Vanity waved his hand. “I can stand here and explain, but then I might be too late.” He turned to Abigail giving her a glare. “Which might not be the worst thing.”
“We can’t just leave her. We have to help.”
Vanity shook his head, letting out a frustrated breath. Chad got the feeling they’d been arguing for some time. Which didn’t actually bother him all that much. A little distance between his friend and his wife might ease some of his jealous fears.
“Why?” Vanity asked, shoving a hand through his hair. Chad wasn’t used to seeing the man so disheveled and he quirked a brow as he noticed it now.
Abigail shook her head. “Because, Vanity, I was her. I was the orphan and if not for my sisters looking out for me, my uncle would have likely done to me exactly what they’re about to do to her.” She drew in a sharp breath. “Try to understand. I can’t be Eliza. I don’t have a little sister. But I can help her.” And Abigail pointed back toward the village.
Vanity raked a hand through his normally perfect hair. “Fine. You help her then. You save her and hire her as your personal maid. I don’t want to help. I’ve changed my mind.”
Abigail let out a slow breath, and then she looked at him. “We met a woman who’s about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by the church.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. Not because he didn’t wish to help. He understood her point, and he was beginning to understand her past. “I’ve very little funds currently to pay the priest to stop the auction.”
“Can you force him to stop?” She licked her lips as she looked up to the sky in thought. “Or I could steal her away. That’s what Eliza would surely do.”
“Bloody bull—” Vanity started, and Chad realized his friend was very upset. And Vanity was never distressed about anything.
“You can’t stage a daring rescue, love. Not when your own life is still in danger.”
“Danger?” she asked, shrugging. “We’ve been perfectly safe here.”
“Still.” He reached for her hand. “It’s best you remain out of this.” Then he looked at Vanity. His friend’s eyes were near wild, his pupils dilated, and his hair was an absolute mess. Chad studied his friend. “Vanity?”
Vanity scrubbed his hair again. “Fine. I’ll help her. But once I’ve stopped the auction, what do you suggest I do with her?”
Abigail squeezed his hand. “She’s uncommonly beautiful.”
Ahh. That explained a great deal. “Does she have any skills?”
“How should I know? We exchanged all of two sentences before your wife jumped in to help.”
Chad had to confess that the discord between Vanity and Abigail gave him some measure of satisfaction. He wrapped his arm about his wife. At one time, he might have wanted to see this woman of rare beauty. Now he couldn’t care a whit. What he wished for was his wife in his arms.
“Bring her back to my house where you’ll be chaperoned while we decide.”
Vanity gave him a dark frown. The sort he’d never seen on his friend’s face. “Bring a beautiful woman back to you?”
He heard Abigail gasp while his own jaw hardened. “Sweetheart, would you please wait in the carriage while I break Vanity’s face?”
“Chad,” she said, a pleading note edging into her voice. “He’s your friend and he’s doing us a great favor.”
He drew in a slow breath as the Vanity gave him a hard glare back. Then he broke the stare to swipe a kiss across Abigail’s forehead. “Would you please give us a moment, love? I swear I will not commit any violence.”
She gave a quick nod and then climbed into the carriage.
He looked back at Vanity, his arms crossing. “Did you just imply, in front of my wife, that I am not to be trusted with another woman?”
Vanity winced. “She’s the sort of woman who might make a man forget reason.”
Chad understood. Completely. “I can assure you that you can trust me with your orphan. I’ve already lost my reason, but Abigail holds it in the palms of her little hands.”
Vanity smiled. “I’m going to give you some advice. Have another wedding. The sort that will make all her dreams come true. And give her a ring. And, if you’re really brave, declare your feelings in front of her sisters.”
Chad sucked in his breath. Of course, declaring his love was what he should do.
But then he realized that Vanity needed some advice in this moment too. “Go save this girl. Find out what she’s like and what she needs. Pass her off as your second cousin until you figure out what to do with her.”