Make Her Wish Come True Collection. Ann Lethbridge
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clenched, Adam loomed over him and she feared he would strike again.
Cassie stepped forward and caught his arm. ‘Adam, please.’ She glanced up the stairs. ‘The girls…’
‘I’ll thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head about a lady beneath my roof or face the consequences,’ Adam said, breathing hard.
‘The lady is wearing your—’ Herbert put an arm up and cringed away when Adam clenched his fist. He shuffled back on his rear, until his back met the wall. ‘You have no right to keep my sisters here,’ he said truculently, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing at his lip. ‘I am their guardian. That…’ He gave Adam a wary glance. ‘That woman—’ he pointed at Cassie ‘—stole them from under my roof, along with other valuable items. You will hand over my sisters if you know what is good for you.’
Cassie glared down at Herbert. ‘Your wife threatened them with a beating.’
Adam clenched his fists again.
Herbert didn’t seem to notice the effect of his words. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child. My father indulged those girls. Lucy was rude to my wife.’
‘Bridget called Diana a good-for-nothing penniless orphan. Is it any wonder her sister responded as she did?’
‘She needs to learn her place,’ Herbert responded.
Cassie was glad Adam had knocked him down. But Herbert had the law on his side. If she did not allow the girls to go with him, he would not hesitate to bring the authorities down upon them. And she could not let them go alone.
‘Very well. I will go with you. But I will have your word as a gentleman that there will no more beatings or deprivations for Lucy and Diana.’
‘I agree.’
Adam gazed at her, his face bleak. ‘You might have died in that fire. How can you think of trusting the word of such a cur?’
Herbert flushed red. ‘Fire? Nothing to do with me, old chap.’
‘Liar.’ Adam glanced down at Herbert’s feet. ‘Yours were the footprints I saw in the snow and if I’m not mistaken…’ He bent and picked something from the leg of Herbert’s breeches. ‘Glass. From the lantern you broke.’
‘I must have picked it up when I went to the cottage tonight.’
‘Hardly likely. Glass cannot fly up from the ground and embed itself at the knee.’
‘Who is going to take the word of a servant against that of a gentleman?’ Herbert said, looking down his nose. ‘Seems to me you would do better to go along with me, or risk losing your job.’
Cassie’s stomach fell away. ‘Adam, this is not your concern.’
‘Oh, I think it is,’ he said. ‘Very much so. This man committed a crime. And I mean to see him punished.’
‘You, sir?’ Herbert spluttered. ‘Just who do you think you are?’
‘I am Viscount Graystone. My father is the Earl of Portmaine. Should my father learn you burnt down a building on his property, he will demand justice.’
Graystone? He could not be… Why had he lied to her all this time? She backed away. ‘Adam?’
But he was not looking at her; he was glaring at Herbert, who sagged back against the wall.
‘I don’t believe you,’ Herbert said, eyes wide. ‘The heir to an earldom doesn’t open doors.’
‘This one does.’
‘Adam?’ Cassie repeated.
‘I’m sorry, Cassie. I was about to tell you right when this idiot banged on the door.’ He glared at Herbert. ‘What do you have to say for yourself now?’
Herbert dabbed at his brow. ‘I—I beg your lordship’s pardon. Had I known, I would never have—’
‘You, sir, are a bully and a coward and you will leave my house at once. Cassie, do you want me to have charges laid against this fellow?’
The brusque man was back. And for a moment it felt good to contemplate Herbert’s punishment. But he was still a part of her family. Herbert was an idiot. Led around by the nose by his unpleasant wife and his overweening ambition to be more than he was.
‘Lady Cassandra,’ Herbert said, trying to smile ingratiatingly and failing miserably. He wrung his hands. ‘It was all a misunderstanding. I’ll do anything. Sign guardianship of my sisters over to you, if you wish.’
‘I suppose I could be persuaded to ask Lord Graystone not to lay charges,’ she said slowly, seeing a glimmer of hope. ‘If you sign over guardianship of the girls and swear in writing that when I left your home I took nothing that did not belong to me.’ She glanced at Adam. ‘If you think Lord Portmaine would agree, my lord?’
‘I’ll do it,’ Herbert said quickly.
‘And you will sign over the girls’ allowance into Lord Graystone’s care,’ she added.
‘What?’ Herbert’s face blanched.
‘Starting now, since I assume all that has come before is gone.’
He swallowed.
Adam tugged him up by the collar. ‘Well?’
‘All right. All right.’
He and Adam disappeared into the library. Cassie slumped into a hall chair. Adam was Graystone. It made sense. The story of his wife. Him owning two carriages. She would have seen it if she hadn’t felt his pain so much as he told his story. Why had he lied?
She recalled their first meeting. She’d assumed he was a servant and he hadn’t denied it. But he had given a false name. Likely he was regularly importuned by women seeking to marry a well-heeled and titled widower, while he remained true to his dead wife. Poor Adam. Well she would not make one of their number. She cared for him too much.
A few moments later, a chastened Herbert left by the front door. He slid a glance in her direction as if he would speak, but one look at Adam’s fierce expression had him scuttling out. Adam threw the bolts home. ‘He won’t give you any more trouble. I had him admit in writing to setting the fire. The girls’ allowance will come to you, though it seems a paltry enough sum.’
‘Thank you. It will be all we need. But, Adam—I mean, Lord Graystone, I must apologise—’
‘None of that,’ Adam said gruffly. ‘Cassie, darling Cassie, I hope you don’t think less of me, because of the title. Believe me, I was about to tell you—’
A sound on the stairs made her look up. Two little girls were peering over the balustrade. When they realised she’d seen them, they ran down and flung their arms around her. ‘Do we have to go back and live with Herbert and Bridget?’ Lucy asked, her eyes over-bright.
Cassie hugged the girls close. ‘Not if you do not wish it.’
‘We want to stay with you, Mama,’ Lucy said.
‘And you, Mr Royston,’ Diana added.
Adam’s expression changed. Tenderness altered his harsh face into endearing handsomeness. He looked so lovely standing there looking down at the girls and there was such longing in his face. He glanced over at Cassie. ‘Would you, Cassie?’ he asked. ‘Would you consider staying with me after I lied to you?’
She made a helpless gesture as longing of her own filled her. He could not mean this. He had not thought it through. He was being too kind. ‘You have done so much for us already—’
‘I need you, Cassie. My life was an empty shell until these past few days. I thought work was enough, but it isn’t. You made me see that.’
Her heart felt too large for her chest. ‘Adam, I—’