Page 49 of The Devil and the Heiress
“Because you are a man of honor, I hope, and also because you hold great affection for your sister. Anyone can see that.”
His grin broadened. “And why would you insist on coming along? Don’t you have...” He glanced around, uncertain exactly what it was she did with herself every day. “Ladyish things to do?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I have plenty to do, but I am setting it all aside because I care deeply for Violet. There is no telling in what situation we might discover her, and she will be in need of a soft shoulder, not your, frankly”—she glanced at his shoulders—“brutish ones.”
He was a brute now, was he? She was the one issuing edicts and commands. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Fine. We will go together. Now tell me what you know.”
She nodded, accepting his word. “I believe she may have left in the company of the Earl of Leigh. He was a friend of my husband’s.”
The name had a ring of familiarity about it, but he couldn’t place it.
“You might know of him. He is a close friend of Rothschild’s. They own Montague Club along with Mr. Jacob Thorne. He seems to have disappeared around the same time as Violet.”
Ah, now he remembered. “Why do you suspect a connection?”
She swallowed and glanced down at her tea. “I saw them kiss at a ball.”
He tensed. “You don’t think he forced her?”
“No.” She shook her head, emphatic in her denial. “I think it is more that he seduced her, or perhaps he was even forthright in his offer. He can be... charismatic with the fairer sex when he so chooses.”
“You think Violet fell under the spell of this scoundrel?”
She shrugged a delicate shoulder. “I know nothing withcertainty, but I believe it possible. There is a rumor that he approached your father for Violet’s hand and was rejected.”
“Why would someone think that?”
“To be fair, the rumor is that he approached with the intention of courting Violet. He was seen leaving the home, and with no other known business with the Crenshaws, tongues wagged. I am the one who made the leap to marriage because I saw the kiss.”
Max dropped his cup back into its saucer and placed both on the table. His parents had not mentioned that once in their morning talk. Had the detective, Mr. Spencer, even considered that connection? Anger drove him to his feet. “Where would he take her?”
“To marry her in Scotland, I assume. Your family is fairly notorious here, and it would be known they do not consent to the marriage. Perhaps Scotland offers a refuge if the marriage is challenged.”
“To Gretna Green? Doesn’t that only happen in Gothic novels?”
“No, not Gretna Green. There is a residency requirement now for marriage. He owns property there, and I assume coin can ease any other restrictions they may encounter.”
Scotland. It would take—“How long will it take them to reach Scotland by carriage?”
“They should be there now.”
“Now! Why have you done nothing up till now to stop this?”
She rose and put her hands on her hips. “Your parents were only kind enough to inform me of Violet leaving a few days ago. I wasn’t even aware they were using me as her alibi until that time. Had I known earlier, I could have done something. I only returned to London yesterday, and when I called on your mother, she mentioned you would be arriving last night. Forgive me for not trusting her—someone who is highly suspect in her reasoning—withthis information. I hoped you would prove vastly more rational.”
He stared at her, noting—much to his annoyance—how prettily her anger flushed her cheeks. Holding his hands up in a signal for peace, he said, “Fine. It is done.”
Calm again, she said, “Good. Let us leave for King’s Cross. I already secured tickets for us to Edinburgh, and the train leaves in an hour.”
Chapter 19
He also knew that he had come too far to care about a future without her.
V. Lennox,An American and the London Season
THE NEXT DAY
It had taken days to get the mule team over from York, but they had finally come around midday. The next several hours had been spent with beasts and men working to drag the mangled carriage from the ravine. After speaking with the foreman as the men finished, Christian could only stare at the extent of the carnage. The ceiling had been bashed in on one side, likely from one of the tree’s branches. He couldn’t tell which one because the day after the accident a crew of woodsmen had cut it back off the road. The windows were all broken, and one of the doors missing, as was one of the wheels. Part of the interior was twisted in on itself. Violet had been confined within that violence. Her tender, delicate body had been batted around like a child’s toy at the whims of gravity and physics. It hurt his heart to imagine it.
