Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
For all that people thought him an angry man, Mungo was even-tempered on the inside. It took a lot to rile him to the point of really losing control. But he’d been on the edge of doing just that ever since Calder had walked back into his life.
It was her too. Eliza Downing. He wanted her with a desperation that he usually reserved for…. Actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this desperate for something or someone.
The woman had rebuked him in that bloody snippy tone in the kitchen, and he’d been aroused instead of angry.
This yearning ache was unpleasant, and he wanted it to stop.
He may have to tell Bram to dismiss her, which was beneath him, but the desperation was building, and something was going to have to give.
He needed to ensure he was never alone with her again because that was when he put his hands and mouth on her, and the real hell was, she’d enjoyed it too.
“As we are not known to Mrs. Holton, Ellen and I will be the ones to interview the woman,” Gray said.
“I’m coming in with you,” Mungo added.
They were all standing outside on the doorstep for no reason that he could think of other than that he’d been going for a walk, and Gray and Ellen had been arriving with Calder just behind him.
“And what is your reason for being there?” Ellen demanded.
“Inside, Mama,” Olivia said tugging on her mother’s hand.
“Off you go, then, darling. I will follow shortly after ramming some sense into Uncle Mungo’s head.”
Olivia smiled at Mungo and patted the hand that was clenched at his side before running inside to find Lottie, who she adored, along with the others.
“Why must we say anything?”
“We will need to explain why you are there,” Gray said.
“Say I’m also thinking of employing a housekeeper,” he muttered.
“Alone?”
“People live alone,” he protested. “I want to see the woman and get a feel for the inside of the place.”
“And why is that?” Gray said in a cool voice.
“Don’t answer that,” Bram said, stepping out the door.
“If you think for one moment I’m letting you break into the Holton Agency tonight, think again,” Gray snapped.
“If it gets my daughter back, we’ll be doing it,” Calder said, surprising Mungo. He’d been the rule follower growing up. “But I cannot accompany you there today, as I have met Mrs. Holton previously.”
“Agreed,” Mungo snapped.
And then he felt it, the slight stirring in the air, and instantly knew who stood behind him. Eliza Downing was close, and he hated the effect she had on him.
He made himself turn and look at her. “Go inside.”
“I don’t take orders from you, Mr. Mungo,” she said in a tone that should have frozen him to the spot. It didn’t. Instead, it made him feel alive.
“Put your coat on—”
“Please put your coat on, Miss Downing, if you are staying out here,” Bram said with a sigh.
She did, turning at Bram’s words and heading back inside, but his guess was, she did so only because she was cold.
“You’ve no need to be so rude, brother,” Calder Fraser said. “You were raised better than that.”
“What I’ve no need of is your opinion.”
“You’ll get it just the same,” his brother said. “I understand more than anyone that this is a fraught situation, but it is not Miss Downing’s fault.”
“He is certainly more hostile than usual at the moment,” Bram said.
“My niece is missing. Reason enough, surely?”
His friend nodded, and then his eyes went to the doorway, where Mungo knew Eliza now stood. He refused to look.
“I heard raised voices. Is all well, Mr. Nightingale?” she said.
“We are going to visit the Holton Agency, Miss Downing,” Calder said.
“Can I assist in any way with—”
“You can’t go there or they’ll be suspicious,” Mungo snapped, cutting her off.
Perhaps the words came out a growl, but who could blame him?
The life he’d always lived had been turned on its head, and he couldn’t right it with his brother nearby, his niece missing, and Miss Downing living under the same roof as he did.
“I understand that, but I wanted to offer any insights I could,” she hissed back at him, her lovely eyes sparking with fire. “Perhaps you could try that occasionally and see how people respond.”
Bram snorted.
“I’m going to give lessons now, as we missed yesterday’s. Please let me know if I am needed in any capacity.” She shot Mungo a final glare before walking away.
“I’ll get the carriage,” Mungo said to the rest. He walked away before anyone could address him again.
The cold chilled his cheeks, and thoughts tumbled around inside his head. They had to find Fenella. Ellen had seen her alive in a vision, but if the Baddon Boys were involved, he doubted she would stay that way.
“Brother.”
He turned to find Calder behind him.
“Why are you following me?”
“I want to talk to you.”
He grunted and kept walking. “I need to think, and I like to walk while doing that, so you can come or not, but I will return with the carriage soon.”
