Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Hector heard the carriage clatter to a stop in front of the house and frowned. It was hours early. It hadn’t been that long since she had left. How could she be back already?
Perhaps the garden party hadn’t been much fun, he reflected.
He rose to his feet and went to the window of his study, which overlooked the front of the house.
He was hoping to see that her sister was here with her.
Even though Hector had no interest in company for his own sake, it would be good if Alexandra had someone to spend the rest of the day with, so she wouldn’t be trying to make time to spend with him.
The first thing that registered was that she was alone, and his heart sank.
She would want to see him, then, and he couldn’t deny her—she had every right.
Perhaps she had spent enough time thinking about their situation to realize that his instincts were correct and that they should leave one another alone right now.
Then he looked more closely.
Her face was streaked with tears. There was dirt on the hem of her dress. She half-fell from the carriage and set off for the front door of the manor at a stumbling run, and it was obvious to Hector that something was very wrong.
All thought of giving her space fled his mind. He hurried from his study and down to the front door, heart racing, feeling as if he couldn’t get to her soon enough.
He met her at the front door. She looked up at him, shock etched in her features, and pulled away.
Hector wanted nothing more than to collect her into his arms and hold her, to make her feel safe. To make sure that she was safe. She wasn’t a hysterical woman. If she was acting like this, it was because something had happened to her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I—I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
She held up her hands when she spoke, and that was when he saw it—a red mark on her wrist. It looked like the mark of a hand gripping her. He could see the marks of someone’s fingers.
“Who did this?” he asked, his voice low and full of danger. He reached out for her again, and this time, she didn’t pull away.
But her eyes went wide. “Hector, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“Daenae apologize to me. Tell me who hurt ye.”
She shook her head. “I—no, it was nothing, I didn’t—everything’s all right. I’m sorry.”
“Alexandra.” He closed the distance between them and laid a hand on her cheek. “Stop apologizin’. Ye did nothin’ wrong. I should be the one apologizin’. I should’ve been there with ye today. Whatever this is, it wouldnae have happened if I’d been with ye.”
“No,” she whispered, and he didn’t know if she meant that he shouldn’t apologize or if she was agreeing that she wouldn’t have been harmed if he’d protected her properly.
Either way, he had never felt more of a failure in all his life.
He overcame his hesitation, reached out, and pulled her gently into his arms.
She came willingly to him, resting against his chest, her breathing soft and shuddery.
Hector felt as if he might go mad if he didn’t find out what had happened to her.
Someone was going to have to pay for this.
Blood would spill if he had his way. Whoever had dared to lay a finger on his wife would suffer for having done so.
“Nay one will touch ye ever again without yer permission,” he murmured. “I’ll make sure of that, I promise ye—except for right now.”
And he swept her up into his arms.
She didn’t resist, didn’t protest that she wanted to be set down. She allowed him to carry her up the stairs.
He passed a few of the maids along the way. “Run and prepare a warm bath for the duchess,” he ordered them. “Light a fire and fetch some tea.”
They hurried to do as he’d told them.
He carried her to her room and set her down carefully on the edge of her bed, kneeling before her. “What can I do for ye?” he asked, feeling helpless.
She shook her head and shivered.
He rose and went to the pile of blankets at the foot of the bed. Selecting the warmest, he wrapped it around her shoulders, hoping it would stop her shivering, but it didn’t seem to. She huddled, arms wrapped around herself.
“Hurry up with that damned fire,” Hector barked at a maid who was currently doing her best to light it.
“Don’t,” Alexandra whispered. “Don’t be angry with her. Nothing is her fault. She’s doing her best.”
“I just cannae bear to see ye like this,” he said. “I want ye to tell me what happened.”
“Would you just…” She took a deep, shuddery breath. “Would you just hold me? I’ll be all right, I will. Really. I just need a few moments to recover. If you’d sit with me…”
He was beside her in a heartbeat, his arms wrapped around her, crushing her against him. She leaned into him and exhaled slowly, and he could feel her body grow calmer. It was as if she was drawing on his strength, taking strength of her own from him.
He wrapped his arms more tightly around her. “Tell me who it was,” he said again. “Tell me who hurt ye.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t hurt, really,” she said. “I was only frightened. I’m all right now, I promise. There’s no need to do anything.”
He disagreed. Frightening his wife was every bit as bad as harming her.
But he could see that she didn’t want to tell him what had happened.
