Page 98 of To Bed the Bride
Once in the carriage, Logan held Eleanor in his arms instead of settling her on the seat beside him. He didn’t want to release her. She was still trembling and that made him hate Richards even more. He wanted to ask what they had done to her and why, but now was not the time. His first task was to get her somewhere safe.
Pete entered the carriage. “We made it to the window just in time, only to see the two of you crashing through the door. A fine sight it was, although I think you’ll be sporting bruises tomorrow.”
“You’re right there,” Logan said.
“And Bruce was a hero, too,” Pete added. He bent and ruffled the fur between Bruce’s ears.
Eleanor smiled, the first time since leaving the bedroom.
Thankfully, the trip back to Logan’s house was short and uneventful.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
It was a little past midnight, but Mrs. Campbell was waiting for them when they arrived home. She opened the door as Logan got to the top of the steps, Eleanor still in his arms.
Mrs. Campbell bit back whatever she might have said without their audience. Pete and the two stable boys had followed him into the house and were now standing in the foyer.
Eleanor had her cheek pressed against his shoulder and her eyes closed. When he was a child he’d done the same thing, reasoning that if he couldn’t see the terror, it didn’t exist.
“Let’s get her upstairs,” Mrs. Campbell said, bustling in front of him.
He turned to the other men and asked them to wait.
“You’ve a courier,” Mrs. Campbell said as she opened the door to the guest room. “I’ve put him in the drawing room.”
“From Disraeli?”
She shook her head. “Your uncle.”
His uncle had been in poor health for the past three months. Logan sincerely hoped that the courier’s presence didn’t mean what he dreaded: his uncle’s death and even further complications.
It was obvious his housekeeper had readied the room for Eleanor. A bowl of potpourri was on the bedside table. A gas lamp was already lit, with the bed turned down and a warming pan in the middle of it.
He gently set Eleanor on her feet at the end of the bed and helped her sit.
She smiled wanly up at him, which only made him want to beat her relatives senseless. He’d never been a violent man, but then, he’d never faced a situation like this, either. He didn’t know what had happened since he’d last seen her, but it hadn’t been good.
Her hair was dull. Her face was too pale. Even her lips looked bloodless. Her blue eyes were flat without a hint of their usual liveliness. One hand came out of the cocoon he’d wrapped around her to hold the bedspread in place. She was still trembling.
“Off you go, then,” Mrs. Campbell said. “We’ll be fine on our own. You need to go and see the courier and rid us of all those strangers in our house.”
Mrs. Campbell had never sounded more like his mother than she did now. Would his mother have bossed him around with such fearlessness? From what he’d learned from his uncle, probably.
“You’re safe here,” he said to Eleanor. “No one can hurt you.”
To his horror, she began to cry, soundless tears dripping down her pale cheeks. He gently wiped them away with his fingertips. Then, despite the presence of Mrs. Campbell, he bent and kissed Eleanor on the cheek.
He didn’t want to leave her, but his housekeeper was right. He had other duties to handle at the moment. Besides, his place was not here helping Eleanor bathe or dress.
Bruce didn’t seem inclined to follow him, so he left the dog in the bedroom. Eleanor would probably welcome Bruce’s loyalty. God knows her relatives hadn’t demonstrated any.
He descended the stairs, leading the three men into his study. He got four glasses and poured a measure of whiskey into each of them before handing three of the glasses to the others.
“To a successful conclusion to tonight’s activities,” he said as a toast.
After going to his desk he opened his strongbox, taking out an amount he thought equal to the night’s work.
Handing the money to each of the stable boys, he said, “Consider this a bonus. Thank you for your actions tonight. I don’t think we would have been able to rescue Eleanor without you.”