They kept the horses a short distance from the house, if one walked briskly.
“You still have all your charm, then,” Calder said, falling in beside him.
Mungo saw the gaggle of women up ahead and thought to skirt around it until he noted Mrs. Greedy and Miss Alvin.
Both appeared agitated and were waving their hands about.
Mavis was there, too, and she and Tabitha held placards aloft.
But it was the raised voice of Harriet, Alex’s wife, that had his eyes narrowing.
“They’ll all be the death of me.”
“And I can see in the short time I’ve been here, that each and every one of them hold a place in your heart,” Calder added as Mungo walked into the middle.
“You’re all ruled by emotion rather than rational thoughts. There’s no reasoning with you!”
These words came from a man in a top hat with a thick moustache waxed on the ends.
“Or, you fear us weakening male authority!” Harriet yelled back. “That, in fact, we would do a better job at running the country, and that is why you won’t give us the vote!”
The gathered women, of whom there were many, outnumbered the small group of men. They all cheered their agreement to this.
“Men were created to lead. Women were created to submit!” another man said.
“Lead?” Mrs. Greedy said. “You do nothing but cause hardship to most and generate wealth for those who have no need of more money!”
“Well said.”
“Of course they’re here too,” Mungo muttered, noting Leo’s wife, Cyn, Ram’s wife, Flora, and Charles’s wife, Violet and her best friend Tilly. He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.
“I thought now you lot had all that money, you were doing charitable deeds and no longer protesting,” Mungo said, glaring at them.
Cyn smiled. “Now where would the fun in that be? Besides, we are fighting for the generations of women to come.”
“Exactly,” the others all said.
“Do your husbands all know you’re out here?”
“Of course. Charles made this placard,” Violet said, raising it.
“Men oppose women having the vote because it threatens your power,” Mavis said. “But we will no longer be dominated.”
“We have voices, let us speak!
We have strength, we are not weak!”
“Should we not just move on, Mungo? This is none of our business,” Calder said.
“It’s my business, as these are Crabbett Close residents and the wives of people I care for,” Mungo said. “I also support their cause, even as I worry over what will happen to them out here being heckled.”
“Aww, Mungo cares for us,” Harriet said, her American accent rising above the others. “We love you too.”
“You”—the mustached man pointed a finger at Mungo—“should not encourage this.”
“You’ll not speak to my brother in such a way,” Calder said, moving to face the man before Mungo could stop him.
“Calder—”
“You should both be ashamed of yourselves for supporting this,” the man said. “Women voting,” he scoffed, which made Calder snarl. “What’s next, the right to sit in the House of Lords?”
His brother had once been the even-tempered Fraser, but considering what he was dealing with right then, Mungo doubted he was rational.
The crowd was growing, and more men were moving to stand behind the few who had been there when they arrived. Mungo would not stand for anyone abusing those under his protection.
“We work, we pay, we give, we mend. Give us the vote, let this injustice end!” Flora chanted.
“Ashamed, is it?” Calder said in a tone that Mungo hadn’t heard in many years. “It’s you who should be that for suppressing women for your own ego.”
The fist came from nowhere and landed on Calder’s jaw. The women squawked in outrage like startled hens, and Mungo saw red. He lunged, grabbing the man who had punched his brother and dropped him with a fist. And then the fight really began.
“Get them back, Mavis!” Mungo roared, knowing she could do it by force if need be.
A war cry filled the air, and then Cyn was lashing out with a placard at a man. Mavis came into his periphery, moving like a boxer, both fists raised as she circled her opponent. She jabbed and then retreated as one of the men swung at her.
“Christ!”
Mungo didn’t know who spoke, but in seconds, Cyn was pulled back by Tabitha. To his left, Flora charged with Harriet, running at a man with a scarf stretched between them. They garroted him, and the wind rushed out of him in a loud whooshing sound as he stumbled backward.
“Retreat!” Mungo roared. It was a waste of breath and he knew it, as they did.
Calder had one man in a headlock, and Miss Alvin kicked him in the arse.
“Nice work, Miss Alvin!” Cyn roared her encouragement.
The fight was quick and fierce, and soon the men who’d come at them were retreating. The one who had done all the talking had lost his hat and was running off down the street.
“That’s right, run away, you bloody cowards!” The words came from Mrs. Greedy, who raised a fist. She then bent to pick up the hat and placed it on her head, which was already covered with a woolen hat and scarf.