her mother’s huddled form in the corner of the room. Something about the cowering shape of her body made Louise suck in a sharp breath as she ran forward.

“Mama!” she hissed, kneeling beside her. “Mama, what happened?”

Lady Northbridge’s face was badly bruised. Her lip was cut, and there was blood trickling down her chin. She wiped it away as Louise pulled her into a sitting position, groaning pitifully. A dark bruise was forming above her eye, and she struggled to open it fully as she looked down at her daughter.

Fury overtook Louise as she helped her mother to her feet.

“What happened?” she asked. “Never mind. As though I need to ask.”

Lady Northbridge shook her head slowly as she took Louise’s hands in her own. “What are you doing here?”

“Come, we must get you to a chair.”

Louise moved her mother to the chaise longue, where she sat, looking like a shadow of her former self. Louise hated to see it and felt utterly helpless as her mother brushed her hair from her face, trying her best to look presentable again as Louise sat beside her.

---