Authors: Penny Richards
“Grace, do not put me on some stupid pedestal,” he said harshly. “It will only topple tomorrow.”
Chapter Eleven
“Y
ou
did all of this?” she asked in wonder. “You make people believe you are hard and unfeeling, and
you
did all of this.” She could not stop saying it.
This
was the man she had always wished to know. This was a real-life Max who would fight wrong and change history.
“Do not get sentimental over this, Grace. It is an investment that also pays monetary dividends. The local businesses that teach the children trades pay for this service, unlike the one on Baxter Street. If they end up apprenticing a child, they pay again, because they know they will be getting a healthy, well-schooled employee.”
“And where does that money go?”
He hemmed and hawed, saying that
most
of it went back into the orphanage, but that he and Lord Hendricks were compensated enough.
He could talk about financial gain all he wanted, but she knew the truth now. The label of rake had been thrown on him when he'd made that disastrous decision to help someone unworthy of his help, and subsequently had decided to live up to it for all he was worth. But he was the furthest thing imaginable from a libertine.
Since she had met him, she had seen nothing but honorable things from Brandon Roth. She would not have agreed to their venture otherwise. And now this. His dissolution was all a facade, and the truth never became known because nobody took the time to look deeper. They liked having this handsome rebel in their midst. They wanted a wicked marquess, not one who saved children. There was no food for gossip in that!
She saw him through new eyes, and realized it was more important than ever that they break their connection soon. If she found out any more about him, she would not want to let him go. She could scarcely think of it already.
But no matter what she quietly wished for herself, she knew he still did not want marriage.
She listened as he spoke about the financial rewards, struggling to make himself sound less philanthropic. “Baxter Street has been in our sights for several months,” he explained. “But Brownlow is sleazier than most. You may rest easy, love, those children will be returned to healthy and happy states as soon as Dennis and I can arrange it.”
She turned and smiled at him, tears of joy now filling her eyes. “Thank you so very much. Thank you for everything today. What I thought was one of the worst days of my life has now turned into one of the most special onesâall because of you.” He began coming up with more excuses, so she interrupted him. “Tell me how I may help.”
“Grace,” he said, the firmness of his tone telling her to listen closely. “I understand your desire to help, and giving Mrs. Dickerson a hand will be a great start for now. You can do nothing at Baxter until Dennis and I have done our parts. You will need to be satisfied with that.
“No, do not rip up at me. I promise as soon as we have taken over Baxter, you may work to your heart's content. We have already begun renovation on the new building where the children will be housed. But until then, it is not safe for you there. Especially now that Brownlow knows you are looking at his operation. All he has to do is hire someone to make sure you never tell anyone...ever. And after today, I know of three angry men who would probably do the job for free.” He paused for effect. “I may not always be able to save you.”
He went on. “Brownlow does not know about Dennis and me, so you see, you could even jeopardize our work if you do anything else there now.”
“But Brandon, I will not be in London that much longer. I wish to see those children smile.”
Her heart was heavy as she thought of leaving him, while knowing it must come, and soon.
“Do not be silly. We should have something accomplished there by the end of the Season.”
She did not argue with him. She would accept that he would take care of those children, as he had the others.
“Grace?”
“Hmm?”
“Grace, pay attention to me.” Her mind had wandered. “I need two promises from you, and if I do not get them, I will send you packing. You'll be on your way home tomorrow.”
She thought about withholding her promise. It would be so much easier to go home before she found out more things to like about him.
But she just smiled. “That is no threat to me. Only recall, home is where I wish to be.”
He would not be teased. “This is not a jest, Grace. The orphanages are a private business matter. Lord Langdon and Dennis are the only others privy to what I have told you today. I will allow you to volunteer with Mrs. Dickerson, but only escorted by me or someone of my choosing. I allowed you to know about this place and my business here because I trust you. That is the only reason.”
Her thoughts were too jumbled to rein in.
“Should it be discovered that Dennis and I are involved in this, it could undo all that we have accomplished. Do you understand what I am saying, Grace? You may not even tell Lydia. If Dennis has not told her, you must not, either.”
“Another secret, my lord?” she asked him, quietly, with no real anger in her tone. She did not wish to upset him any more. “I will tell no one. I do want to help, however.”
“Then we understand each other.”
He was not finished. “However, I require one other promise.” She knew what was coming. And before today, she would have put up a fight over his demands. But she felt as if she truly knew him now.
“You must also promise me that you will never again do what you did today, going off unescorted and informing no one other than
Max
of your destination.” He turned icy dark eyes on her. “I want your word on this. I will not dissemble. Do you not see that if you had come to me in the first place all of this could have been avoided? I would have taken you directly to Mrs. Dickerson, and there would have been no attempt to take your life.” His frustration was palpable. “If you want to go somewhere or know something, I would be the logical person to ask, as I have been here in Town longer than most. Do you understand, Grace?”
They turned onto Berkeley Square. She felt as if she had been away from the town house for weeks. “Do not rip up at me. I will come to you if I should need help.”
“No, Grace. You will not leave this curricle until I have your promise that if I cannot escort you somewhereâwhich you will ascertain by asking me first, and not by simply assuming I am occupiedâyou will always take at least one footman with you, and permit him to
stay
with you, instead of sending him home. And you will inform your household where you have gone.”
She tried not to be, but she was finally irritated. “I have no wish to drag you around with me every time I go out-of-doors, and indeed, you would quite soon tire of it. You have no idea how many times I go out or how many places I go, and it would become quite irksome for both of us if you did.”
