“The matter is in the hands of a magistrate,” replied Lord Macklin. “All that can be done will be.”
Teresa wondered a little at the way he phrased this.
“Ah. Good,” said the doctor. When it became clear that he would be told no more, he rose and took his leave, promising to send the medications he recommended with all speed.
And then Teresa was left alone in the grand drawing room with its noble owner. He sat beside her, the partner who had helped her accomplish…miracles really. And he hadn’t asked for anything in return. He was a man like no other.
If she reached out, she could touch his hand, his cheek. The love she felt for him filled her. “I would like to thank you,” she said. “For helping me get them out.”
“As who would not?”
“So very many people. You know how girls in their position are valued by most of society.”
“Not at all, you mean.” He looked vexed. “I admit I never paid much heed. You have shown me so many things.”
Teresa’s throat was tight with emotion. “You are extraordinary.”
“I hardly think so.”
“That is part of what makes you so.” She hadn’t understood that such men existed. She hadn’t believed until he proved it to her. Now he drew her irresistibly. She wanted to nestle into his arms. She wanted to throw off every scruple, forget everything but him.
“That word applies better to you,” he said with one of his dizzying smiles. “But I’m pleased that you think so. I want you to think well of me.”
“I?” He said this even though he knew the truth of her past? She’d fallen in love with this English earl because of the way he treated her. She’d been certain his attitude would change when she told her story. How had it not? She leaned closer. Her fingers brushed his sleeve. His lips were right there. She moved the last few inches and kissed him. Tentative at first, questioning, merely exploratory. At his immediate, ardent response, she slid her arms around his neck, pressed close, and lost herself in the embrace. Soft, all-encompassing, replete—a kiss like no other. She’d thought of him once as an ocean wave that knocked one tumbling and then dragged irresistibly toward the depths. Here they were, engulfing her. And she didn’t care. She surrendered to that passionate tide.
Lord Macklin pulled away from her. Teresa reached for him with a soft protest. “I cannot,” he said, his voice uneven. “You are a guest in my house. Under my protection. Any… It would be quite wrong of me.”
“I don’t require protection from you,” she replied. The truth of it rang through her as soon as she spoke, leaving her shaken. Here was the heart of the matter—trust.
But he edged farther back and then stood up. “I had better go before…”
The always immaculate earl looked mussed. His neckcloth was twisted.
“One cannot resist the irresistible,” he murmured. “But I must.”
The ever-articulate aristocrat spoke in disjointed phrases. Teresa reveled in it.
“When this visit is done…” With one searing look at her, he strode out.
Lord Macklin did not appear at dinner that evening. Nor in the drawing room afterward. Teresa assumed that he slept in his bedchamber, a few doors down the hall from hers, through the night. She was tempted to find out, but she knew he would not like it. So in the end she too resisted.
Rising early the next morning she found no one else in the breakfast room when she went down. The earl had gone out, she was told, and it appeared that the girls were taking advantage of the unaccustomed luxury and sleeping as long as they liked. She was glad; they needed the rest after their ordeal. Having eaten, Teresa sought out the housekeeper and talked with her as she’d planned. Mrs. Garting was stiff at first. But she gradually unbent as Teresa told her tale—all true but carefully tailored to her audience. By the time she’d finished, the atmosphere had lightened, and she thought the earl’s staff would be less prickly from now on. She went to sit in the drawing room, not sure quite what to do with idleness after the recent intense activity.
The butler came to her there to report that she had callers.
“But no one knows I’m here.”
“These ladies appear well informed, madam.”
She hadn’t expected the rumors to begin quite so soon. Teresa sighed. She didn’t feel like fending off curious gossips, coming to pry all the details out of her. All alone. Then she remembered that she had a high-nosed butler at her command. “Tell them that no one is at home to receive them.”
“Yes, madam.” Chirt looked as if he would enjoy it.
But a few minutes later Teresa heard a chorus of voices approaching, and in the next instant three young ladies burst into the drawing room. Chirt followed on their heels with an outraged expression.
“I cannot believe you would deny us,” said Miss Charlotte Deeping.
“You left us out of everything,” complained Miss Sarah Moran. “It’s not fair.”
“Tom told us what you’ve been up to,” said Miss Harriet Finch, in response to Teresa’s startled expression. “Part of it, at any rate. I suspect he left out a good deal. No, I’m certain he must have.”
“And so we have come to hear.” Miss Deeping plopped down on the sofa next to Teresa. She looked as if it would take several strong footmen to remove her. “And if you think you can fob us off, you will find you are mistaken,” she said, confirming this impression.
Miss Moran and Miss Finch also sat. They looked like fashionable debutantes, decked out in gowns and bonnets for morning calls, but the stares they fixed on Teresa were worthy of a wolf pack.
“It’s all right, Chirt,” said Teresa. “Thank you.”
The butler turned away, clearly incensed. He walked out, somehow managing to express profound disapproval with his back.
“He thinks we’re dreadfully rackety,” said Miss Moran.
Miss Deeping made a dismissive gesture. “Tell,” she said to Teresa.
She didn’t care to be commanded. But more than that, she wasn’t sure how much the young ladies should be told about the sinister house in the country.
A movement at the door caught her eye. The earl looked in and then ducked back out of sight. “Lord Macklin!” called Teresa.
After a moment he reappeared. His expression made it obvious that he had intended to escape. Teresa laughed at him. He smiled ruefully when he saw it.
A clamor rose from the three visitors, accusing the earl also of leaving them out of the adventure. They began to sound like children deprived of a promised treat.