“Yes, it does,” replied Teresa. She was quite familiar with aftermath. She saw them all seated, comforted Maria, and reassured the others. When the trays arrived, she distributed cups of tea with plenty of sugar along with cakes and ham sandwiches and well-buttered scones with jam. At some point during this process, Tom stuck his head around the door, approved the scene, and immediately withdrew.
The sustenance helped. The girls slowly recovered. They began picking irritating bits of hay from their gowns. From the way they moved, it was clear that the ride in the cramped cart had been a strain and that some of them were more hurt than they appeared. They would need care, and Teresa started to wonder how this could be managed. Her house was far too small. Their scattered lodgings would not do, even if they were still welcome there.
Tom reappeared and consumed all the scones that were left. “Joe’s sloped off with the cart horses and wagon,” he said. “Slipped out to a lane behind the inn and scarpered. You want me to ride after him?”
“Do you think he is a danger to us?” Teresa asked him.
“I think he means to run as far from here as he can and never look back.”
“Well, we will let him go.” She had enough people to worry about.
As if in response to this thought, Jill wailed, “What’s going to become of us?”
“Do you have family?” Teresa responded. “We could help you return to them.”
As Jill shook her head, Poppy said, “Neither of us has anybody close. Reckon that’s why that she-devil took us on. We was at a mop fair, and she asked all about our families before she offered us work.” She looked as if she wanted to spit. “Work! I wisht I had hit her when I had the chance. And I hope I burned that place right down.”
“That’s the spirit,” said Tom.
From the settee, Odile moaned. She was the worst off, and Teresa wished she knew how to help her. They needed a doctor.
The sound of carriage wheels below took her to the window. Lord Macklin had returned. The sight of him filled Teresa with a burst of joy so strong she could scarcely contain it. They’d labored side by side to save the day. He’d trusted her, and fully deserved her trust in him. Now, the handsome man pulling into the inn yard seemed everything that was admirable. She hurried down to meet him.
Stepping from his curricle and turning toward the inn door, Arthur was buoyed up by the welcome in Señora Alvarez’s dark eyes. “I have told the whole story to the magistrate,” he said. “Sir Samford was very much shocked. He is gathering a group of men to go to the house and detain anyone who remains there.”
“I suppose most of them have run away,” she replied.
“Probably. But it was most important to rescue their captives.”
“Yes.”
Arthur didn’t think that she’d ever looked at him this way before. A heady mixture of tenderness and desire surged through him. If he found the right words now would she…?
A hail from above drew his eyes to the window of the private parlor. Tom stood there with his hand raised. Arthur waved.
The señora looked up as well. “Odile is in a bad way, I think. I would like her to see a doctor.”
“I have a good physician in town. Can she make it so far?”
“I’m quite worried for her, but let us go and ask what she would like to do.”
When he saw the young opera dancer lying on the settee, ashen and weak, Arthur was once again filled with rage. She was such a small, fragile-looking girl, and clearly she had been treated shamefully. What sort of man could do that? What sort let it happen? Because the staff had known very well what was going on in that place. How did people come to care so little for others’ pain?
When consulted by the señora, Odile begged to go home to London. The thought of staying anywhere near the house where she’d been imprisoned clearly terrified her.
Arthur moved closer. “We want to care for you.”
She cowered away from him. No one had ever gazed at Arthur with such sick fear. He hated it, and hated the reason she now felt it. Those responsible should pay for this. He retreated to the other side of the room.
Señora Alvarez soon joined him. “It is clear that staying here would be worse for Odile than the drive to town. However hard that may be.”
And so the arrangements were made, and they all set out—Teresa and Macklin in the curricle, the six young women in a roomy post chaise, and Tom riding beside.
“Where are we going to go?” Señora Alvarez asked after a few miles on the road. “The dancers lost their lodgings when they were taken away, and Poppy and Jill have none.”
“I’ve been considering,” Arthur replied. Six girls, most of whom showed clear signs of ill usage, would not be welcomed at an inn or hotel, even with ample funds. And after their imprisonment, they would not care to be shut into strange rooms alone. He thought they might do best if they were together. “I believe the best plan is to take them to my house for a while to recover,” he answered.
Her mouth fell a little open. “Your…”
“You could stay with them there, as reassurance and as a nod to propriety.” He hadn’t thought of this until just now. But he found the idea of installing her in his home very appealing.
Señora Alvarez seemed to grope for words. “Have you gone mad?” she asked finally.
“Not that I’m aware.”
“Nod to propriety,” she muttered. “You know very well that I offer no such thing.”
“Ah, well, you appear very proper.” He was more and more pleased with his plan.
“Lord Macklin!”
He reined in his high spirits. But not his determination to convince her. “These poor girls need peace and quiet and safety,” he said. “Time to see a doctor. And it seems to me best that they be kept together for a while. So that they can support each other as they heal. My house satisfies all those conditions.”
“But word would spread. This would cause a great scandal.”
He had thought of this, and found he didn’t care a jot. “I have lived a life untouched by any hint of scandal,” he replied. “Perhaps it’s time to add a bit to the mix.”
“Will you be serious? This is not a joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
She stared at him as if trying to probe the depths of his brain. Arthur endured the examination calmly. It was true that he wanted to impress her as well as help the unfortunate girls. But he did wish to help them. There was no deception involved. “Your house,” she said.