Page 89 of The Lord Next Door
“I’m not staying here,” she said.
“But I thought Prudence needed you.”
“I’m sure she’s sound asleep in her bed. You need me more.”
“I do?”
“Yes. Or at least I need to be with you. Now do you want everyone to reach Mr. Norton before we do?”
“To Norton’s!” David yelled to his coachman before climbing up inside.
“The coachman knows where he lives?”
“I swear that man knows where everyone lives.”
She leaned against him in relief.
“I’m wet, Victoria.”
“I am, too.”
The caravan descended on Mr. Norton’s, and Victoria watched worriedly from the carriage as David dragged the henchman up the short length of the front pavement. The other directors followed behind in a group. David pounded loudly on the door over and over again, until finally a light appeared inside.
A butler in a nightcap tried to appear dignified. “Please return in the morning.”
“Tell Norton that Viscount Thurlow is here,” David said. “We have business to discuss. He’d better hurry unless he wants me to make sure he has not a business left to run.”
Norton finally appeared at the door in his shirtsleeves and trousers. He was a balding man, with his stomach hanging over his waistband. He was obviously incapable of mounting a credible threat to a woman all by himself, so he’d had to hire someone.
Not that he would admit it, as he stood just inside his door, out of the rain.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Thurlow,” Norton said, smiling. “You woke me up for this nonsense?”
“You weren’t sleeping,” David said, dragging the henchman into the light. “You were anxiously awaiting a report from this cretin. Well here he is to make his report, but he doesn’t have much to say for himself. I’ll say it for him. He failed. Southern Railway will not fall apart at your hands. When we sign in the morning, we’ll become the largest railway in the south.”
Even from the carriage, Victoria could see Norton’s teeth grind.
“As for you,” David continued, “I’m prepared to forget this indiscretion.”
Norton finally spoke. “But I won’t. I’ll make sure everyone knows that a peer is involved, Thurlow. You’ve been trying to keep it a secret, to protect the last shred of dignity the name Banstead might carry. But when I’m done—”
“Go ahead,” David said.
Victoria gasped.
“I’m proud of what these men and I have accomplished,” David answered. “We’ll run a successful railway, which will give you more than your fair share of competition.”
“I mean it!” Norton cried, then seemed to remember where he was as he looked around.
“You don’t want your neighbors to hear the truth about you?” David said. He spoke louder. “I have no problem letting everyone know what I think of you. You don’t want to go against a viscount, who’s also a member of Parliament—especially one who has nothing to lose, where scandal is concerned, as you’ve pointed out. If I feel Miss Perry is in any danger from you, I’ll make sure you lose every last investment you’ve ever made. Now where is a patrolling officer when you need one?” he asked, his voice carrying even louder.
Victoria stared at her husband as if he were a stranger. He’d just proclaimed that he didn’t care about a new scandal, that he didn’t care what people thought. Could it be true?
Chapter
Twenty-Two
David felt free, as if a chain around his neck had come loose. He really didn’t care whom Norton told. No notoriety could be worse than what he’d already experienced.
