The Iron Duke (26 page)

Her mother’s hand flew to her chest as if to cover a wound. In a high, strained voice, she asked, “Mina, did you misunderstand so completely? Marriage is not just for the privileged classes. That is what I am trying to
undo
.”

With a shake of her head, Mina met her mother’s eyes, and Rhys realized he’d been forgotten. No longer angry, but earnest . . . as if the countess’s wound had become her own, and she wanted to close it.

“No, Mother. The privilege is that you and my father love each other, completely and unconditionally. You hold each other’s interests close to your hearts, and you will fight together through any difficulty.” She drew a deep breath. “But that is not something everyone will have. Some will marry for convenience, or for love that doesn’t last. And when a woman within a marriage finds her interests are unimportant, when her husband’s needs completely subsume hers, it is like the Horde overriding thought and feeling—except her thoughts and feelings are overridden by a husband, simply because he has more power. If that happens, a woman should strike for freedom . . . but it should not be so difficult and ruinous to find it.”

The countess’s face had softened with understanding. Quietly, she said, “Perhaps. But no one would see it as choice, Mina. And the provision would completely undermine the intended reform.”

“Which is why I have never suggested it.” Mina stood suddenly. She looked to the other ladies, her gaze never touching Rhys’s. “Forgive me. I truly believe your reform will make a difference, and for those who wish to marry, the changes to the law will make their lives that much better. And I hope you will please excuse me.”

With a swift bow, she left. In the short silence that followed, Rhys stared after her. Christ, he’d made a mess of this. He started for the door.

“Your Grace.”

He turned back. The countess’s pale cheeks had flushed. Before she could apologize for the scene that he’d caused, Rhys said, “I will let it be known that you have my full support, Lady Rockingham.” He started after Mina again, but paused. “Perhaps you should further consider what your daughter has said, however.”

She dipped her head. “Of course, sir.”

He only needed to ask Sally where the inspector had gone, and the maid showed him to the back of the house. Rockingham’s office resembled a library, except for the metal examination table at the near wall. Mina stood beside it, her back to the door. Not much taller than his daughter, the earl wiped blood from the table, his concerned gaze on her face. He was speaking as Rhys entered the room.

“. . . I’m sure your mother will survive it, Mina.” He glanced up and regarded Rhys with an inscrutable, penetrating gaze. No question where his daughter had inherited it. “I am sorry that I could not welcome you sooner, Your Grace.”

He watched Mina’s back stiffen. “You had other concerns. Is the boy all right?”

“A few stitches closed up everything the bugs couldn’t.” His gaze returned to Mina’s face as she half turned. “But that is not all, is it?”

She shook her head. “I must tell you, Father.
Marco’s Terror
. . . has been taken.”

The earl frowned. “Taken?”

“By pirates.” As her father’s face blanched, she rushed into the rest of it. “Andrew wasn’t ransomed, but they’ll keep the ship and the crew. A midshipman is useful. He’ll have a place.”

“Yes, of course,” her father murmured, but his shock hadn’t faded. His hand gripped Mina’s, knuckles white, and he looked to Rhys as if for confirmation.

Although any reassurance could end up a lie, Rhys inclined his head. “It’s true.”

Mina continued, “The Iron Duke is leaving tomorrow in pursuit of the ship. He’ll bring Andrew back.”

The older man nodded. He seemed to have difficulty swallowing, but finally said, “Thank you, sir. Thank you so very much.”

Rhys didn’t want that. He hadn’t done anything yet. But he bowed and accepted it, because there was nothing else to do.

Except to add, “I’m the one who ought to be grateful. Your daughter saved my life today.”

The earl blinked twice, as if he couldn’t follow. Then he looked to Mina with raised brows. “Oh?”

“From zombies.” She smiled as shock rendered him speechless again. “I will tell you and mother together.”

“Your mother.” The earl’s voice thickened. “Have you told her?”

“Not yet. I couldn’t.”

“We will together.” Still holding Mina’s hand, he turned for the door. “We will see if I can hurry the ladies along.”

