Page 49 of No Match for Love (Regency Love Stories)

The streets were dark and nearly deserted when they at last recognized the front of Lord Berkeley’s club. At their word, Sir Henry jumped from the carriage.

In his absence, Charlie leaned against the seat and groaned. He cut half-lidded eyes to her. “Henry is a great deal more fun when he’s not worried for my brother’s safety.”

Lydia found that hard to believe. The man had been scarily intense since the moment she’d met him. But she did not respond, feeling the weight of the dark around them and the danger that seemed to lurk in the future.

She peered out the window, dropping the curtain when a man exited a nearby building and looked at the carriage. “Are you worried for your brother’s safety?” she asked her companion.

Charlie hesitated then nodded.

Lydia pressed her eyes shut, her hands shaking.

“He will likely be all right,” Charlie offered, but his words fell flat and dissolved into the silence between them.

After several more long minutes, Lydia chanced a glance out the window again. “How long do you think Sir Henry will be?”

Charlie lifted a shoulder. “Honestly, I haven’t a clue. If Lucas is in there, he should not be long.”

The door to the club reopened, and Lydia was about to duck away from the window when she recognized the face. “He is back. Your brother is not with him.”

But as she watched, another man and then another came out of the shadows—whether from the building or outside it, Lydia could not tell, but in a moment they were there, and the instant Sir Henry noticed them, they attacked.

“Charlie!” Lydia cried.

“What?”

She grabbed for the door handle. “Sir Henry is being attacked!”

“What?” He jumped to his feet, hitting his head on the top of the carriage, then pushed past her and out the door.

The man had hardly been able to stand without groaning. How did he expect to help?

For many years, Lydia’s governesses had called her headstrong and foolhardy. She’d never agreed, but she was certainly proving them right in that moment as she pushed out the door behind him and into the chaos beyond.

As her eyes adjusted to the scene, she saw Charlie rush into the fray and Sir Henry take a hit to the side.

The coachman had joined as well, making the fight three to two, but the two were larger than any of the men on their side, and meaner too, it seemed.

Her eyes jumped across the fighting men, and she suddenly felt the extent of her helplessness.

She took a step back toward the carriage. What had she been thinking even coming out? She was more a liability than anything. One boxing lesson and she had—what?—thought she could help ?

Charlie took a blow to the head, and he bellowed in pain and anger. “Haven’t I had enough to deal with from you idiots?” he yelled, returning the punch.

Lydia grabbed the door handle, but a hand closed around her wrist.

She yelped, jumping back, freezing when she saw the man who’d grabbed her. “Mr. Frank Colbert?” she asked in shock.

“Miss Faraday, come with me.”

Her head swung from him to the fighting men. “No,” she said, shocked he’d even suggest it. “Can’t you do something? Help somehow?”

“I would not be much help to your friends, but I will help you. Let me take you away from this... vile scene.” His hand tightened around her wrist. She was too busy watching Charlie fall to his knee to notice.

Charlie’s assailant closed in on him.

Lydia screamed, “Do not hit a man when he is down!”

Mr. Frank Colbert pulled at her arm. She pulled back. He pulled harder, near dragging her to his carriage, which had appeared beside theirs.

Charlie took another blow to the head, but the coachman came up beside him, fighting off the thug long enough for Charlie to get to his feet.

“Stop!” she yelled at Mr. Frank Colbert, finally prying her eyes from the fight and fixing them on the man.

Colbert continued to pull her, taking her by the upper arm now. “It is for your own safety, Miss Faraday.” He pushed her bodily into his carriage, jumping in after her.