Sin With a Scoundrel (The Husband Hunters Club 4)

She felt his hand on her arm, warm, supporting her. It felt wonderful, and all she wanted to do was curl into his chest and cling there like a limpet. Unfortunately, due to her recent discoveries about him, she felt obliged to shake his hand off. And that was his fault, too.

Behind her the footman nodded at a gesture from Sir Henry and closed the door. “My dear Miss Smythe, whatever is the matter? Sit down and catch your breath. Will, get some brandy, would you?”

Will Jackson placed a glass into her hand and Tina sipped at the brandy. As it warmed her insides she began to recover herself a little. Richard was still by the door, watching her, his slanting brows drawn down over eyes that were uncharacteristically serious.

“There was a man in the library,” she spoke at last. “Two men. One of them was Mr. Branson, and one of them was . . .” She shuddered violently.

“Tina, what happened?”

Richard came to stand at her side, but she turned her face away so she didn’t have to see him and so wasn’t confused by her feelings.

“Let the girl alone, Richard,” Sir Henry said quietly. “Go on, Miss Smythe. Take your time. Tell us what you saw and heard.”

Tina had a good memory, and she repeated the conversation almost word perfectly, unable to help glancing at Richard when she recounted Branson’s vow to kill him. Shoot him right between the eyes. The glass shook violently in her hand, and Will removed it with a sympathetic smile.

“He saw me through the window,” she burst out.

“Branson?” Sir Henry said quickly. He nodded at Will, and the young man slipped from the room.

But Tina shook her head. “No, the other one. The thief. The one with the cold eyes. Pale blue eyes.”

Sir Henry and Richard looked at one another, exchanging a wealth of meaning without speaking. Tina found it irritating, as if they were keeping something secret from her—which, of course, they were.

“Branson,” said Sir Henry with a frown.

“No real surprise there,” answered Richard. “I know you didn’t want to believe he’d tried to kill you, but it looks like we have the truth from his own mouth.”

“And he wasn’t working alone,” said Sir Henry. “Is this other man the Captain? Sounds more like another member of the gang. You didn’t recognize him?” Sir Henry turned to Tina, eyes piercing beneath his bushy brows, his bandage pushed up at one side like a strange sort of hat. “Are you sure?”

“I’d never seen him before, sir.”

“And he saw you?”

She nodded uncomfortably, remembering those cold eyes and the nightmare face through the window.

Sir Henry leaned closer to Richard, his murmuring too low for Tina to hear more than a word here and there. They seemed to be making plans. Why couldn’t they say it aloud, so she could hear? It was very annoying, especially when their conversation probably concerned her.

Eventually Richard came and took her hand, raising her to her feet. She was too surprised to shake him off this time and stood, gazing up at his face and waiting to hear what he had to say. He certainly looked very serious.

“You are in danger, Miss Smythe,” he said.

She turned to Sir Henry for confirmation, but he only gave a nod.

“The man at the window . . .” she asked, but it was Richard who answered.

“He is part of a group headed by a man called the Captain. A dangerous man who has caused trouble all over England, and more than one death.”

Richard didn’t sound like himself. He was no longer charming and careless with laughing eyes, no longer the man who’d held her in his arms and whispered her name in the throes of passion.

This man was a stranger.

“So you think I am in danger?” she asked him cautiously.

“I don’t think they would hesitate to silence you, Miss Smythe, if they thought you could point one of them out in a court of law.”

Remembering again the face at the window, Tina believed him utterly. “What should I do?” She was visualizing fleeing to somewhere isolated, like the Lake District, living in a small cottage with several burly guards. It wasn’t a pleasant idea, but if it was necessary . . .

Richard sighed and squeezed the hand he was still holding. “I will have to take you under my protection.”