Page 51 of Her Impeccable Scoundrel
He rose and went to greet the child, going down on his haunches and extending his hand.
“How do you do, Nicholas,” he said. “I’m Lord Chilcombe. Coralie and I were just about to call for tea and biscuits. Do you suppose your cook has any available for us?”
The lad leaned into Blythe’s skirts and said nothing.
“We have a fresh sponge cake and elderberry jelly,” Mrs. Stockwell said. “Will that do, my lord?”
He looked at Nicholas. “What do you think?”
The boy nodded shyly.
A few moments later, Blythe watched as Coralie and Nicholas followed Louisa out of the parlor.
A firm hand clasped her own, and Graeme led her to the sofa.
“We must talk.” He settled down next to her, a hand’s width apart. “Before they return.”
His closeness set her nerves to rattling.
“Coralie told me that Nicholas is afraid. He told her this morning that two different men have tried to take him. That’s why he hid. He thought I was coming to take him away.”
“What?” Heart pounding, she tried to stand. He took her arm and stayed her.
“I didn’t know, Graeme. They ought to have told me. Louisa?—”
“Didn’t know either. Nor Coralie, until this morning.”
She buried her face in her hands, then thought better of succumbing to emotion. She needed to be stronger than that.
“Lord Vernon has never tried to claim Nicholas. Despite the rumors, which he certainly must have heard.” She shuddered, her thoughts trailing off, her anger rising.
Lord Vernon had found a new way to torture her.
“Or it might be Diddenton’s doing,” Graeme said.
Diddenton, who wanted to take her home and only source of income from her. Would he go after a child nobody else wanted?
She turned her gaze on Graeme and found him watching her. She felt a squeeze and saw that his hand had found hers again.
What would be the price of his help?
“I’d best plan on staying here,” she said. “I’ll look after him. The Stockwells, and Cook, and Joseph will help me.”
“I’ll help you, Blythe. I mean to protect him and Coralie.”
And me. Will you protect me?
She gritted her teeth and fought her weakness. She’d find a way to protect herself and the children.
He leaned closer, stirring the air with the citrusy scent of his shaving soap. “I propose that we take them to London. I’ll hire more servants and others to guard you and the children. The Chilcombe House garden can’t compare to a country estate, but we can take them on outings to the park and to see some of the sights.”
“They’ll be safer here.” Even as she said the words, she remembered her own departure from Bluebelle Lodge escaping Lord Vernon’s attentions.
“Will they?” Graeme asked. “And will you stay here and guard them while I deal with the Pregorative Court of Canterbury and the resolution of this will? Not, I suppose, that your presence is needed there, but I know the outcome is important to…”
There was another squeeze on her hand.
“To both of us.”
