“Penny,” the other woman spoke softly, reaching out to place a hand on top of hers. “Are you all right?”
Penny shook her head. “I am used to men not wanting a woman with a cause. But somehow, I thought he was different.”
Minnie squeezed her finger. “He might be. I saw the way he looked at Blackwater. I do believe the earl would lay down his life for yours.”
Penny’s head dropped even lower. He’d called her orphans urchins. He didn’t care about them. He’d been telling her that from the beginning. But she’d allowed her attraction to paint his actions with a rosy brush.
She’d known from the beginning that he was an earl and she was a no one. Why had she allowed hope to creep in? “It doesn’t much matter. He’s a member of the peerage.”
Minnie nodded. “True. But he’s also an outsider.”
Her head snapped up. “How so?” She knew he’d been teased at school, but as a man he was titled and successful. Both things she wasn’t.
But the door banged open and Logan came striding in, his powerful legs eating the distance to the settee where she sat. He looked…unharmed.
Relief washed through her, but she straightened her spine again. He didn’t get her worry. Especially considering what she’d just puzzled out.
“I’ve secured your donations.” He reached down his hand. “If you’re ready to leave, I am.”
She snapped her gaze up to him. Some of her bitter feelings returning. “Leave? Don’t you have a deal of your own to secure?”
She saw the flicker of doubt flit over his face. “No.”
No? She opened her mouth to ask but he slipped her fingers into his and pulled her to standing. “But I thought—”
“I’ll explain in the carriage.” Then he began escorting her toward the door.
“Don’t leave yet,” Minnie called, rising.
But Darlington appeared in the
door. “Let them go, love.” He leaned against the jamb. “We’ll see them again soon.”
Now Penny was more confused than ever. Where would she see them soon? At the orphanage? They had just agreed to donate thirty thousand pounds. “Come by the orphanage anytime,” she called as they passed by Darlington. “On second thought, you should wait until we’ve moved locations.”
“Why is that?” Daring asked, his brows drawing together.
“It’s bloody unsafe. Adderley Street.” Logan said through clenched teeth.
“Move her at once,” Darlington called after them. “Send word if you need help.”
“On it,” Logan called back, continuing to pull her along.
Penny realized that Darlington had been the driving force behind all her help all along. Logan was not the man she’d hoped he’d be. Hurt pierced her chest but she lifted her chin. He was no different than her soldier had been. Every time she loved a man, he disappeared from her life for one reason or another.
He wasn’t the only one who could take advantage of a situation. She’d not reject his donation or that of the other men, but she didn’t have to like Logan, either. This was business. Her heart needed to stay out of it.
Chapter Nine
Logan could sense the change in Penny.
She was always calm. Usually quiet, but in the dark of the carriage, the space had grown frigid between them. Damn.
“Darlington is right. We need to move you.”
She shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your concern.”
“Those men might attack you.”