She gave up the fight at last, but behaved badly in doing it. “Very well, I will either invite you or send a courier to your club, letting you know where I am going, each time I go out. You will become the laughingstock of all your friends.”
“Grace,” was all he said.
They were both emotionally spent, and she apologized.
“I am beginning to believe the gentlemen from Essex are not the nodcocks I originally presumed. Perhaps they simply knew themselves insufficient to the task of keeping up with you.” They pulled up in front of her house. “Friends, again?” he inquired as he put his hands on her waist to lift her down.
As she straightened her gown, she muttered, “I pity the woman you actually do wed. One moment you will berate her as you would a child, and the next you will expect all to be forgotten.”
He laughed and gently touched her cheek. As she started to turn to go into the house, he held her there with his hands on her waist. “You forget, my sweet, that I have several other excellent qualities besides those two.”
She couldn't resist. She laughed at his words.
“Grace, look at me.”
She was uncomfortable standing on the street this long with him holding her, but she obeyed.
“I am loath to bring it up, because I am quite sure you did it unconsciously, but you called me Brandon today. Several times, in fact.”
A surprised flush crept up her cheeks. “I certainly did not.”
Oh, my! She had! She had been thinking of him as Brandon for weeks now. She decided to ignore it, and stepped from his grasp.
As he entered his vehicle and she began to mount the steps, he called to her. “Do not think I am done with you, love. We will also need to discuss the little matter of carrying a loaded gun with you everywhere you go.”
She just smiled and began to hum her favorite song as she went into the house. She stopped beside Max and stared at him. As she slowly began her ascent to her room, a sad thought came to her.
I have found my living knight in shining armor, only he will never be mine.
* * *
The very next day Brandon sent a message to Grace asking if she would join him on a morning call. After the previous day's debacle, he'd determined it was time to introduce her to Lord Langdon. Brandon knew his lordship had been waiting for such an introduction.
When he told her where they were going, she looked at him with wide eyes. “What a horrid man you are!”
“My, my, yesterday I was a paragon. You know, we really should have kept that list we started at the Blue Swan. You might see that my good characteristics balance out the bad.”
She looked up at him from under the brim of her hat. She was not smiling.
“What have I done now?”
“You could have warned me. I would have taken more care with my gown and my hair. I would haveâ”
“You are perfectly well aware that you look lovely, and if I did not make that plain to you when I first saw you this morning, then I
am
a horrid man. There, you got the compliment you were fishing for!” He looked over at her and winked. “Minx!”
An uncomfortable silence fell for a moment and he wondered what was going on in that pretty head of hers.
“Brandon?”
“Yes, love?”
“What is the impetus behind helping the orphaned children? You made it clear yesterday that you receive financial reward, which is the obvious answer as to how you afford your horses.”
“Sarcasm, what I enjoy most in you,” he mumbled.
She glared at him and went on as if he had not interrupted her. “What motivated you to take on such a task?”
His instincts suggested she was looking for more ways to compliment him on his good deeds, so he deliberately answered her provocatively. “Trying to work my way into heaven, of course.”
She put her hand on his arm and turned to face him. “You are teasing me, are you not?”
“Afraid not. With my history, it will take until I amâ” he pretended to calculate in his mind “âone and seventy years to break even.”
She did not laugh. “Please tell me you do not really believe that.”
“I may be off by a few years, but not many.”
“Brandon, be serious.”
“I am afraid to. You are going to try to convert me to something or another.”
“Sorry,” she said, as she put her hands in her lap.
“Grace, petulance is very overrated.” She did not laugh at that, either. “Very well. Of course, I do not believe that. But you know of my sins. If heaven exists there is no place for one such as me.”
“Have you ever heard the saying, âGrace is getting something we do
not
deserve and mercy is not getting what we
do
deserve?'”
“No, but I expect you are about to explain it to me.”
“I know I will be in heaven, you see.”
“I know you will be, too.”
“Why is that?
“Your whole life has been nothing but doing good. Who could doubt it?”
“We do not get to heaven based on our works. Because heaven is perfect, even one mistake keeps us out.”
“Then no one would get there.”
“That is the point! â...but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.'
Because of God's grace, our sins don't have to keep us from heaven. His unmerited favor provides a way for us to get there that has nothing to do with how much we do...good or bad.”
“What about âwe reap what we sow'?”
“There
are
consequences to our choices made here, but it does not have to affect our standing with God.”
“Grace, this is obviously very important to you, and because it is, I will gladly hear it. But I can deduce that this discussion may take more than the time we have left before we reach Lord Langdon's house. I promise I will give you another opportunity to save my soul, but may we schedule it for when we have more time?”
“Of course, Brandon.” She did not pout or put on a disappointed air. He was a little surprised, but he often was when he was with her.
“Tell me what I should know about Lord Langdon before I meet him. Will I like him?”
“I think I shall let you decide for yourself whether you like him or not, but I must remind you that he believes us engaged,
as do I, my love,
and it will not do to cause him unnecessary pain by alluding to it any differently.” He thought she was going to speak, but apparently she changed her mind.
“He plays the most important role in our endeavors with the orphanages. Our efforts affected little before he became our mouthpiece in Parliament.” He wished to tell Grace that his lordship was much more to him than that, but that relationship was separate, too personal, and he was not yet ready to share it.
They entered Lord Langdon's morning room, where their host awaited them eagerly. He greeted Brandon with a handshake that turned into a bear hug with a slap on his back. At one time Brandon would have been embarrassed by that, but not now and not with Grace present.
“My lord, may I introduce you to my betrothed, Lady Grace Endicott.” He brought her forward with a hand at her waist and Lord Langdon took her hand into both of his.