Seducing the Ruthless Rogue (19 page)

“I really don’t see how that is any of your business, or why I should answer you.
 
Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to do, and they do not include standing here wasting my breath talking to you.”

“What is it about me that riles you so much, Miss Graham?
 
Is it the fact that I am Scottish?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then you have heard that I am a bastard.”

“In your actions, Director?”

“In every sense of the word, Miss Graham.”

She paused mid-stride and turned to stare at him with a look of unbelief.
 
“I highly doubt that, Director.”

“It’s true.
 
You should ask my my brother or his wife.
 
Even my grandmother will tell you, though she hates to say the word.”

“No, I am not even going to broach this topic with you, because I could not care less.”

“Ah, your curiosity is piqued though, isn’t it.”

“No, Director, it isn’t.
 
Now, as I said earlier, I have people to see.
 
I wish you a good day,” she said and climbed back into the waiting hack.

Mack stood and watched the carriage leave.
 
Now, what exactly was the woman up to?
he pondered.
 
He turned and ambled back towards the assembly, listening intently to the speaker and wondering why Miss Cassie Graham was so interested in the plight of factory workers.

***

Cassie fumed inside the moving conveyance.
 
Why did he continue to plague her?
 
And what right did he have to take her journal from her?
 
It was a good thing that she wrote in her own code, though he had not believed her.
 
All the better.
 
She looked back and saw him moving towards the group once more.
 
“Irritating Scotsman,” she muttered.

Finally, the coach pulled up in front of a familiar mansion.
 
She took a deep breath and paid the driver, then walked up to the front door.
 
She knocked and waited for the door to open.
 
The butler opened the door and looked at her expectantly.

“Might I help you?”

“Yes.
 
I am here to see Lady Thompson.
 
I apologize for not having a calling card, but if you could tell her…”

“Cassie!” a little girl’s voice exclaimed.

“Jemma, how are you, Poppet?” she asked, bending and lifting the little girl in her arms.
 
She relished the feel of the little arms tight about her neck.
 
Cassie missed not having siblings, and swore that she would have more than one child if she ever married.
 
She almost laughed aloud at that thought, for marriage was most assuredly not in her plans.

“Jemma, where are you?” she heard a familiar voice.

“Here, Mama,” she called.

“Oh, Miss Graham, it is so good to see you.
 
Please come in,” Abby said.
 
“Jemma, Miss Graham does not need to be carrying you to and fro.”

“Cassie, remember?”
 
The woman nodded.
 
“And Jemma is perfectly fine where she is, aren’t you, Poppet?”

“Yes,” the little girl nodded before resting her head on Cassie’s shoulder.
 
She began twirling a loose tendril of Cassie’s blonde hair about her finger.

“She’s been asking about you,” Abby said, leading Cassie to the parlor.

Cassie sat in a rocking chair while Abby sat on one end of the settee.
 
“Shall I have refreshments prepared, Lady Thompson?”

“That won’t be necessary…”

“Yes, please do, Riggs,” the beautiful duchess entered the room.
 
Cassie started to rise, but the woman waved her hand in dismissal, “Stay where you are.
 
You have your arms full.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Cassie said.
 
She managed to sneak a peek at the little girl and saw that her eyes were fluttering closed.
 
“You both look much better,” Cassie said, flashing a smile at Abby.

“Mikala and His Grace have seen that we have been well cared for.
 
And then there is the food,” Abby said as two maids entered the room, one carrying a tray of food and the other carrying a tray with a teapot and cups.

“Perhaps one of these days I will be successful in having her at least call him Gabriel,” Mikala laughed.
 

Abigail blushed and quickly began pouring tea.
 
She passed tea to both Cassie and Mikala and the women settled into a companionable visit.
 
A knock sounded on the door and Mikala cocked her head.

“I wonder who that could be?
 
Please excuse me,” Mikala said.
 
She stood and left the room.

“She doesn’t act very much like a duchess,” Cassie confided to Abigail.

“Judith!” Cassie and Abigail heard Mikala exclaim.

“No,” Abigail chuckled softly.
 
“From what I remember, she never did fit society’s dictates.
 
She is just so full of life.
 
She and Lord Hawkescliffe have been so welcoming.”

“And you are sure you are in good health?”

“Yes.
 
Mikala insisted I be examined by both a physician and a midwife.
 
Both pronounced me fit beside needing to put on more weight.
 
The babe has been more active the last few days, too.”
 

“I am so very glad.”

“Me, too,” Abigail said softly.

“Ladies,” Mikala said entering the room and pulling an older woman with her.
 
“I would like for you both to meet Gabe’s grandmother, Judith.”

“Judith, this is Lady Abigail Thompson and Miss Cassie Graham.
 
The little girl in Cassie’s arms is Jemma, Lady Thompson’s daughter.”

“Your Grace,” Abigail stood and curtsied before the older woman could stop her.
 
Cassie followed suit as well as she could with her arms full.
 

“Everyone sit,” Judith said.
 
“It feels so very good to be out of that carriage.”

“You mean you couldn’t find some way to pass the time?” Mikala asked slyly.
 
