Page 13 of An Unbending Lady for the Desperate Earl
“We would do well to remember that,” the Admiral added, with a stern look at Victoria. Christian watched the pair, curious in regards to their relationship. He had heard Victoria tell the Duchess that this man had become as a father to her, after her own father had passed. And he truly seemed to adore the young lady.
I imagine she is easy to adore, once one has made their way past the spiky surface.That sorrowful gaze and her sympathetic words had made him sure of that. But he supposed it was not so simple to coax her to unfurl from her protective defenses. A hedgehog of a woman, who had been forced to prove herself in this world, time and time again. For she could not have had a comfortable path in life, considering the employment she had chosen.
Had she been born a son, how different things might have been for her. No doubt she knows that. No doubt she feels that.But he thought her altogether remarkable, despite her spells of frostiness.
“Well, shall we go to find these chaperones?” Victoria’s tone brightened, though it rang false.
Christian nodded. “Yes, I think that is a rather good idea.”
The only trouble was, if they had remained silent to the newspapers out of terror of revenge, they may be too petrified to speak, even to the likes of Christian. But someone had to know something. Someone had to have seen something. Someone had to know who these two wretches were… surely?
At least one may be of our kind…Two days ago, he would not have thought it possible. But now… well, all bets were off. And if a monster lay hidden within his world, infiltrating high society and snatching ladies from their beds, then Christian vowed to take up sword and shield and strike the villain down just as St. George had slain the dragon. Hoping, all the while, that when he saw Helena again, it would not be in the tragic confines of a casket.
Chapter 7
Taking Lord Galbury’s carriage, the trio didn’t have to go far before they reached the house of the first young lady who had been taken: Lady Isabella, daughter to the Earl and Countess of Haverstock.
“Do you know if Lady Isabella has any sisters?” Victoria peered up at the homogenous townhouse, catching a glimpse of a curtain twitch in one of the upper rooms.
Lord Galbury shook his head. “She is the Haverstocks’ only child.”
Victoria frowned. “What of the other ladies?” Lady Erin had been the second kidnapping victim, with Lady Jane, Lady Harriet, Lady Felicity, and Lady Helena following after.
“What do you mean?” Lord Galbury replied.
“Do they have any sisters?”
He paused in thought. “No… I do not believe they do. Either they’re sole children or they have brothers. Yes, that’s correct. None of the ladies have any sisters, so far as I am aware.”
“Then the Ladies are being chosen because they’re the only daughters in the household, as well as being selected for their slight figures.” Victoria’s stomach churned. It sickened her to think of how they had been targeted with such specificity. Whoever had done this had taken their time in making decisions, no doubt observing from a distance, and doing their research.
“Lady Erin was not so slight,” Lord Galbury said, looking somewhat shamefaced. “She had a… rather more shapely figure. I never met the young lady myself, but it was common knowledge among the gentlemen that she… um… was possessed of a more womanly appearance.”
“But she was taken while riding in her carriage, no?” Victoria could not help but feel amused by Lord Galbury’s obvious discomfort in discussing the physique of the victims. It gave him a boyish innocence that endeared her toward him.
Lord Galbury nodded. “Yes, she was.”
“Then, I suppose it would not have mattered what her figure might have been,” Benedict said. “The cretins must have realized that, to steal girls out in the open, after two successful kidnappings, would invite heavier protective measures. If you will pardon the pun. That must be when they decided to alter their modus operandi.”
“My goodness. The moment I think this cannot get any worse, more details emerge and, quite frankly, they appall me.” Lord Galbury paled. “Who would do such a thing, with such attention?”
“Disturbed men, My Lord.” Victoria put it simply. In her time as an investigator, she had seen the very worst of humankind. Murderers, thieves, lunatics, and depraved deviants, and those were only several of the kinds of people at the top of the deranged list.
She’d seen her first dead body by the age of five-and-ten, after going with her father to a household in Highgate, where a woman had been brutally strangled. The culprit turned out to be her husband, as many such murders did, but she had never forgotten that eerily-pale face, so beautiful even in death, and the purple lips frozen in a shocked ‘O’. Her blank eyes had stared up with such horror, as though she would have never expected the man she loved to take her life from her.
Nothing shocked Victoria anymore. Benedict always said that this world had hardened her, and perhaps he was right. But she needed to be tough, when there were cruel, evil wrongdoers around every corner.
Together, they stepped out of the carriage, though Benedict paused before exiting. “Perhaps it would be best if the two of you were to go alone. Three interrogators may prove too many. I wouldn’t want to fright these poor souls.”
“Are you sure?” Victoria had never known Benedict to be one to shy away from questioning before.
“Quite sure.” Benedict smiled. “You will provide the feminine grace and comfort, and Lord Galbury will provide the necessary authority to urge them to talk. I will simply be a third wheel that you do not require. But I will be out here if you do need me.”
“Very well.” Bemused, Victoria made her way to the front door of the house with Lord Galbury at her side. He stood a good head taller than her, his blue gaze determined. “Allow me to lead with the questions, My Lord. I know what I’m doing.”
He nodded. “As you prefer.”
She knocked, and the butler answered a moment later. “Good afternoon, Miss. How may I—oh, Lord Galbury. I didn’t see you there. Do you have some business with His Lordship?”