And things had been so uncomfortable between the two of them lately that he couldn’t bring himself to force her into anything she didn’t want. He wouldn’t press her. Not tonight.
But he wouldn’t rest until he had gotten answers.
“I love ye,” he said softly. “I love ye, Alexandra. I’ll nae let anyone hurt ye again.”
“I love you,” she whispered back.
He hadn’t realized how badly he had wanted to speak those words and hear them in return.
He hadn’t realized how much a moment like this could mean to him.
But it felt as if he had been waiting all this time for the moment they would finally be free enough to confess these feelings to each other—and to themselves.
How could she have undone him so completely? It was the last thing he’d ever expected, but he knew that he couldn’t deny it now that it had happened. It was real.
Ever so slowly, her shivers subsided, and at last she relaxed completely in his arms. He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep.
He eased her down on the bed, careful not to jostle her awake, and pulled the blanket up to cover her. After a moment’s consideration, he added a second blanket as well. He wanted to be sure she stayed warm. It wasn’t very much, but it was all he could do for her right now.
The fire was prepared. He crossed the room, took the seat beside it, and settled in to wait. The last thing he would do right now would be to leave her alone. He would sit here until she woke.
But as it turned out, things didn’t go as he’d expected.
There was a knock at the door after only a few hours. He rose to his feet, meaning to tell whoever it was to go away and that the duchess wasn’t to be disturbed.
But it was Mrs. Hopsted, the housekeeper, who had come to the door.
“I’m so sorry to disturb you, Your Grace,” she said. “You have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” He glanced over his shoulder, wondering who would be visiting right now—wondering whether it had anything to do with whatever had happened to Alexandra.
He made his way down to the foyer. When he saw who his visitor was, his heart nearly stopped.
Viscount Elderglen was waiting with his hat in his hand, and Hector thought—he knows. Whatever it is, he knows.
He knew how Alexandra felt about her father, how little she trusted him. Immediately, he was filled with mistrust as well. If this man knew something about what had happened to the duchess, he was going to give that information up. And if he had any responsibility for it, he would pay.
“Did she make it home?” the viscount asked.
Hector inclined his head but did not speak.
The viscount sighed. “We saw her running away—my other daughter and myself. And when Penelope went to the garden to see what had happened, she saw him there.”
A shiver of dread crawled up Hector’s spine. “Saw who?”
“Your brother, Your Grace.” The viscount shook his head.
“I believe he tried to bother her in the garden. I don’t know more than that.
I don’t know what happened between them.
And I’m sure she won’t tell me. My daughter has no trust in me, and that’s my own fault, I know that.
But I had to at least make sure that she had gotten home safely. ”
“Aye,” Hector said quietly. “She’s here.”
“Good,” the viscount said. “I’ll leave you be, then.”
“Lord Elderglen?”
The viscount looked up at him.
“Thank ye for lettin’ me know about this,” Hector said.
“I haven’t always taken care of her,” the viscount said.
“And I can only hope she’s faring better with you than she did with me.
But whatever happened today…” He squared his shoulders.
“We both let her down, Your Grace. We both let her find herself alone with that man. I’m trusting you to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. ”
“I can promise you it willnae happen again,” Hector said darkly. “He’ll never see her again as long as he lives.”
And if I have me way, that willnae be very long, a voice in his head growled.
He did his best to silence it. He needed to be practical now, not fly into a rage. He needed to make sure he handled this in the best way possible so that he could ensure there would be no consequences for Alexandra. All he wanted was to protect her.
He found the butler and said, “I’ll be back in a while. If the duchess wakes up in me absence, let her know that I’ll soon return and she’s not to worry.”
The butler nodded. Hector grabbed his hat and coat and was out the door before he could get caught up in his own hesitation and doubt.
If the viscount’s report was true, then the unthinkable had happened—his brother was back in London. And if that was the case, Hector was fairly confident of where he would find him.
The difficulties between the pair of them were going to be settled once and for all.
He readied a horse and rode off toward his stepmother’s house, knowing he would find his brother there. And when he did, there would be hell to pay—he would see to that.
He cannae put his hands on my wife. Even if all he did was bruise her—even then, I willnae allow such things to go unpunished.
He will regret what he’s done. By the time the sun sets on this day, he will be beggin’ me forgiveness for daring to so much as look at her.
He will be pleading with me to let go and to act as if it had never happened.
And he will never ever have that. I will never forgive anyone who causes harm to Alexandra—I swear it by everything I am.