Earl of Gold (Lords of Scandal 7)

Clarissa stomped down the steps, oblivious to the cold December wind, her chin stuck out. “You’ve been gone for hours and hours. I was worried that—” The girl stopped, her fear shining in her eyes.

By way of answer, Penny reached out and touched her arm. “I’m sorry, my sweet Clarissa. It shan’t happen again.”

Logan cleared his throat.

Both women ignored him. Clarissa’s face crumbled for just a moment before she lifted her chin again. “Did he hurt you? Make you do…things? I’ll run him through if he did.”

“No,” Penny answered softly. “He only made me wait an excessively long time.”

The poker swished through the air. “Next time you need to give me the address that you’re going to. And a name so that I can find you.”

Penny might have laughed at Clarissa’s concern if she didn’t share some of her fears. Men had offered to help her orphans for a price before and they likely would again. She had to confess she was relieved the Earl of Goldthwaite had not. And she liked him a bit better for it.

“No one is running me through,” the earl said from his spot next to the door. “I’ve agreed to finance your orphanage, so I’d advise you to put the poker down.”

Belatedly, she realized that he still held her other hand. Even with their gloves acting as barriers, the touch warmed her.

Surprise widened Clarissa’s eyes before they narrowed into slits. “He did make you do things, didn’t he?”

“No.” Penny let go of his hand, disappointment and the cold air making her shiver.

“What things are we talking about?” Goldthwaite asked, sounding amused rather than irritated. “I want to know about these things.”

“So do I,” another male voice called from the shadow between their house and the next.

“Me too,” a second called and then four men stepped out from the shadows.

Penny gasped, stepping in front of Clarissa without thought.

But even as she moved, Goldthwaite stepped in front of both of them. His relaxed posture was gone, in its place a man carved from stone, so hard that he might have frightened her, except he didn’t. In this situation she found his hard veneer immeasurably comforting.

“I’m going to need that poker,” he rumbled out low and deep.

If he’d blown in like a storm when they’d first met, now he was the picture of icy calm as he reached his hand back. Clarissa set the poker in Penny’s hand and she passed it forward, the metal settling in his large grasp. Goldthwaite took it and swung it in a wide arc in front of him.

The driver jumped down too and pulled two pistols from his coat.

But it was the earl who spoke. “Unfortunately for all of you, this was a private conversation.”

The other men stopped at the sight of the pistols, standing in a line in front of them, fanned out, looking large and intimidating. “Who is this bugger? We’ve all been trying to catch Miss Walters alone for months. And now you get to do things?”

“How is that fair?” another called.

“The rich get everything in this city.”

Penny couldn’t see who spoke, but she didn’t want to either. Her father had purposefully lived close to the docklands to help treat the poor as well as the rich. But as the area grew increasingly packed it also grew less safe.

“Miss Walters, take your charge inside now. I shall send the carriage to collect you at our appointed time,” Goldthwaite said, his voice still calm but it held an edge that spoke volumes. Do not disobey.

Her breath caught. “But you could be hurt.”

“We’ll be just fine.” He didn’t look back. “But when we meet next, we shall discuss your habit of walking.”

Clarissa began pulling her toward the door. “You know, I think I like him.”

Penny looked back as he swished the poker through the air once again. Despite herself, she might like him too. He looked like a stone statue, but he’d agreed to help her. That counted for something. And now he was defending her and Clarissa. That meant a great deal.

“He certainly doesn’t like you,” she said. “You threatened him with a poker.”