Page 30 of The Governess and the Brooding Duke
Without argument or a demand for an explanation, which was why he valued Barrows like he did. He gestured to the door, and Pelham looked at him with rage in his eyes.
‘Do not test me,’ West said, keeping his gaze level on Pelham’s. ‘If you were to vanish from my home tonight I would tell all who asked that you had disappeared into the night and I had no clue where you had gone. No one would bother to dig in the garden for you.’
His words rested heavy in the room, resonant and dark. True.
He had seen death. It would mean nothing to him to end the life of a man who would harm a woman.
‘Is that a threat, West?’ Pelham asked.
‘Threats are for men who answer to a higher power. I answer to none but myself. Leave, before I decide it is less work to dismember you than procure you a carriage.’
Violence flooded his veins. He was his father’s son, and he felt no guilt at the thought of meting out that kind of justice in this circumstance. He could discern between the desire to destroy an abusive man and the indiscriminate pain men like his father meted out.
He turned to Mary, who was standing there, her arms stretched tight at her sides, the knife gripped in her fist, her hold so intense her knuckles had turned white.
His instinct was to touch her.
He would not. Not after Pelham had been so close to her, touching her when she did not wish him to.
‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.
She shook her head, but did not lower the knife.
‘You are safe,’ he said.
She took a shaking breath, and then tucked the knife back into her corset. Exactly where it went, and how it was fitted, he couldn’t say for sure.
‘Do you always travel with a weapon?’
‘As I said to you on the first day—’ her voice was shaking, but was still strong ‘—I am a woman in the world, and I am not ignorant of the workings of it. You cannot be. Not when you are left on your own the way that I have been.’
‘Mary,’ he said.
‘Miss Smith. Please. I do not believe that we are on such familiar terms, Your Grace.’
She straightened up tall, craning her neck, tilting her chin upward.
‘You are safe,’ he repeated.
‘Am I? I have not had occasion to use a knife on a man in quite some time. And certainly never while in a household position.’
‘I can only apologise. I did not know the manner of man he was. I will ensure that no one else will be surprised by him. You and I both know there would be no effect going to the authorities, but I will do so if it makes you feel secure.’
She shook her head. ‘No. It will do nothing. What happened? Nothing. He made an advance towards me. I rebuffed him.’
‘In my own household. One of my staff. It is unconscionable, even my wife’s cousin will think so, and he is not a man of great principle.’
‘You are angry,’ she said. ‘Because you see me as your property, and disrespect shown to me is disrespect shown to you. Is that not so?’
He pushed his fingers through his hair, to keep himself from drawing near to her. ‘I am angry because you were nearly hurt. I am angry because of what would’ve happened if I did not enter this room.’
‘I would’ve cut his throat without hesitation. On that, I hope we’re clear. I did not need you to save me from him. Though I thank you for saving me from the gallows, because that is likely where that would’ve ended.’
She meant it. He could see it in her eyes. The conviction there.
‘Who are you, Miss Mary Smith?’
She shook her head. ‘I am no one of consequence. I am only a woman trying to live. My past doesn’t matter. It means nothing to me. And it should be nothing to you.’
