Page 53 of Marry in Scandal
Cal said belligerently, “My sister does not stink!”
“She does when she’s fallen in a ditch full of God knows what. She was covered in mud and stank like a pigsty.”
There was a short silence. Cal’s fists remained bunched, the red light of battle in his eye fainter but still present. Ned, who’d kept a rein on his temper until now, felt it slipping. Much could be forgiven a man still on edge because his sister had been abducted and he hadn’t yet heard the full story, but Cal ought to know better.
“Dammit, Cal, what kind of a man do you think I am? Do you honestly believe I would debauchanyvulnerable innocent, let alone my friend’s younger sister? I might have a reputation as a rake, but I’veneverdallied with innocents of any kind—and you know it!” He glared at his friend. “You mule-headed fool! Why the hell would I bring Lily home—let alone hire a chaperone for her—if I’d debauched her?”
“Whatchaperone?”
“Betty, the innkeeper’s daughter—short young female, freckles, blue dress. Your wife just arranged for one of your maids to find beds for her and her brother.”
“Oh, her.”
“Yes, her! Why do you think I brought a couple of young rustics with me? To show them the sights of London?” He snorted. “I also hired Betty to sleep on a trundle bed in Lily’s bedchamber at the inn while I slept on the stairs outside the door—and blasted uncomfortable it was too, you ungrateful sod!”
There was a short, fraught silence. Cal’s fists slowly unclenched. Tension visibly drained from him. He waved Ned to a seat and said wearily, “I’m sorry, Galbraith—I do know you’re a man of honor. It’s just that—”
“You’ve been beside yourself with anxiety,” Ned said. “I understand. She’s a sweet girl, your sister.” He dropped into a comfortable overstuffed armchair. “I’ll forgive you your stiff-necked, ill-conceived, downright insulting suspicions if you pour me a large—a very large—brandy. The last few days have been hell.”
“Believe me, I know it.” Cal unstoppered the decanter on the sideboard, poured two large cognacs and gave one to Ned. “So tell me—was it Nixon?”
“It was. Tricked her into going outside at a party and shoved her into his coach. Drugged her too.” He told Cal as much as he knew about Lily’s abduction and eventual escape, leaving out the more sordid details—they were for her to share if she wanted.
“She rescued herself, you know,” he finished. “Escaped, despite the drug, and hid in a filthy ditch until he’d gone. Bastard was trying to run her down in his carriage when I came along. Matter of luck that I was there to stop him.” Ned sipped his cognac and stared into the flames. “Brave girl, your sister. You should be proud of her.”
“I am.” Cal frowned into his glass a moment. “I’m stunned by what you’ve told me. It’s hard to believe that my little Lily was so... resourceful. I’ve always thought of her as a bit helpless.”
Ned thought of what Lily had told him, how she’d worked to keep the feeling in her feet alive so she could run, how she’d blocked the mouth of the bottle with her tongue to prevent being drugged further, how she’d caught the fabric of her cloak in the catch of the lock. And afterward, she’d never once fallen into hysterics or had a fit of the vapors—as she would have been quite entitled to do. Helpless? Cal might love his sister, but he didn’t know her very well. “Quite an ordeal that filthy swine put her through. She seems to have weathered it remarkably well, but as you and I know, sometimes these things can hit you later when the danger and the drama have passed.”
Cal nodded. “I know. I’ll warn Emm. She and the girls will take good care of Lily.”
They sipped the fine French cognac and listened to the fire crackle and hiss.
“You really slept across her door, like a faithful hound?” Cal said after a few minutes.
“Wipe that smile off your face or I might be tempted to give you that punch after all,” Ned said lazily. “It was for her protection. And”—he took another sip of cognac—“because Elphingstone was sniffing around.”
Cal sat up. “Elphingstone! That little—”
“It’s all right. He knew something was up—I’d told the innkeeper she was my sister, but of course Elphingstone knows I don’t have a sister. But he never saw Lily’s face and we never used her name.”
“I notice you don’t use her title.”
Ned gave him a hard look. “I dropped it for the sake of discretion.” He held out his glass for Cal to refill. “The only person who might cause us problems is Lady Ampleforth—she saw us when we stopped to change horses, and put two and two together.”
“Blast! That old harridan is my aunt’s greatest rival.”
“Rival?” Ned was momentarily distracted. “For what?”
Cal gave him a wry look. “Dominance of the ton.”
Ned snorted. “At any rate she was heading away from London—going home to Herefordshire, I assume—so Idoubt she’ll cause any trouble.” He sipped his cognac. “You managed to stifle any gossip at this end, I presume.”
“We’ve put it about that Lily is in bed with the influenza.”
“Good move. So we’ve handled it, then, and her life can go on as before.” He finished his cognac and rose. “I’ll be off, then.”
Cal rose and held out his hand. “I can’t thank you enough, Galbraith.”