A Lady for the Taking

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  “My uncle is.” She bit her lip again.

  “Point taken,” Harry conceded. “Well, Phin is no monster. He is a lonely man in need of a wife who now fancies himself a matchmaker and protector of women.”

  “Must be why you two rub along so well.” Penny couldn’t believe she had just said that. She was joking about this? Was she losing her mind? She must be. It was the only possible explanation.

  “It is, actually. At least at first.” Then Harry quickly sobered. “I swear to you, Penny, on my honor as a Runner, Phin Trew will not hurt your cousin. Or any other woman, for that matter. But I am concerned that your uncle might. From what I have learned, he is blinded by grief and rage and likely won’t be satisfied until he has his revenge against Phin.” He paused. “Do you think Phin is to blame? Or was this all about protecting your cousin?”

  Penny shook her head, still feeling a little sick inside that her secrets had finally been revealed. “I might have believed my uncle’s claims that Phin was a monster, but I never believed he was responsible for Elizabeth’s death. From birth, she was pampered and coddled like a china doll. She was treated as if she was a goddess who could do no wrong and whom everyone worshipped no matter what she did, no matter how willful and destructive. She was not a nice person and I do believe that my uncle twisted her mind to the point that she could not conceive of a man not desiring her. In her mind, every man wanted her without exception.”

  Harry nodded. “And when Phin chose Miss Wilson over your cousin?”

  “Elizabeth could not deal with the rejection.” Penny had always felt that was more the truth of the matter than anything her uncle had said over the years. “She had never known rejection of any sort before, and my uncle had convinced her she never would. That it was simply not possible.” She sighed. “Elizabeth was always fanciful and never terribly stable. She was also prone to fits of, well, madness I suppose you would call them. Not to mention anger. She would take to her bed, sick for days, if, for instance, she could not ride her favorite mare because the weather was inclement and the stable master had no wish to risk either the horse or rider in a downpour.”

  “That very much matches with what I have learned,” Harry replied and Penny noted the sound of relief in his voice. As if he had needed her to confirm his suspicions regarding Elizabeth. “And, of course, since your uncle created this ideal of Elizabeth in his mind, once he lost her, then he, too, sank into madness.”

  “Something like that,” she agreed quickly, thankful that Harry seemed to be in both a forgiving and understanding mood.

  In Penny’s mind, Uncle Charles had always been a touch mad. Or perhaps more than a touch. Elizabeth’s death had only pushed him farther over the edge.

  Once more, she worried her lip between her teeth. “Now what? Now that you know my own secrets and my family’s biggest secret, what comes next? Do you wish me to make a statement? Do we need to go to Bow Street?” She blew out a long breath, steadying herself. She needed to be brave. “I will, if that is what I need to do next. I am ready to accept my punishment for my part in this. I simply hope that…you will be lenient. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

  Then Penny closed her eyes and waited.

  So she nearly fell off the carriage seat when she felt Harry’s fingertips caress her cheeks gently. “What have you done, sweetheart, that merits punishment?”

  Still fearful, Penny opened her eyes a tiny fraction only to see Harry gazing at her intently. “Well, nothing yet. Not really. But the plot. My uncle. Why I am here.”

  Harry shrugged, his eyes softening as he looked at her. “They are plans, my darling Penny. Nothing more. People think awful, nasty things all of the time, but do not act upon them.” He paused. “You haven’t acted upon them, have you?”

  She shook her head. “I would have. Maybe. I think. Oh, I don’t know.”

  “But?” It was so like Harry to hear what she hadn’t yet said.

  “But I’m not sure that I ever could have because I knew it was wrong and then I met you and, well…”

  “Well?”

  “Well, after that, I could not even think of approaching another man.”

  “Like me that much do you?” Harry’s wicked grin was back. The one Penny had thought she would never see again. At least not directed at her.

  “You know that I do,” Penny whispered. “I never would have gone to your bed otherwise. After I met you, I was unable to see another man. You’ve come to mean so much to me, Harry. I swear it. Please. You must believe me.”

  Penny was telling Harry the truth and she could only hope that he believed her. She thought he did, but what if she was wrong? What if all of this was still some kind of game to him? What if he was saying what he thought she both needed and wanted to hear in order to gain her cooperation?

  But Harry wouldn’t do that, would he?

  He might, she supposed, if the stakes were high enough, and preserving a duke’s reputation – more to the point, preserving a friend’s reputation – were high stakes indeed.

  Still, just then, Penny had no choice but to trust Harry, something that nearly scared her to death. However, what was her other choice? Place her trust in her uncle and hope he didn’t banish her? Or worse?

  So for the first time in a very long time, Penny decided she needed to take the leap of faith and trust this man. There was little else she could do.

  “More than that, I trust you, Harry. And I trust you’ll know what to do next. All I ask is that you believe me. Believe that this time, finally, I am telling you the truth.” Penny simply hoped that this trust wasn’t misplaced.

  Slowly, Harry drew her into his arms and the knot in Penny’s stomach finally began to ease a bit, though she doubted it would ever completely go away.

