Authors: Nichole Matthews
“What I find most interesting, Cooper
.
”
Granville sat his tumbler of brandy down with an ominous quiet and stood, circling the man; a black scowl
a
cross
his face.
“Is the need to search for her and the babe at all?”
He cu
rled and uncurled his fingers.
“Yes, sir.” A wary look crossed Cooper’s face. “The men you had guarding her didn’t b
elieve she was a true threat.”
“Obviously they were wrong,” Granville said in his quiet voice, even though deep inside he knew he was losing control.
Sleep, my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian angels, God will send thee,
All through the night
P
arker prowled
from one end of the hall
to the other,
his fists jammed into the pockets of his coat for the second time that day.
His
valet, Dudley
,
was going to have an apoplexy when he saw the misshapen material.
He cursed under his breath as h
e waited for his aunt to see Miss Smith settled.
What was taking them so long?
She was in the room with Mrs. Chase making sure their unexpected guests were well taken care of and attempting to feed Miss Smith some broth.
He was learning so much in such a short amount of time. For example, how long it takes to spoon broth down an unconscious woman’s throat. It is obviously a more onerous task than he would have imagined.
Who was this girl
?
Why was she running? Who was she running from?
He
turned at the click of the door
latch
, blinking when his a
unt stepped into the hall
.
“Who is
the girl?” Adele inquired in
hushed tone
s a
s she slipped quietly into the hall
closing
the door with only th
e faintest of clicks. “She barely roused
long enough for us to spoon a few sips of
broth into her mouth
, poor girl
. I was unable to retrieve any more information
before she succumbed to her exhaustion
.”
Adele’s
hands were gripped tightly together; her knuckles white
.
U
neasiness filled her eyes which in turn added to Parker’s.
“Your guess is as good as mine,”
Parker
replied
in a dry voice with a
shrug
. “Before she
collapsed
, she gave her name to be Persephone Smith and the baby, Matilda. I know of n
o one in this area by that name
and it appears quite contrived. Smith?
”
Parker questioned
.
“Do you
know of any Smiths
?”
His jaw tightened. He was going to ha
ve a massive megrim
by the end of the day if he didn’t calm
his nerves.
Adele
shook her head.
“But how did she come to be
here
?
Rosebriar
?” Adele pointed to the floor
for emphasis, pacing back and forth, wringing her hands together. “She is but a child, Parker. She cannot be above eighteen. How did she come to these circumstances? A baby
,
no husband
, no family in sight, and starving
?”
“Her speech was that of
good-breeding and
a well-educated lady.” He paused. “Someone
is undoubtedly
searching for her. She couldn’t have made it far, not in her condition and not carrying the babe.” He intended to broach the subject as soon as she awoke and was full of strength.
“Surely som
eone is searching for them.” Adele
pursed her
lips;
her mind seemed to be working hard. “If she is as you said, a lady.”
Parker raked a hand through his dark hair, lowering his gaze. “She
’
s so very thin.” Worry edged his tone. He raised his gaze and turned his attention back to his aunt.
“That she is, my dear.
Mrs. Chase is
going to sit with her a while and attempt to feed her some more broth if she wakes
,
” Adele a
dvised
. “The babe l
ooks remarkably well, though.”
“That she does.” He thought of Miss Smith’s haunted eyes, and the protective knee-jerk reaction she had for her daughter.
“I will send out inquiries first thing
in the morning.”
He studied his aunt’s face before stepp
ing back.
“What is it, Aunt
, you look
overly
worried
?”
he
observed, his
voice
low as he tilted his
head
to study
her
.
Her gaze drifted back to the bedroom door
and
she appeared to struggle with whatever she was trying to say
.
“Something is terribly amiss.”
P
arker stiffened his hands fisted
at his sides. “What?”
Adele stood quietly next to him as if searching for
the right
words.
His gaze captured hers, pinned her in place
, his stomach clenched
. “
Explain
, Aunt
,” he blew out his breath in frustrat
ion
, worry gnawing at his gut.
She
looked around to verify they were indeed alone,
dropping her voice to a whisper, “
She’s been abused.”
Her face sober when
s
he glanced at Parker
. “Physically beaten by someone or some
object
..
.”
her voice trailed off, her hands
fl
uttered
helplessly
as she
s
truggled with delivering the information
.
Parker’s body
tightened
and anger turned his voice to ice. “What makes you believe this?”
His eyes narrowed.