He didn’t need Mina for that. Rhys said, “May I speak with the inspector here, sir?”

The earl glanced at Mina. She nodded. With a sigh, he kissed her forehead and patted her hand again. He left the door wide open behind him.

Rhys had to warn her, “Your brother might not be on the ship.”

Her short nod told him that she already feared that. “I know. I’ll prepare them.”

“And what will you do if he’s not?”

“If you find the
Terror
and he is not aboard, my brother Henry and I will be taking a trip to the Ivory Market.”

With no money, and no one to guide them. “You’ll die.”

She inclined her head. “Probably.”

Rhys couldn’t let that happen. And now he saw why he had nothing to interest her. She was surrounded by people who would die to protect her, and that she would die for in return. He wanted to be one of them. But he needed to take her away from the others, so that she’d see that he
could
be one of them.

And he was in uncharted territory now, needing something that he couldn’t take and couldn’t buy. The only leverage he had was the
Terror
and her brother.

“Accept my offer and share my bed,” he said, “and I’ll take you with me to find your brother. And we won’t return until we discover his location, whether he’s on the
Terror
or not. But only if you come with me.”

Her lips parting, she stared up at him. Then shock faded, and the bitter disdain that came into her eyes twisted like a knife in his chest.

But it was the only advantage Rhys had. And he’d be damned if he didn’t use it.

“We leave at dawn, so make your decision quickly,” he said, and strode for the door. “I’ll wait until midnight for your wiregram.”

 

 

Rhys found Scarsdale standing beside the steamcoach, flirting
with the neighbor’s maid.
Damn good man.
He’d made himself useful, after all.

He waited until Scarsdale climbed into the coach. “You chatted up the maid?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about them.”

“Crazy, the whole lot. Like a French family out of an antebellum salon novel.”

That meant nothing to Rhys. “How so?”

“Their title isn’t just a privilege. No, they’ve got the mindset that the peerage’s sole duty is to protect those less fortunate—though you won’t find many peers less fortunate than the Wentworths. They can’t afford their cook or their maids, but they employ as many as they can, and pay the wages even if it means the family goes without. The staff work their arses off in return.”

Just as Rhys had thought. “A house full of people with principles.”

“Yes.” Scarsdale looked out the carriage window. “I told you to let her sail on. You’ll ruin them all.”

Frowning, Rhys shook his head. He usually found Scarsdale’s advice valuable. But this was pure shit. “I’ll protect her. No one will dare touch her. And I’ll destroy anyone who tries.”

“No. They won’t come at her like that. Not with fists or guns or even cannons. And even you can’t go low enough to touch them.”

Bollocks.
“They won’t touch her. She’ll be coming with us.”

Scarsdale’s face cleared and he nodded. “Good show, captain. The airship would be the only possible place. Certainly not here.”

Rhys’s frown deepened. That hadn’t been what he’d meant.

With a sigh, Scarsdale leaned back into his seat. “How did you manage it?”

“I found her price.”

“What price?”

“Her brother.”

Scarsdale pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dear God.”

“Bad sport?” Rhys didn’t need to ask. And he didn’t want her this way. He wanted her to come to him on her own. Now, she’d hate him for forcing her—but she was determined to resist him. And he needed some damn time.

“You ought to just hold a gun to her head.”

He knew. Blast it all, he knew. “You say the airship is the only place?”

“Maybe the
Terror
on return.”

A few weeks. Enough time for Rhys to convince her to carry on with him after they came back to England. “Who could make it so that she comes with us, without force and without ruining her?”

“I know someone. But he’ll ask a high price—and I doubt it will be money.”

That didn’t matter. “Let’s visit him, then. And I’ll pay it.”

 

 

The countess of Rockingham couldn’t shed tears. But she
could still cry, and when devastated, she wept silently. And when Mina and her father sat with her in the front parlor, and told her of the
Terror
, she cried quietly into her hands until Mina’s throat felt as if it had been shredded by razors.