  “I know, sweetheart,” Harry whispered as he shifted her onto his lap and Penny immediately snuggled into his embrace. She had missed his warmth so very much and it had barely been an hour. “I know you’re being honest with me now. I also know exactly what to do.”

  “And what is that?” Oh, she had to know! This trust thing was maddening! Penny wasn’t certain her nerves could take much more of this!

  “Well, for right now, I need to kiss you.”

  “You do?”

  “I do.”

  “And then?”

  Penny hoped Harry had more of a plan than that. If that was all he had, then they were all in trouble.

  “And then, you trust me to take care of you, my precious, perfect Penny.”

  For someone like Penny, that was a very large request, but she also felt as if she had no choice and once more, she prayed that Harry was not simply using her for his own ends. But she had to take the chance. She had to trust him. There were no other options.

  “I do,” she finally whispered as he brought his lips down over hers. “I do.”

  Though she truly hoped she wasn’t wrong to do so.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Town Tattler

  Oh, dear readers! London is quite in a tizzy this morning, what with news of Lord Fullbridge’s sudden return to town, along with Lady Dory popping up in the most unusual of places! If that were simply all of the news, Society could manage, I should think. But it is not! Not by half!

  For the last four evenings in a row – and yes, days as well! – who should be seen out and about together but Lady Penny and Mr. Greer (who is rumored to be named heir to Viscount Westerly by month’s end) laughing and enjoying each other’s company, seemingly without a care in the world.

  Really? Though they have been spotted together before, I could have sworn I heard rumors that Lady Penny was destined for a match with another, though hardly a love match in that case I would say, as the happy couple seems completely enamored with each other! How would either of them find the time to become infatuated with another?

  And, well, we all know Mr. Greer’s long-standing flirtation with Lady Dory. Was that truly all it was? A mere flirtation? After all, the man is not known for his gra
nd passions and yet, he seems to be thoroughly enchanted with Miss Marshwood and unafraid to at least hint at those affections. For a rather buttoned-up, usually elusive, and occasionally stoic man like Mr. Greer, that is indeed saying something.

  -Lady A

  For four days, Harry suspected that Penny lived in, if not security, then at least comfort with the knowledge that she was not alone any longer. Indeed, she even seemed to be enjoying herself, at least as much as one could while still knowing that fate had not yet dealt its final hand. And Harry did everything he possibly could to help her feel that comfort.

  Even though he was certain that her uncle’s spies were still watching them. Spies that had been there all along apparently, responsible for the sensation of being watched that Harry had felt so often since Penny had entered his life. Spies that Nick had known all about and hadn’t thought to mention to Harry. Bloody bastard.

  Still, Harry couldn’t be too upset. As long as Nick knew the spies were there – and he had yet to say how he knew – then that was enough. Or so Nick insisted.

  So Harry continued along as planned, spies or no spies

  He took Penny driving on Rotten Row at the Fashionable Hour. He escorted her to Gunter’s for her first ice. They attended the theater together one night and then a musicale the next. There were also two balls mixed in, and though Penny arrived at each event with Miss Bridget, her Gray Lady, trailing behind, the two of them still gravitated toward one another like magnets the moment they walked into the same room.

  For Harry, the entire experience was a bit…odd. There was simply no other word for it. He was accustomed to paying court to women, yes, but never seriously and never for more than a day or two at a time. Lady Dory hadn’t counted for theirs was a complex relationship that, as the days passed, Harry came to realize had never been all that serious for either of them. Yet here Harry was, escorting Penny about London as if he was some foolish and besotted swain. Which, in a way, he was.

  Because the more time he spent with Penny, the more he wanted to spend with her and the more he came to believe that perhaps, just perhaps mind you, this curious feeling that occasionally sprang up in his gut was not indigestion as he had first believed but rather, well, not quite love and a great deal more than simply “like” but something undefinable that fell in between the two. For a man like Harry who had only ever viewed himself in the role of protector of women, the realization that he was something more – and perhaps even an actual suitor – was confusing.

  Nor did he quite know what to do about the matter.

  Nor did he know how to handle Penny’s lingering distrust of him. Oh, she trusted him, certainly, but only to a point. For every so often when he gazed into her eyes – something he was doing more and more of as of late – Harry could see a hint of distrust still lingering there. As if she wasn’t absolutely certain he was not playing her for a fool and toying with her affections.

  He could see how she would think that, certainly. Nor could he blame her. He had lied to her and come to know her under somewhat false pretenses. But they hadn’t been all false. He really had felt that magical, powerful flare of attraction the first time he had seen her. He just didn’t know how to make her believe that.

  Harry also hoped he might have more time to convince Penny of his good intentions, but on the fifth day after their pre-dawn carriage ride to her town home, Penny’s Uncle Charles arrived in London with his daughter Josie in tow. And the man was not happy. Not at all.

  At least according to Nick, he wasn’t. And Nick, of course, was all too happy to show up at Harry’s front door at an ungodly hour – not to mention once again completely unannounced – and deliver that bit of news in person.

  “So Lord Telford has finally made his way to London, has he?” Harry was thankful that Nick had at least allowed him the proper time to dress that morning and not come barging into his bedchamber as he had done so often lately. The man had a nasty habit of doing that whenever he pleased, both to ladies and gentlemen.

