‘So, leaving was your choice,’ Phillip growled. ‘But where did you go? I doubt you walked across the country. Where do you live by the way?’
‘Shropshire. I walked some of the way and used some of the allowance father gave me to travel by coach ten miles to my friend, Henrietta. She helped me get here.’ Carlotta didn’t give him the finer details of her journey because she didn’t think that was relevant. What mattered was that she had reached the Cliff House and it had been her refuge. Now, she had to decide if she had been foolish to leave it.
‘I just didn’t expect my father to send armed thugs after me,’ she whispered with a frown. She looked up at him. ‘I want it known, here and now, that I do not and will not ever agree to go with them. If they force me, it is kidnap and the magistrate should be informed.’
Phillip nodded. ‘What’s your father’s name?’
‘Horace.’
‘Horace what?’
‘Horace Stoneman.’
Phillip studied her. In that moment, beside the village that might relieve his worries or burden him with more, Phillip knew that he had to do everything possible to protect her. Carlotta Stoneman was a proverbial pain in the backside, especially now when he had the pressing matter of having to find his colleagues weighing on him. She was strong, wilful, determined, but also apt to rush off without stopping to think about what she was doing. She didn’t trust him but had trusted him enough to leave the house with him and follow his orders while they were being shot at. It had to be enough for now.
‘You have told me a lot about yourself.’
Carlotta sighed. ‘You asked. You never answer my questions, though.’
‘Sometimes, it might be better to leave people guessing about you,’ Phillip mused. He leaned forward until they were nose-to-nose. ‘You know nothing about me ergo are a damned fool to trust me with anything whether it is your person, your thoughts, your past, your background, or your whereabouts. People can find a lot out about someone by engaging them in casual conversation. A liar will lie during conversations, even when they have hidden their deceit. An abuser will abuse during a conversation, even when they think the insult has been well hidden. A gossip will prod for deeper, more intimate information than most when they don’t even accept that they are gossips. People will pretend to be nice during conversations, even when they really truly don’t like you. Don’t ever forget that, Carlotta. Look. Watch. Step back, mentally and emotionally, from strangers. All of them, no matter how nice they are. Listen to what they say and how they say it. Watch for the little things that will scream at you what they are really like. Then, and only then, decide if you should trust them. If you see anything that leaves you doubtful, walk away and leave them questioning. It is never good to satisfy someone’s curiosity and leave yourself vulnerable. If anybody leaves you on edge, they aren’t worth your time and it shouldn’t matter if they are disturbed, annoyed at you, or walk away as well.’
Carlotta shivered. Phillip left her on edge but not for the reasons she could explain to him. She wanted, even after his cautionary words, to lean toward him and narrow the gap so she could step closer, back into his embrace. She wanted him to kiss her again. Instinctively, her gaze started to drop to his lips but at his nose she forced them back up.
Phillip’s eyes twinkled mischievously, as if he had just read her thoughts. ‘I would just like to point out that I am trustworthy,’ he murmured, keeping his eyes trained on hers.
Slowly, gently, he lowered his lips toward hers.
‘Now, regarding your father. He must understand that forced marriage is illegal in this country and forcing someone, even his own daughter, into it will earn him time behind bars. Secondly, I want to know why your father has sent armed thugs after you and I want the truth, Carlotta. It isn’t a normal thing for any outraged father to do.’ As he spoke, Phillip caught her hand in his and gently tugged her toward the village. ‘What is he like?’
‘Who?’ Carlotta didn’t even want to think about Horace much less describe him.
‘Horace.’ He hesitated to call the man her father because Phillip suspected that theirs was not a normal father-daughter relationship.
‘He was distant,’ Carlotta whispered. ‘Mother and I were accessories not family. We were there for him to provide for but we weren’t close.’
‘He isn’t the kind of father who would take your feelings into account when he decided anything,’ Phillip mused.
Carlotta snorted quite inelegantly. ‘Not at all.’
‘Where is your mother?’
‘Dead.’
Phillip’s head snapped around. ‘Recently?’
‘About a month ago now,’ she whispered.
‘I am sorry.’ All sorts of questions hovered on Phillip’s lips, but he didn’t ask them because Carlotta looked about to cry. Besides, the last thing he needed was to be caught unawares while comforting her in the middle of the village. He needed to keep his eyes and ears open for Smidgley’s thugs, and her father’s. He couldn’t be distracted, not now. But Phillip made a mental promise that he would ask her what he wanted to know just as soon as they were alone together. ‘Let’s keep moving. Keep looking for those thugs, Carlotta. Leave the past to one side for now. I need to ask you some more questions. I have to think of a way to help you, so you don’t have to spend the rest of your life hiding. For now, let’s go.’
‘Why are you willing to help me?’
‘I have no choice,’ he replied gently. ‘I will explain more but for now we have thugs in this village. Let’s not allow them to creep up on us, eh?’
Carlotta stared at him, but he was already scanning the street ahead of them.
‘You are free, Carlotta. Let’s keep it that way,’ Phillip urged when he sensed her hesitation. ‘No, the inheritance is not yours. I mean, it was given to you but left in the care of someone who isn’t honest enough to hand it over. You cannot have it if your father refuses to hand over the paperwork. Horace knows that he can keep it just to spite you because without the money you cannot afford to pay for a solicitor to help you legally recover the paperwork. Even with legal help, you will have to prove that Horace has the relevant papers still, and then get a solicitor to force him to hand it over. It is going to cost money you don’t have.’
‘I know,’ Carlotta whispered. She hated him for spelling it out in those terms because when Phillip said it, the horrid truth of it became far too real. It was something she knew she just couldn’t fight and that brought her a deep feeling of frustration she couldn’t quell. ‘I am stuck. I will have to find a way of surviving by myself, that’s all. I would rather live out on the streets than return to him.’