Page 56 of The Moonstone Marquess
“All the more reason for you to stay put. My nieces will need you more than ever if I am shot.”
She gasped.
He loved her more than ever because she wanted to protect him. Yes, it irritated him, but it also made him immensely proud.
He intended to protect her as well, and would not hesitate to die a thousand deaths if this was what it took to keep her safe. She mattered to him more than his own soul.
He never thought to feel this way about any woman.
The lights of Westgate Hall were now coming into view as he rode home in the glimmers of twilight.
As he dismounted in the courtyard, he could hear the Earl of Rothmere ranting in the parlor. He still held its occupants hostage. A peek in the window revealed this included all Cormac’s guests and two frightened footmen.
He entered the house, grabbed a decorative vase off the entry hall table, then dumped the flowers and water out of it. “Sorry, Melrose. Someone will have to clean this up.”
“No worries, my lord. Do you have a plan?”
“Yes, this.” Cormac hurled the vase into the parlor so that it smashed against the far wall.
Lord Rothmere turned at the sound. “What the…?”
When he turned back, Cormac smashed his fist in the man’s face.
Chapter Eleven
Cormac grabbed thepistol out of the Earl of Rothmere’s hand as the man crumpled to the floor. “Search him for weapons,” he ordered Melrose, then turned to his two footmen. “Are you all right?”
The men nodded and muttered their effusive thanks.
“Good.” He gave each a pat on the shoulder. “Assist Melrose. Check Lord Rothmere’s boots. Feel along his jacket for a secret pocket. Once you are certain he has no weapons on him, tie him up securely.”
“Must you do that?” Lady Rothmere asked, wringing her hands as she stared at her husband, who was now groaning and attempting to sit up.
“I would have been within my rights to make you a widow,” Cormac snapped back. “What sent him here in a mad rage?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was too overset to listen to his rantings.”
Cormac knelt beside the man. “Rothmere, what the hell were you thinking?” He did not appear to be drunk, so what had put him in a temper?
“You have everything, Burness. Must you steal my wife, too? I will not grant her a divorce. She will never marry you.”
“Dear heaven, where did you hear such utter tripe? I did not steal your wife. Nor do I have any desire to marry her. I did not even know she would be here until she came along with Lord Crawford and his party.”
The earl delicately rubbed his jaw to check whether it was broken.
Well, Cormac had given the man a hard punch, but had been careful not to hit him harder than necessary.
“The scandal is out, so you needn’t deny it.”
“What scandal?” Cormac asked. “I will deny it. I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Lord Crawford now stepped forward. “Burness is telling you the truth. It is just a house party. A group of friends getting together to console me over the loss of my brother. There is nothing devious going on here.”
“Someone played you for a fool, Rothmere,” Cormac said. “Who told you this nonsense about me and your wife?”
Lord Rothmere refused to say.
“Must I beat it out of you?” Cormac wouldn’t, of course. But the man did not know this.