  Now they were both comfortably seated in Harry’s breakfast nook, though Nick already had a tumbler of scotch in his hand at this early hour. At least Harry assumed it was an early hour for the duke. For all Harry knew, Nick hadn’t been to bed yet from the night before.

  “Arrived last night while you and Lady Penny were attending Lady Darby’s ball.” Nick yawned and reached for a scone, indicating he had likely been awake since sometime the previous day. “He was furious to find the Willfield town home empty.”

  “And likely even more furious when he read the Tattler this morning.”

  “Which is why Lady Penny and her maid are currently ensconced in my sister’s guest rooms and not back at Willfield House as expected.” Nick chewed his scone thoughtfully and fought back another yawn.

  Two days ago, when word had reached London that Lord Telford had packed up himself and his daughter and they were now headed south toward London, both Nick and Harry had decided that it was far too dangerous for Penny to remain at the rented town home alone with only a maid for protection. Neither of them had any real way of tracking the earl’s movements either, as Telford had slipped away from his country estate under cover of darkness, and the man Harry had assigned to trail the earl had lost him in a thick fog after only a few hours of travel.

  Given the haste of Telford’s departure, however, one could and should assume that he had learned that his niece was no longer following his directive and had, instead, taken up with Harry. Just as Nick had planned. At least according to Nick himself.

  Lud, Harry hoped that Nick knew what he was doing.

  In any case, it was now imperative that Penny and her maid leave the rented town home and go someplace far safer. In this case, Ben and Julia’s town home which had once abutted some sort of fortification or another in London’s distant past and was now all but a fortress in its own right. Not even Harry could break in there – and he had tried two days previous, just to test security, of course – so it was unlikely that a man as slow and lumbering as Telford could.

  After that, Nick had insisted that they all simply sit back and wait. That in due time, Telford would come to them. And that part of Nick’s plan, at least, was going rather well.

  “And Penny is well?” Harry had to know. Though he had just seen her last evening, he still worried when she was out of his sight. Especially now that he knew her uncle was in town.

  “Sleeping soundly, at least when I checked with Julia’s maid this morning.” Nick swiped another scone from the plate. Harry would happily hand the man the entire plate if he managed to keep Penny safe until her uncle was properly dealt with. “Telford, however, is not sleeping so soundly.”

  “Oh?” This was news Harry simply had to hear.

  “He was at Bow Street first thing this morning, demanding your head for, how did he so charmingly phrase it? Oh, yes. Despoiling and debauching his precious and cherished ward.” Nick chased that scone down with more scotch. “They all laughed at him, of course, as you would expect.”

  Harry squinted at his pocket watch. Given the still-early hour, Telford must have been at Bow Street before dawn. “And his daughter, Josie?”

  Now Nick sighed in annoyance, the first sign that not everything was going quite as he wished. “Telford took her with him, unfortunately. If he had left her behind at the town home, this would have been ever so much easier. My men could have grabbed her and had her spirited safely away before anyone even knew they were there.”

  Currently, the plan was to somehow remove Josie from her father’s care and smuggle her to Ben and Julia’s so she could be with Penny. If what Penny said was true, and Harry had no reason to doubt her, then young Josie would not mind being away from her tyrant of a father, at least not in the short term. Then, once the girl was safe, Nick planned to somehow wrangle a confession out of Telford and then convince him to abandon his plans for revenge. Or make him disappear if the earl decided to be less than cooperative.

  How Nick planned t
o go about those last two parts were rather vague, but Harry had the impression he probably didn’t want to know the specifics. Nick was not known for being gentle with men who harmed women, nor was he known for politely asking that something be done the way he wished. Threats and torture were more his style. Oh, and the occasional removal of a body part or two, if that required, as well.

  “So now what?” Harry sipped at his tea, wishing he had skipped the tame beverage in favor of a harder drink this morning. If this was any indication of what the day was to bring, like Nick, he needed something a bit more bracing.

  They were so close to setting Penny free from her uncle’s plans that he could almost taste her freedom. Harry knew how much she longed for just that and he ached to give it to her.

  And then what? After Penny no longer had to worry about her uncle, then what came after that?

  Well, Harry didn’t know, and he hated to think that far ahead, though normally, he would have every last step planned out from beginning to end. Except this was Penny and his gut, the one he had relied upon so very often in the past, was telling him that nothing was certain where she was concerned. She was still suspicious of him, though he had long since concluded that she was now being completely honest with him.

  Still, if that suspicion lingered in her mind, then what? Was whatever lay between them, this indescribable feeling he could not name but delighted in just the same, enough to keep her by his side. Or once she gained her freedom would she run from him, just as one of those zoo animals she spoke of might? Harry really had no idea.

  “Now you escort Penny to Frost’s ball this evening as planned. All evening, though, and not only part of it.” Nick said this as if it should be obvious and felt Harry a bit of a dunderhead for not realizing that.

  “We were supposed to attend Lady McHugh’s soiree first,” Harry reminded Nick but the other man shook his head adamantly.