After a long time, her mother lifted her head. “But you say that he is still on the ship?”

Her father nodded. “Yes.”

“For certain?”

Blast.
Mina couldn’t lie to her. And though she’d have tried, her mother read her face before a word passed her lips. Determination firmed the countess’s mouth.

“I’ll repair the butler, then. It will fetch enough.” She looked to her husband. “You and Henry will travel to—”

“No, Mother.” Mina shook her head. “Henry and I will.”

But Mina knew that wouldn’t be what happened. She just had to admit it to herself.

Her mother’s face crumpled. “And shall I lose you all?”

Mina couldn’t answer that, but she was saved from responding by a knock at the front door. They all waited quietly, listening to Sally’s voice and the rumble of a stranger’s. A few moments later, the maid came to the parlor carrying a thick envelope.

“A messenger has come from the Duke of Anglesey, milord. I’ve asked him to wait for a response.”

With a creased brow, her father took the envelope. He looked inside and blinked very slowly, as if expecting the contents to disappear after the fall of his eyelids. Swallowing hard, he extracted a small note.

“It’s from the Earl of Scarsdale. Payment for the butler,” he said. “With apologies.”

Mina closed her eyes.
No.
It was so that she’d have no reason to stay. She’d told them she couldn’t live on entertainment . . . and any amount of money that could make her father blink like that would have to far exceed the salary she’d lose while traveling.

Surprise spread over her mother’s face, and almost immediately gave way to dread and fear. “Should I write a letter to Henry, then?”

“No.” Mina stood. “I saved the duke’s life today. I believe . . . I believe he will let me accompany him, if I make the request, and help me search for Andrew.”

Her mother and father looked to each other. She saw their indecision, their hope, their fear.

“He would protect me from any danger,” Mina said. “I know that he would.”

And beyond England’s shores, he probably could. She believed that—and her parents would, too.

Her father studied her face. “Do you want to go?”

“I want to find Andrew,” she said. “More than anything in the world, I want to see him safe.”

He nodded, and looked to her mother. She was weeping again, but this time, she made noise. Not just terrified now. Hopeful.

“I’ll write the messenger a note,” Mina said.

And Mina did, quickly, for she only needed to write two words. Then she went upstairs to pack.

Though the messenger must have delivered her note well
before midnight, when Mina rose from her bed near dawn, Trahaearn still had not come. She waited in her room, expecting an imperious knock at the front door, expecting an airship to hover above her house at any moment. She heard nothing.

After two hours passed, she realized he must have withdrawn his offer—and feared that she knew the reason why.

She left her valise in her room and came down the stairs to breakfast. Her parents sat at the table, talking quietly, with no newssheet spread between them. Mina looked to the fireplace. The short time they used this big room every morning didn’t warrant the expense of heating it, yet ashes lay in the grate.

Silently, she gathered her breakfast from the sideboard, and sat. Though she acknowledged their greetings, she didn’t speak until certain that her voice wouldn’t emerge as a croak.

Finally, she was able to ask, “Was the caricature so very bad?”

Her mother forced a smile. “You have earned those detective’s epaulettes.”

“What was it?”

“Nothing worth seeing,” her father said shortly. “Just a picture drawn by idiots.”

A picture seen by everyone they knew. She couldn’t eat. Even expecting that her caricature might appear in the newssheets, she hadn’t known it would hurt this much. She wished Andrew sat across from her. He would make her laugh. He would make it easier to bear.

Her father looked up. “Mina, I forbid you from looking at it. If that rag is put into your face, you will close your eyes.”

She nodded silently.

His fist struck the table, rattling the plates. “You will close your eyes!”

He never raised his voice. Now, his shout had her mother covering her face, and Mina’s heart leaping into her throat and choking her. She fought tears.

“Yes, Father.” It was a hoarse whisper.

Her mother gave a shuddering sigh, and tried for another smile. “And you cannot save eight wealthy boys and the Iron Duke every day. So it will only be the once.”