He gave her a small smile filled with affection. “I will tell you all just as soon as you are home and safe.”
She nodded. Home. Her mind called up an image of his parlor, of his arms wrapped around her. Her breath caught in her throat. That was her home…
She glanced up at the big brute who was carting her still-shrieking stepmother out of the room.
Her home was with him.
She just hoped that he knew it.
16
Rupert was certain this dreadful night would never end.
He watched Delilah closely as he, Tolston, and his men rehashed the events of the evening and put a plan of action in place to ensure the baroness was punished for her part and Everley was caught.
The first light of dawn was starting to stream through the School of Charm’s windows when he walked over to where Delilah sat, surrounded by her friends.
She looked tired, but otherwise unharmed.
His hands clenched at his sides as rage threatened to consume him again. The entire ride to her home, he’d panicked about what he might find. His mind had raced incessantly, imagining every hideous scenario, every heartbreaking ending to a love story they had not yet written.
When Rupert stopped before her, he saw her friends exchange a meaningful look before making their excuses. Once alone, she looked up at him with a wan smile before patting the seat beside her.
He sat and his heart warmed when she leaned slightly so she was resting against him.
He tucked his head to hide a grin. She was comfortable with him, of that there was no doubt. She felt safe with him, and that fact he adored.
But did she know that she was loved by him?
“How are you holding up?” he asked. He ached to slip an arm around her shoulders and pull her closer still but despite the bizarre circumstances, they were still surrounded by people and there was only so much scandal she could weather in one night.
She sighed wearily. “Do you mean, how am I holding up now that my fiancé and stepmother failed to marry me off for my fortune and then murder me?”
He winced at hearing her say it aloud like that. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“I suppose I am doing as well as one could hope.” She tilted her head back to smile up at him. “Have I thanked you yet for rescuing me from my wicked stepmother the way you did?”
He laughed. “One or two times.”
In truth, she’d thanked him no less than twenty times on the carriage ride back to the school. The moment her stepmother and her men were trussed up to await their punishment and they were alone, she’d thrown her arms around his neck and the thanking had begun.
He’d enjoyed it, no doubt, but it wasn’t her gratitude he wanted.
“I wonder if my father was aware…” she said softly.
He reached for her hand. “I went up to his room while questioning his servants.” He shook his head. “I do not think your father was aware of anything going on around him. And who knows how long he’s been like that.”
She pressed her lips together. “I should have known.”
“How could you have?”
“I should have suspected. The fact that my father never left his rooms, that she never allowed me to see him, that she handled every correspondence and managed the household…” She sighed. “I thought he just did not wish to see me.”
He stayed silent as she got lost in her thoughts. “I always knew the baroness was unhappy. I understood she did not like me. I just didn’t realize she hated me quite so much.”
This time Rupert did give in to the urge to comfort her. Ignoring the others in the room he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close. “You deserved better. As a child and as a young lady, you deserved so much more.”
Her smile trembled a bit. “Thank you, but…I don’t know that that’s true.” He watched her with concern as tears welled up in her eyes. “How do you know what you’re worth, what you are owed, what your value is when all you’ve ever been worth was the sum of your dowry and the appearances that will surely fade?”
He opened his mouth to reply but stopped when she shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. “Do not answer that. And please, don’t listen to me. I’m being maudlin.” When she opened her eyes again, they were wet with tears and a tremulous, rueful smile was back in place. “I suppose learning about one’s planned murder will do that.”
He gave a choked laugh at her gallows’ humor. “I suppose so.”
She shifted so she was facing him head-on. “What of Everley?”
“He has been caught.” That was one of the reasons they’d been up all night, waiting and coordinating.
Her sigh of relief had her shoulders slumping forward and he tugged her close. She stiffened for only a moment before relaxing against his side, her head on his shoulder.
“Rest, my love,” he murmured into her hair. “You are safe now.”
“We should not…the others…” She started to stir and he kissed the top of her head.
“The others are studiously looking the other way,” he informed her truthfully. Even Miss Grayson was making a show of calling for the servants and asking what refreshments everyone needed. “If ever there is a time propriety could be thwarted, this is it.”
He felt her laugh more than heard it. “Says the man who’s made a life out of thwarting propriety.” Her tone was filled with amusement, and no heat, but the truth of it still stung.
He had given up propriety along with everything else when he eschewed the honorary title and his place within society.
At the time he’d given no thought to marriage, or that one day he might meet a lady who cared about such things. Who