She laughed, her husky voice filling the room as the older woman blushed.
 
“Abigail—”

“Mikala Hawke, I will never speak to you again if you breathe one word,” Judith said.

“It is your news to announce,” Mikala said with an indulgent smile.
 
“I was merely going to tell Abigail our plan.”

“Oh, yes,” Judith beamed at Abigail.
 
“Abigail, Mikala wrote me and told me your story.
 
I know your family and it hurts my heart that they would turn their back on their child and granddaughter as they have,” she held up her hand when Abigail started to speak.
 
“I am not going to get involved in family affairs.
 
What I am going to do is take you and that sweet child back to the country with me.”

“Oh, but I have already been enough of a burden on your family,” she shook her head.

“My dear, never consider yourself a burden.
 
Now, tell me more about yourself,” Judith said.
 
The two women chatted for quite a while when Judith grasped Abigail’s hands and cried, “That’s it!”

“What is it, Judith?”

“I have a very dear friend who lives in a large manor house, almost a castle, really, outside of Fishguard, Wales,” she said.
 

“Fishguard?” Abigail asked.
 
“Isn’t that the place of the last invasion on England by the French?”

“Yes,” Judith agreed.
 
“My friend, Cecilia, the Dowager Countess of Haverson, and I write each other regularly.
 
We had our season together and became the best of friends.”

“Judith,” Mikala prompted before taking a sip of tea.

“Oh, yes.
 
Well, Cecilia’s mother has had some sort of attack.
 
It has left her paralyzed on one side of her body.
 
It seems she has gotten some mobility back, but Cecilia is in desperate need of a nurse and companion for her mother.”

“But what does that have to do with me?” Abigail asked.

“You could fill the position.”

“Oh, no, Lady Judith, you are mistaken.
 
I’m not a nurse, and I am going to have two small children soon,” Abigail shook her head and sat the teacup down.

“But you are,” Judith countered.
 
“You, yourself have told us how you helped care for soldier’s wounds.
 
You would be an asset to Cecilia’s mother.”

“I don’t know.”

“I couldn’t think of anyone better,” Mikala said.

“But where would I live?
 
I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Abigail shook her head.

“You would not be intruding.
 
Cecilia and her husband, Lawrence, spend most of their time here in London.
 
Their daughter is grown and married with children of her own.
 
Their son is somewhere fighting in this bloody war, worrying his parents to death that something will happen to him.”

“I must think about it.”

“You have a week.
 
That is when I return to the country.”

“Thank you, Lady Hawke,” she said.

A wail pierced the air.
 
“That would be your great-granddaughter,” Mikala said, standing.
 
“Come, I know you are desperate to see her.”
 

Cassie and Abigail watched the other women leave the room, arm-in-arm.
 
Cassie stood and walked to the settee and laid Jemma down next to her mother and unwound her hair from the little girl’s finger.
 
She stood upright and stretched.

“She’s getting too big to hold,” Abigail said, a smile in her voice.
 
She brushed the little girl’s hair from her face.
 
She took one of the little girl’s chubby little hands in hers and rubbed her thumb back and forth across the back of it.

“What are you going to do, Abby?” Cassie asked her.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“It might be the answer you are looking for.”

Abby nodded her head.

“What is holding you back?”

“I don’t know.
 
Maybe it’s because Wales seems so desolate.”

“I’m sure it isn’t all that bad,” Cassie said.

“But the children…”

“And you heard what Lady Judith said about that.
 
Now, what is really bothering you?”

“I am so very tired of change,” Abby said, tears shimmering in her eyes.
 
She let her head fall against the back of the settee.
 

Cassie rushed to her side and fell to her knees beside Abby.
 
She placed a comforting hand on Abby’s arm.

“In the beginning, Andrew was so charming.
 
He was exciting and so very attentive.
 
And then we snuck off to Gretna Green because my parents did not approve.
 
We thought afterwards they would see that they could not keep us apart, and they would accept him.”

“But they didn’t.”

“No.
 
Then I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I took up following the drum.
 
Did you know that now I can tend wounds, wash clothing, and cook?
 
I can also help dismantle and set up a camp.
 
I can use a sword and a gun.
 
I know it was not even four years, but it felt like so much more.
 
I am just so tired of change and moving.”

“Perhaps this is the answer for you, Abby.”

“What happens if she passes away?
 
What happens to us then?”

“One step at a time.”

“But I have to think like that.
 
I have children I have to think of.
 
Am I always going to be going from home to home, dragging my children with me?
 
What kind of life is that for them?”

Cassie could only wrap the other woman in her arms, letting her cry out her worries in silent, body-wracking sobs.

***

Cassie assisted Abby and Jemma upstairs to the room they shared.
 
She promised to return before the end of the week to say goodbye, because Abby had decided she had no other option than to take the position.
 
Judith promised to set up an interview with Cecilia within the next few days, but foresaw no issues.

“Where are you going?” Mikala asked, when she saw Cassie standing next to the door.

“Home.
 
Papa and Chang will be wondering where I am.”