Chapter 17
Tears started to rush down her cheeks, and he wrapped her in his arms, spending a moment soothing her and ignoring Hearthstone’s ever-increasingly shrill demands to release his sister. Each time he called Maddy that, she trembled anew and cried harder.
He ignored the other man until Maddy had regained some sense of control. Then he tipped up her chin and looked at her, saying, “I shall ensure he does not take you, but you will have to cooperate with me. Do you understand the terms?” He wasn’t simply negotiating to get what he wanted. If he had any chance of keeping her with him, it would only be through marriage. That was the only legal way he might be able to override her guardian’s word on the matter.
She flinched for a moment, but when Hearthstone started speaking again, she stiffened her spine and nodded. “I understand.”
He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, though Stefan howled in outrage at the affectionate gesture. “Go back to our room, and I will be up shortly. I shall deal with him.”
It was gratifying to see her faith in him, because she immediately nodded, looking more hopeful, and turned away. She ignored Stefan calling her back as she rushed from the room, and Colin closed the door behind her before turning to face her stepbrother. “Maddy is not going anywhere.”
“You are holding her prisoner. You are not her lawful husband, and you could not be without my permission anyway. I control her and her fortune. If this is some attempt to get her dowry—”
Colin laughed at him, though it was a cold sound. “I am aware of her financial position, and I am also aware that you have not been managing her money properly. I assure you: this is not some plot to swindle her out of what little remains of the money left to her by her father. We shall be handling that matter between us too, I assure you, Mr. Hearthstone. For now, you shall leave Coventry Park and not return.”
“She is mine. You have no right to do this.”
“She is not yours. She is mine,” said Colin as he strode forward, looming over the other man. He was gratified to see signs of being intimidated as the man leaned backward, trying to put space between them. “You should forget all about Maddy, for she is no longer your concern.”
“I shall not give her up. Ever.” With those words, he straightened his shoulders. “I shall send for the constable and the magistrate and explain the situation. You will not—”
Before the little prick could continue uttering meaningless threats, Colin pulled back his arm and punched him hard enough to knock him out with one blow. Then he opened the door and called for Mrs. Harris. “Task a couple of footmen to carry this filth to his carriage. Send them on their way, and make sure the gates are locked so he will not find easy reentry.”
Mrs. Harris looked vaguely distressed, but she nodded quickly and rushed to comply. Colin was confident Stefan would remain unconscious for a while, so he left the room and returned to the one he shared with Maddy. He found her pacing, pale and upset. He did his best to sound soothing and confident when he said, “He is leaving now.”
She surprised him with a sigh of relief before throwing herself into his arms and hugging him enthusiastically. She wasn’t one to initiate affection between them, especially since she had started to pull away from him over the intervening days, so he relished the feel of her arms around him, and he hugged her tightly for a moment.
When she stepped back, he suppressed a sigh of regret as he pushed a hair off her face. “I hope you understand the only way I can protect you is if I marry you. As your guardian, he has refused to give us permission for the marriage, and there are a few months yet until your birthday. Upon turning twenty-one, you can marry whomever you wish, but I am not confident I can legally keep him from reclaiming you, since he is technically your guardian. Marriage gives you more protection.”
She bit her lip, but she nodded after a second. “I have already realized that. We must go to Gretna Green then, for he will not let us marry in England, and we cannot risk an illegal union. It must be able to withstand his attempts to contest or annul it.”
Colin nodded, glad to see her sensible approach. She wondered if she recognized Stefan could still challenge the legality of the marriage after it was done, even though they’d been married in Scotland? He had a team of solicitors he would put on the issue, and in the meantime, he would do everything he could to protect the woman about to become his wife. “We should depart presently, for I do not know how long he will remain unconscious.”
Her eyes widened. “He is unconscious?” Rather than showing concern, she grinned broadly and hugged him once more before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You are indeed a marvelous man in some ways, Colin.”
He was surprised to feel a little flush in his cheeks, and he hid his awkwardness by gently turning away from her to call for Griffins to pack their things.
