Page 99 of To Bed the Bride
The young men look shocked, then gratified. The amount would make their lives a little easier, buy them something that they hadn’t saved for, or allow them to give someone an unexpected present.
He watched as they left, then turned to Pete. He’d already paid him for his work tonight, but there was something that Pete needed more than money.
“I hope tonight is the last time you’ll use your tools of the trade, Pete. I don’t want Molly or the baby to have to get along without you.”
The other man only nodded, but Logan noticed that he didn’t promise. Nothing he could say would alter Pete’s trajectory in life. Only Pete’s determination would do that.
“Do you have a job waiting? Anyone who wants to employ you?”
“No, but it’s early days yet,” Pete said. His smile wasn’t convincing.
“I’ll hire you,” Logan said. “Mrs. Campbell will be your boss and she’s tough. One thing goes missing, though, Pete, and she’ll skin you like a rabbit. Do you understand?”
“Never worked for a woman before, Logan. I’d like to think about it.”
Logan nodded. He’d done what his conscience decreed. What Pete did with the opportunity was his decision.
He sent Pete back to his house in his carriage, thanking William for his work in tonight’s adventure. His driver smiled and tipped his hat.
“It’s been a while, sir, since I was in the army, but tonight felt like I’d returned.”
Logan dreaded the last chore of the night. He entered the drawing room, apologizing for the delay. The man simply nodded and handed him an envelope.
“A letter from your sister, sir.”
That was the worst news.
“How is he?”
For the first time the man smiled. “Stubborn, sir. Loud, as usual. Begging your pardon, sir.”
“You’ve worked for my uncle for some time, I take it?”
“Ten years this next June, sir.”
Logan didn’t remember the man, but that wasn’t unusual. His uncle had a great many far-flung enterprises and employed hundreds of men.
Alistair McKnight was larger than life, a bear of a man possessed of a bellicose temper and an opinion about everything. He took pride in being an iconoclast and holding a contrary view. If someone said the sky was blue his uncle would counter that it was mostly gray simply to be argumentative.
When Logan and Janet had first gone to live with his uncle, they’d thought that, due to his rank and position in life, he would turn over their care to other people. To their surprise, Uncle Alistair insisted on overseeing everything about their lives. When they were young he met with the nurse and the maids assigned to the nursery, then Janet’s governess and Logan’s tutors. Since Alistair was a widower and childless, he was considered by some matrimonially minded women to be a catch. His uncle had numerous romantic relationships, none of which he kept secret, but he never remarried. Instead, he was the best uncle/father anyone could have. He took on the children of his younger brother as if they were his own.
When Logan had gone to Edinburgh a few weeks ago, he’d visited his uncle and had been shocked at the change in the man.
“I’m not dead yet, my boy,” his uncle said. “You be about your business. You’ve enough to do without worrying about me.”
When you loved someone you worried about them.
Janet was closer and visited often. The fact that she’d sent him a letter meant the end was near.
Logan thanked the man and walked him to the door, turning the envelope over in his hands. He didn’t want to open it, but it was a duty he couldn’t avoid.
Mrs. Campbell startled him by appearing at his elbow. Her usually pleasant face was marred by a scowl.
“Eleanor?”
“I promised her a meal fit for a king. They were starving her. Can you imagine such a barbaric thing in this day and age? Just because she told them that she was going to break her engagement. The girl doesn’t want to be a countess, Logan, and they punished her for it.”
He pushed the information down where he could deal with it later. Right now Eleanor had to be kept safe and allowed to recuperate while he dealt with other family matters.
