Page 62 of The Rogue's Last Scandal
“No.” Lord Shaldon shook his head. “Gather all of Miss Kingsley’s things and send them here. She is staying with me.” He waved a hand. “Hire a flock of solicitors if you wish to challenge me. You may sell your wife’s new jewels to pay for them, as you are not going to have a farthing more from Miss Kingsley’s account.”
A pallor descended upon Lord Kingsley. “I am her guardian.”
“As am I.”
“Farnsworth—”
“Will return soon. And, as he keeps a bachelor establishment, he will not likely want to take charge of Miss Kingsley’s person himself. I’ve no doubt my daughters will enjoy her company.”
“We most certainly do, Father,” Lady Sirena said.
From behind Kingsley’s shoulder, Charley was smiling. The bored lord had vanished. This was Charley himself, as she knew him. She smiled back, and Lord Kingsley saw it.
“You,” he said. “You troublesome chit. You think you have outsmarted...” He took a raspy breath. “We have tried to make you respectable, to introduce you into society as your father wished, to arrange a marriage for you, as your father wished.”
“To Gregory Carvelle? My father wished no such thing.”
“Did you think we’d get you a duke or an earl or even one of their sons? How hard it was, trying to make you respectable, considering your mother’s blood, your foul temperament, and the baggage you brought with you. Where is that child, Graciela? If I find her, you will come back.”
Her blood spiked setting her cheeks on fire. “You threaten the child in my care?”
Kingsley’s eyes narrowed.
He knew now that Reina was here.
She struggled to breathe. Charley stepped into the breach “I dare say a small child is easier to control than an almost grown woman, eh, Kingsley?”
For that, Charley drew another glare.
“I dare say those beatings were easier to effect on a little one.”
Kingsley lunged at Charley. Mr. Gibson grabbed him, locking his arms.
“You whoreson rakehell, don’t tell me you’ve dipped your wick in this—”
“Enough.” Charley’s fist crashed into Kingsley’s jaw.
Hell broke loose. She tried to go to his aid, but a strong hand held her back. “Let the boys handle it,” Lord Shaldon said.
The three brothers carried him out of the room with loud clomps, much shouting, and terrible oaths. Soon, a door slammed, and the three returned. Lord Bakeley and Mr. Gibson were unfazed. Charley’s neck cloth was askew.
He came directly to her, took her hand from his father’s, and pulled her into his arms.
His heart pounded against her ear, and where his hand touched her back, she felt only his strength.
“Are you all right, Gracie?”
When she tried to speak her throat clogged with moisture. She had to break free to nod.
Everyone stood watching them, including Lord Shaldon, whose expression she could not read. It was not the kind greeting gaze, nor the thunderous glare, either. There was a glint of assessment, a hint of pleasure, even humor.
“Father, Miss Kingsley and I have agreed to be married.”
Lord Shaldon’s shoulders dropped with a grand exhale of breath. And he said nothing, only walked to the window, and turned his back to the room.
Charley feltthe quiver that ran through Gracie’s body. That look that had crossed his father’s face, for but a moment, that turning away, he recognized and his own heart pounded.
Father was pleased beyond punch, and by the habit of years, did not wish to show it. Happiness revealed made a man vulnerable.
