Page 57 of Lord Ramsey's Red-Headed Ruin
“Amber, they did. Whit and Gus are safe. At home. Unhurt.”
She ran her gaze over Ram’s face. “But what Luc said yesterday is true. Vaillancourt plans to destroy all my friends. Seek out all my acquaintances. Abduct them. Torture…” She clamped a hand over her mouth, lest the sobs that rose to her throat fill the whole house with outrage.
She was on her feet. The papers fell to the carpet. “I won’t let him do it.”
Ram rose and took her against him. His large hands to her spine, he stroked her. “Amber, sweetheart. You cannot stop him.”
She shot back and stared at him. This marvelous man was kind and considerate, irresistible. She loved him. She ached with it. The joy he gave her, the unequaled bliss of being his beloved, she would always value—and never fully enjoy. “I can, Ram. I can stop him. And I will.”
His eyes turned dark and frightful. “No. I will not let you throw your life away on him.”
“Oh, my darling man, I will not let you throw your life away onme.Give over, Ram. You cannot stop me. I will return to Society. I will return to who I was. What I am. And the man who will not let me live without him.”
He stood frozen. “That is madness.”
Yes.She stepped out of his arms. “I dress to go to see Gus and Ashley. Please, Ram. Come with me.”
His face showed a man hollowed out, ravaged by her declaration. She loved him. But she could not have him. Could not save him this torture of her loss. She would deal with her own as days wore on, for never would she have that serene life with him she had but glimpsed in the rapturous moments in his arms.
Tears in his pale blue-gray eyes, he said, “I’ll have Gaspard hire a carriage.”
Then he spun away.
Chapter Sixteen
July 14, 1802
Amber climbed downfrom their fiacre, wild to have this interview done. Ram had sat opposite her, deathly quiet. She had no words either. What was there to say now that she would leave him?
She climbed the steps to Ashley’s house and rapped on the door before Ram could raise his arm.
Ashley’s swarthymajordomcame at once. Ram asked for Ashley, and the butler told them he was in his study. He could announce them, he said, if they would please wait.
“I cannot,” Amber told him. “Lead us to him, please.”
The butler asked for their coats. She saw no need for him to take her pelisse. “No. I have no time for niceties.”
The servant nodded and headed toward the stairs. Amber and Ram followed. After stopping briefly before an open door, she rushed around the butler and found herself gazing at a man as tall as Ram, dark and muscular, and with the same gravitas as the man she loved.
Behind her, Ram bade his friend hello.
“Good morning, Lord Ashley.” Amber folded her hands before her and summoned composure. “Forgive the intrusion, but I know you will receive me.”
Kane eyed them both, then came round his desk to approach her. “I am pleased to meet you, although, I do believe, not in these circumstances.”
“You have that right, Whit.” Ram bit off his words, sour as they were. “I have fought this, but she will not listen to me. I hope you can persuade her otherwise.”
Frowning, Kane nodded. “Please sit down, Madame St. Antoine. Ram. Corsini, please ask my wife to join us.”
“Yes,” said Amber as she took a chair near the fireplace. She was chilled by her own actions this morning and gravitated toward a warmth that did not exist. Sitting on the edge of the chair, she intended to do this quickly, cut to the quick and leave. “Do summon Gus. I wish to see her, congratulate her on her marriage. I do hope, sir, this is a love match.”
Ashley gave her a stiff smile. “None other than that, madame.”
She flicked a hand. “Let us dispense with formalities. We are too much in each other’s pockets to be otherwise. I am Amber. You are Kane. Save for Godfrey here, who remains Ram.” She gave Ram a small, intimate smile.
She recoiled at the sight of his unrelenting bitterness. Lest she fly away to their home and run with him to anywhere on earth he wished, she cut to her purpose. “Let me begin by telling you that we’ve seen the scandal sheets. Our servants collect them each morning. It is how Ram and I have avoided the gendarmes of Vaillancourt. A very thorough job done on that man in those broadsheets today.” News of very recent events, such as this of last night’s attempt at abduction, meant someone with all the details had informed the publishers of the story. She wagered that had to be Ashley. “I assume the work is yours.”
Kane admitted to nothing. “What you read in those sheets is rumor,” he said as he braced his hip on his desk and crossed his arms. “Not all is to be trusted.”
