Page 54 of The Lady's Last Mistake
“She won’t be if this Youngdale fellow finds her there,” Hugh said. “There are laws against assaulting a woman who is not your wife, as paradoxical as that may seem. So, as long as she doesn’t marry him, Youngdale can be brought up on charges if he harms her. If she does become his wife…” He shrugged as if to say,it’s over.
Sir and Cat returned from the edge of the Serpentine then, the little girl’s shoes and hem soaked.
“She saw minnows,” Sir explained bashfully.
“It is December. There are no minnows in the water,” Hugh replied as Audrey picked Cat up.
“We best get you home, little troublemaker,” she said, touching the tip of her nose to the little girl’s.
Their party turned back toward Rotten Row, where theirconveyances and drivers waited. Distracted by their fussy daughter, Hugh and Audrey weren’t listening when Grant chanced addressing Cassie.
“May I drive you home? There are some things we should discuss.”
“I expect we’ll take a turn through the park first, so all and sundry can see uscourting.” She was angry. About last night? Because he had not kissed her as she’d so evidently wanted? Or perhaps it was because she regretted letting down her guard.
“Perhaps we should sit on the same bench,” he replied, thoroughly annoyed by her sudden change in attitude now that Audrey and Hugh were not listening. “I will whisper something in your ear, and you will laugh as though I am the cleverest man of the century.”
“If I stoop to that, everyone will surely know the whole thing is a farce,” she replied, picking up her speed.
He matched it easily with longer strides. “I did not force you to tell me anything last night, Cassie. If you are having regrets, don’t take it out on me.”
She came to a lurching stop and glared up at him. “I do regret it. I regret giving you one more thing to hold over my head. To coerce me with?—”
Instant offense lit through him. Unthinkingly, he took her wrist. “I wouldneverhold that over your head. Ever.”
Her hard, skeptical glare diminished, but Cassie still appeared timid. She did not know if she could trust him. Just as Hugh hadn’t known if he could trust his intentions with Cassie. With Hugh, Grant had felt slighted. But with Cassie, he had the intense urge to prove what he said was true. He wanted her to trust him.
And yet how could she when he’d given her no reason to?
“Thornton.” Hugh’s bark came from a distance. Releasing Cassie’s arm and breaking their drawn-out stare, Grant sought out his friend. He stood on Rotten Row with their driver, Carrigan, Grant’s driver, Merryton, and Cassie’s driver, Patrick. And standing next to Patrick was another man—her original driver, Tris.
Cassie gasped and started toward them. Fresh bruises riddled Tris’s face, and his right eye and bottom lip had swollen to a grotesque size.
“What in hell happened to you?” Grant asked as he and Cassie reached them. It was a scene, one that did not often occur on the most fashionable stretch of road in London.
“Where is Isabel?” Cassie inquired.
Tris shook his head, his swollen face even more distorted as emotion gripped him. “They took her. Came crashing through the back door at the clinic and set upon me, four to one.” He whipped off his cap and crushed it in his hands. “When I came to, she was gone.”
Dread pooled in Grant’s stomach. “Youngdale. He found her.”
Sir came over from where he’d been standing with Carrigan. “Youngdale?”
“Do you know the name?” Grant asked.
Sir nodded. “Some lower toff? A baronet or some such?”
Grant focused on the young man. “That’s him. How do you know of him?”
“He’s a high roller at Duke’s.”
Hugh fixed him with a glare. “What are you doing at a boxing club?”
Sir patted his cheek. “Not ruining this handsome mug. Just betting a little. Got mates there.”
Before Hugh could reprimand him for frequenting a boxing club and gambling, Grant held up his hand. “Is he there often?”
Sir shrugged and nodded. “Whenever there’s a fight. Sits with some other toffs like he owns the place.”
