Page 65 of With Good Grace
He grabbed her hair, yanking it hard enough to make her eyes water and for her to cry out. He had her pinned to the wall again and this time she had no energy left to fight back. Hubert would not be fooled by her wilting violet routine for a second time. He raised his free hand, tugged her hair harder and slapped her face so hard that her head swam. Any hopes that Molly would belatedly come to her senses and prevent him from raping her were dashed when she caught a glimpse of the girl’s expression. Her eyes glistened with interest as she watched the man she claimed to love brutalising her former mistress. Significantly, she had also stood up, perhaps unwittingly blocking the path to the door so that Lady Marchant could not escape with Tom. That was all Olivia cared about; the welfare of her son, but she could not even protect him.
She closed her eyes, resigned. There was no fight left in her and so she would endure Hubert’s furious revenge and wait for a moment to strike back. He could not seriously expect to have his way with her, here, now, against this dank wall, could he?
Before Olivia could decide, the pressure on her hair abruptly vanished, as did Hubert. Instead he was sprawled on the floor, blood pouring from his nose, and Jake was standing over him, ready to strike him again the moment he got up.
‘How…where?’ Olivia gasped. ‘I did not hear you.’
And then Olivia was in his arms, sobbing with relief, unable to find the words to express her gratitude to the man she adored for saving her from being brutally raped. Or worse.
Chapter Seventeen
‘I will explain later,’ Jake said, stroking her hair. ‘Are you all right? Did he hurt you?’
A glimmer of a smile curved her luscious lips; lips that were bleeding because the bastard had obviously struck her. ‘Not as much as you hurt him,’ she replied, glancing down at Grantley’s prostrate form with considerable satisfaction in her expression. ‘But Tom…they gave him laudanum.’
‘Take Tom from that woman, Parker,’ Jake said in a mordent tone. ‘We will get him home and have him seen by a doctor immediately.’
‘Lady Marchant is not involved, Jake.’
Jake looked at the lady in question, then back at Olivia, not understanding but willing to take her word for it.
‘Come back to Grosvenor Square with us in that case, Lady Marchant,’ he said. ‘We must get there immediately for Tom’s sake. You can explain everything once we arrive. Parker, stay here with these two until the carriage arrives, then bring them back. We shall lock them in the cellars until I know what precisely has happened here. Oh, and search this hovel. Bring back anything you find.’
Molly moaned, implying that she had been on the point of helping Olivia. Jake glanced at Olivia, who shook her head decisively.
‘I gave her every opportunity, but she is loyal to Hubert,’ she said.
‘Then she will suffer the consequences of her folly.’
‘Nooo, I was deceived!’ Molly wailed. ‘He said he loved me. Promised me I would be famous.’
Jake ignored her and ushered his party into the curricle, hoping against hope that Olivia was right to trust Lady Marchant. He made sure that Olivia sat beside him and that she had possession of Tom. Lady Marchant sat on the outside of the cramped box seat, where she could do the least harm if she tried anything desperate.
By the time they arrived back at Grosvenor Square, Tom was starting to regain his senses, much to Olivia’s relief. She refused to be parted from her son, and sat with him on her lap until the doctor arrived to examine him.
‘No harm done,’ the medical man said to sighs of relief all round. ‘Put him to bed, he will sleep well tonight and feel none the worse for wear in the morning. In fact, he probably won’t remember much about what happened to him.’
‘Just as well,’ Jake muttered.
A subdued and sleepy Tom went up without any fuss. When Olivia returned from helping Jane to put him to bed, she had changed back into a gown, washed the blood from her face and a little colour had returned to her complexion.
‘He is sleeping,’ she said, smiling at Jake. ‘I have never seen a more precious sight.’
‘I told you we would recover him safe and sound,’ Jake replied, patting her hand. ‘Now, perhaps you would like to tell me what happened.’
Olivia did so, helped by occasional comments from Lady Marchant.
‘I really had no idea he intended to go so far,’ she said. ‘I thought I was dealing with a blackmailer, not a child abductor. I am so very sorry.’
Jake was unsure whether to believe her. She sounded sincere but then she was a famed actress. However, Olivia appeared to be in no doubt and that was enough for Jake. He stood up, went to his safe and extracted her letters.
‘Yours, I believe,’ he said, handing them to Lady Marchant.
‘Thank you so very much,’ she said, flipping through them and then throwing them into the fire. ‘You can have no idea what a weight that is off my mind.’ She stood up. ‘I will leave you now, but I hope in time we can be friends, Mrs Grantley.’
Olivia stood also. ‘I should like that.’
‘I will have someone summon a cab for you,’ Jake said, ringing the bell.