***
They were underway soon enough, and Colin found he couldn’t quiet his mind or his curiosity. As she sat across from him, fidgeting with the fan on her lap in the gloom from the darkening twilight, he said, “Tell me why you are so afraid of him.”
She froze, and the lantern inside the carriage provided ample illumination to see she was paling drastically. She pursed her lips. “I do not wish to discuss it.”
He kept his voice gentle but firm when he said, “You must, for I have to know what I am up against to best protect you.”
He wasn’t certain she was going to answer for a long moment, particularly when a tear trailed down her cheek. He was prepared to offer comfort and soothe her through telling him, but after she brushed it away with her glove, she seemed composed when she said, “He is a blackguard. He planned to marry me to have full control of my inheritance, but that was not his sole reason. He wanted to possess me…sexually.”
She looked down, clearly embarrassed. “Before his father died, he had contented himself with occasionally touching me inappropriately, or leering at me. Once, when I was just twelve, he tried to make me touch him, but I refused to put my hands around his member, so he hit me instead. Fortunately, a maid heard the commotion and interrupted. She managed to extract me from the situation, though she was fired the next day.
“After that, I was careful not to go anywhere where he might ambush me alone. I always took my abigail with me, even if it was to the dining room. He was afraid to act in front of witnesses, even a servant, but he made no secret of what he wanted from me. He would leave me long, disgusting letters filled with all the horrid details he planned.”
Colin’s fists balled on his lap, and he regretted he had only punched Hearthstone the once. He thought about offering words of comfort, but she was reciting everything in a near monotone, and he was afraid speaking would interrupt her ability to continue.
“I read the first couple, but I could no longer bring myself to do so and would instantly throw them in the fire when I recognized them.” She closed her eyes. “I suppose I should have kept them as proof, but would it have mattered? I do not think his father would have taken my side, and then he became my guardian, and the law would have turned a blind eye, especially since he planned to marry me and make it all proper.
“When I refused his plans, he attacked me. He nearly succeeded in violating me, but I managed to get hold of a silver candlestick that was on his desk, and I hit him in the head with it. I hit him three times, and I hoped I had killed him, but apparently, I did not. I could not be sure that I had anyway, so I lived as though I had not.”
“What happened then?” He was proud of how calm he sounded, though he was a seething mass of rage on the inside as he imagined the situation her words painted.
“I fled into the night, and it was only Bella finding me as I was running in her direction that saved me from who knows what other fate? She took me to her apartment, gave me sweet tea to counter the shock, and got the whole story from me. After that, she insisted I live with her and found a position for me at the theater. She saved me from a worse fate, but even if she had not, I cannot imagine being a prostitute to many would have been worse than being a wife to that one.” She shuddered.
Colin was having a difficult time controlling his rage. He took a long moment to respond, realizing his fists were now clenched so tightly his nails were digging into his palms. When he loosened them slightly, he could feel a trickle of blood, and he looked down to see his left ring finger had punctured his skin. He wiped his palm discreetly on his trousers and struggled to keep his voice level when he said, “He will never touch you again. I promise he will not have the opportunity.”
She nodded, and she seemed to believe him, yet she was still obviously afraid. Colin closed his eyes, having no question why she was scared. She was about to be joined to him, relying on him to protect her, and he was, in her eyes, the same kind of man as her stepbrother.
He had disregarded her rejection of his offer to be his mistress, and then he had kidnapped her when jealousy drove him to it. He had taken her virginity, and though he had tried to make that right, she didn’t want to be his wife. He could hardly blame her, and he wished he could believe he would turn over a new leaf and allow her to maintain a chaste marriage with him if that was her choice, but he wasn’t certain he was strong enough to even contemplate the idea.
All it took was being close to her, and he would surrender to his baser nature. She seemed to be in a similar situation though, unable to resist the pull between them, so he doubted a sexless marriage would’ve appealed to her anyway. He should offer her the choice though, telling her he would respect what she chose, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He feared in the end, he would violate his word and cause her to doubt his trustworthiness even more.