Adele
shifted uncomfortably and looked away.
“She has marks
all over her body.”
A thunderous expression exploded a
cross Parker’s
face.
He pivoted and stomped to the
door, he would demand answers—immediately.
As he reached for the latch he felt his aunt’s hand fall softly on his arm, he turned to see her shaking her head
. A
perplexed look
swept over
his face
.
He speared his hand
throu
gh his already mussed hair.
“There will be time enough to
question her once she has slept,
”
Adele
pointed out. “She needs her rest.”
He glared at
her;
a
noise came from him that
even he didn’t
recognize
.
A
grating sound as his teeth clenched. He
sc
rubbed his hands
roughly
over his face. “Of course, you’re right.”
He
didn’t think he was capable of emitting another sigh, but one escaped anyway. He took
his aunt’s arm
and threaded
it through his
,
gently patting her hand
as he wrapped it around his forearm.
“Let’s take some refreshment and
gather our thoughts. Our guest
needs her rest. When she has awakened, perhaps she will be willing to share her mysterious circumstances with us and how she came to be at
Rosebriar
.”
Bloodlust boiled his blood at the same time
coldness
r
an up his spine.
Scars? Why?
He escorted his aunt, both
content to remain
silent as they made their way
to the Rose Room
. He made
sure she was comfortable before
ringing for
refreshments.
He poured himself a brandy before walking to the window and leaning against the windowsill, pushing aside the thick drapes with his body.
He needed the light of the fading afternoon to ease the darkness that had seeped into his soul at his aunt’s words.
He took a moment to think about the girl sleeping in Piper’s suite. Her shabby dress combined with her cultured speech made little sense.
He sought answers in his mind but none seemed reasonable. “I’ll send
Fothergil
to London to see if we can find out anything about our guests,” he stated, taking a healthy swallow of brandy. He frowned staring off into space.
“However did you manage with the girl and the baby
at the same time
?”
“I’ve never felt so unnerved.” He rubbed the back of his neck taking another swallow of brandy just at Dobbins scratched on the door and rolled in the tea cart. He settled himself in a chair pensively running his hands through his already tousled hair. “Pray she tells us who she truly is.”
“You don’t believe she gave you her true name?”
He shook his head, jaw set, his blue eyes dark, he responded, “This is an
ugly situation, Aunt, something i
s not right.” He vowed to himself he would find out the truth. “She’s afraid.”
“So I gathered.” Adele looked up from pouring a cup of tea. “Would
you
care for
a cup, dear?”
Parker shook his head, raising his tumbler of brandy. “She is running from s
omething or someone most likely.”
“It is a little early for strong drink
, Parker.”
“I know, but I have a feeling over the next few days I’m going to need all the fortification that I can get.”
He
stared down at the amber liquid.
Damn
. He needed to be more careful what he wished for in the future.
The particular smile that appeared in Adele’s eyes worried Parker. “At least it will no longer be
eerily
quiet.”
He eyed her suspiciously.
“You
are receiving
great pleasure from teasing me, m
y
dear.”
He cringed as she very nearly echoed his exact sentiment.
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Adele smiled with pleasure
, sitting on her chaise
, as if this was a normal day
. “It is good to be ruffled every once in a while.”
“I have bee
n ruffled sufficiently for one day.”
“I’ve been horribly remiss in my responsibilities,” Adele said with a concerned look in her eyes.
Parker
glanced sharply up at her, his eyes questionin
g. “Of what are you speaking?”
“I should have made sure your emotional needs were met, but
you have always been so strong.
”
S
he sounded uncertain.
Parker almost spewed his last sip of brandy. “Aunt, my emotional needs have been met ten-fold by every member of this household,” he said with a wry smile and a hint of laughter in his voice. “Whatever has you going on like this?”
“Perhaps we relied on you over
much
?” she questioned
, sitting up
. “You stepped into your role superbly, no one could find fault with you. After your father died, you ceased being a young man of little respons
ibility and became a
guardian to three young siblings who had just lost the most important person in their life.”
“It was my duty, Aunt,” Parker reminded her. “I do not begrudge anyone. I did what needed to be done.” He didn’t want to remember. He wanted to move on and just live. He didn’t
want or
need to talk about his feelings with anyone.
“Yes, you did.” She reached over and patted his hand. “You were splendid in your role.
You are still splendid in your role as the head of this family.
” She raised her eyes which shimmered with unshed tears. “But I never asked you how you were doing?”