Page 55 of The Devil and the Heiress
“Did you meet the Mitchells? Aren’t they lovely? They’ve taken excellent care of us.” When he still hadn’t looked away from Christian, she moved between them to bring his attention back to her. “How did you find us?”
It effectively transferred the full force of his anger to her, which gave her pause. “We had no idea where you were, Violet. Lady Helena is the one who realized Leigh had disappeared at the same time you did.” Only then did she understand that it wasn’t anger he directed at her. It was fear. His eyes were bright with it. “We went to his estate in Scotland, and with no sign of you there, we had to backtrack through northern England. Thank God, we came across a newspaper. It said that a man suspected to be the Earl of Leigh had crashed his carriage, and a mysterious American had been in his company. We came directly here.”
Oh dear. It wasn’t good that there was already talk ofthem. “I know I should have made contact, but I couldn’t because I...”
“Because you were injured. Because of him.” His anger directed back at Christian, he walked around her, but she wouldn’t have it and moved with him. “You take her and then you allow this to happen to her!” he yelled at Christian.
Putting her hand on her brother’s chest, she said, “It wasn’t his fault, Max. Please calm down so we can discuss this.”
“Not his fault? Violet, he nearly got you killed.”
“It was an accident, and I am fine. Christian is the one who saved me.” She glanced behind her to see Christian standing silently, his hands in fists at his sides. He was so still that a warning rose within her. Something was wrong. She knew he still felt guilty and hated the way Max’s words must be landing like barbs in that guilt. “He was escorting me to Windermere. There had been days of rain, and a tree uprooted and hit the carriage. It was an accident.”
“Windermere?”
She nodded. “I was going there to a boardinghouse, to stay until I figured out what to do about Mother and Papa and Lord Ware. Christian saw me leave and was kind enough to offer me an escort.”
“Saw you leave? You didn’t plan to run off with him?”
“No.” She smiled, hoping to calm him down, hoping that if he understood there had been no elaborate scheme then he might relax. “He saw me outside the British Museum and stopped to offer his assistance.”
Max ran a hand through the hair at his temple, shaking his head as if he’d come to some great realization. Gesturing toward Christian, he said to Violet, “You misunderstand the motivation for his offer of assistance.” Max spoke through clenched teeth, and his gaze swung back to Christian. “He wanted to marry you. He never intended you to reach Windermere.”
“I know all that.” She patted his chest. “He confessedthat his original intention was to escort me in the hopes he could convince me to marry him.”
“Did he convince you?”
“Before the accident? No, but in the last several days I have decided that I will marry him.” It wasn’t nearly how she was hoping to deliver the happy news, but with Lord Ware and her parents on his side, there likely wasn’t a happy way for all.
Incredulous, Max looked at her. “Oh, really? Then why are you on the road to Scotland now? I believe Windermere is southwest of here.”
She frowned, not entirely certain what he meant. A glance at Christian confirmed the guilt that slashed across his face. He spoke for the first time. “The turn off for Windermere was the morning of our accident. I had planned to ask you that night.” His voice had the solemn, resigned tones of a condemned man, which was not at all reassuring.
Turning back to her brother, she said, “A miscommunication. I would have said yes that night.” It was true, but the knowledge that he had anticipated her and reacted without her consent itched its way under her skin. She would confront him later about it in private, when Max wasn’t breathing his fiery anger on them.
“Do you think it was a happy accident that he found you in London that day when you left?” Max’s voice was heavy with insinuation, which caused her to take a few steps backward. Christian stood at her back, but he made no attempt to touch her, which was disconcerting.
“It was a coincidence,” she said, knowing that she was being led somewhere she didn’t want to go.
“Coincidence,” Max repeated, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “Just as it was a coincidence that your maid disappeared on the same day you did?”
“Ellen? What are you talking about?” What did she have to do with this? “Have you found her? Is she injured?”
“Lady Helena hasn’t been able to find her, but she hasfound that the girl was last seen going to Montague Club on the day you ran away.” To Christian, he said, “Perhaps you can shed some light on her disappearance.”
Without hesitation, Christian said, “She has been sent to Amberley Park, where I have guaranteed her a position.”
Violet whirled, stunned that Christian would know the maid. “I don’t understand.”
His eyes reflected pain and resignation when they met hers. “I hired her to give me information about you.” Taking a breath, he added, “I also had men outside your home so they could tell me when you were leaving.”
“You knew I would be running away at the British Museum?”
“No, but I suspected. I knew you had left the bag at Lady Helena’s. I knew you were planning to leave.”
Betrayal tasted bitter as it clawed its way up the back of her throat. “You planned this, then? The whole trip?”
He nodded, still not bothering to reach for her. Why didn’t he hold her? Why didn’t he tell her that he loved her and everything would be fine? Every fiber of her body cried out for him.
