To Love and Protect Read online

  “You have to tell me everything if I’m to find them both.”

  “Franklin, Lorraine’s brother, has been making unwanted overtures towards Clarissa.”

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “Since she and the Duke of Hawkescliffe were courting. Then, with Hawkescliffe’s recent marriage, it became worse. She has spent almost every night with me since William left town. Oh, she thinks I do not know why. She thinks she is protecting me. What that girl needs is someone to love and protect her. A strong man, who…”

  “Did she tell her father about Franklin’s advances?” Justin cut his godmother off before she could finish her thought.

  “I don’t believe so. She has lost her self-confidence where it comes to her father since his marriage. Lorraine has twisted facts so that it looks poorly on Clarissa. William has become harsh with her, which he never was in the past. In fact, Clarissa feels like he blames her for Hawkescliffe’s defection.”

  “All because of Lorraine?”

  “She’s beautiful and manipulative.”

  “Would she be manipulative enough to talk Hamilton into changing his will?”

  “Possibly.”

  “If that is so, I fear not only is he in danger, but so is Clarissa.”

  “Oh, dear,” Gertrude crumpled into a chair. “Justin, she’s like the daughter I never had. I can’t lose her,” tears gathered in her eyes, and her voice wavered.

  “Gertie, I will do my best to find both of them and take care of them,” he said as he knelt in front of her. “When I find them, I may have to take them somewhere safe where I know I can protect them.”

  “Scotland.”

  “Aye.”

  “Should I come with you?”

  “It would be faster if you didn’t.” He saw the crestfallen look enter his godmother’s face. She wanted to make sure her little one would be fine, and the not knowing would kill her in the interim. “It would look suspicious if we all left town.”

  “I understand,” she said on a sob.

  “Pack a light bag,” he said, sighing.

  “I’ll only be a few minutes,” the woman said as she bounded out of the room.

  “What have I gotten myself into?” Justin asked the empty room.

  ***

  Clarissa pulled her plain, brown bonnet low to cover her eyes. She bumped into several people, murmured quick apologies and kept moving. Papa’s intent had been to attend him meeting in Liverpool. Her only thought was to find her father in the quickest manner possible. She had to get to him before something horrible happened.

  She felt awful for sneaking out of Aunt Gertie’s house, but she had to do something, and she had a feeling that Southerby would insist she remain at home. For some reason unknown to her, men underestimated her strength. The ton thought of her as a milk and water miss that only knew how to be pretty, entertain, and act as a hostess. The only reason she had allowed the Duke of Hawkescliffe to escort her was that his mere presence intimidated Franklin and Lorraine.

  She just did not trust those two. Ever since her father had married Lorraine, even before, she had slowly begun to manipulate him. She had successfully turned father and daughter against each other. Clarissa also found it strange that no one had heard of Lorraine until shortly before she married Papa. Lorraine claimed to be a widow of a country gentleman from the Lake District. Clarissa had written several of her friends that resided in the Lake District asking about Lorraine, but none had heard of her.

  Clarissa stumbled on a loose cobblestone but quickly caught herself. After looking around to ascertain that no one had noticed her clumsiness, she continued on her way. Servants bustled around her, not paying her any attention. In the distance she saw the posting station. Clarissa knew it would not be the best form of travel, but it would be the most economical and fastest.

  She approached the station, looking around stealthily to make certain no one would recognize her. The plain clothes she wore were courtesy of one of Aunt Gertie’s maids. She would have to repay the woman’s unknown kindness when she returned. Clarissa walked up to the barred window. A rotund man with a pudgy nose sat on the other side of the bars. Poor man, Clarissa thought, it is almost as if he works in a prison.

  “Can I help you, miss?” the man asked, a jovial note to his voice despite his surroundings.

  “Yes, sir. I need to purchase passage to Liverpool.”

  “Liverpool? That’s quite a distance for a woman to be traveling alone.”

  “Yes, sir. My father lives there and has become quite ill,” she lied.

  “Poor thing.” He quoted her a price, gave her a voucher, then informed her as to when the coach would be leaving. “I hope your father is better when you arrive.”

  “Thank you. May I wait here until time to leave?”

  “Certainly.”

  Clarissa took up a seat on the bench next to the station. She kept her head bent low, but continuously looked around her for any signs of recognition from those bustling around her. Very rarely would a member of the ton be seen in this part of London, but she kept a watchful eye out just the same. A street vendor hawked meat pies down the way. Clarissa’s stomach growled noisily. She left Gertie’s this morning without eating anything, nor did she eat much last night. Now, she found herself starving as the smell wafted her way.

  She stood and walked to the vendor. Clarissa purchased a meat pie and ate it where she stood. Her stomach satisfied, she passed the time waiting for the mail coach by watching the people on the street. These were everyday laborers. Although they worked their lives away, they seemed so much happier than most of the people she knew. Yes, they went home exhausted at the end of the day, but they were not living their life on a stage, an act being constantly judged with no intermission. Surely that made them happier than she.

  The sound of clopping horses’ hooves echoed off the buildings that lined the street. Clarissa picked up her bags and turned to the mail coach station, but came to an abrupt halt when she saw the crest on the door of the coach. Her father’s coach! She looked around quickly, searching for a hiding place. The carriage swayed as a man with sandy blonde hair, a fair complexion, and dressed in the finest clothes stepped out onto the street.

  “Franklin,” Clarissa whispered. She watched in horror, frozen to the cobbles where she stood. He approached the man she had just purchased her voucher from. “Dear Lord,” she whispered softly. Clarissa spun around, but could still see what happened behind her courtesy of the storefront window that she vacantly gazed into. She watched as money passed hands, and the man nodded to the bench where she had been sitting.

  Clarissa watched Franklin turn in a slow circle as he studied the area. He started across the street, but a lumbering wagon halted his progress. He continued on after it passed. Clarissa’s heart pounded heavily in her chest. She moved toward the opening of a dark alley. The alley was certainly dangerous, but she much preferred facing the dangers that lurked there to her step-uncle. She never should have gone back by the house to check if word had arrived overnight. With so many new staff members hired by Lorraine, she could not be sure whom to trust.

  She entered the darkness and put her bags down. She peeked out of the opening, searching the street for him. He was nowhere to be found. The carriage still sat in front of the coaching station. He couldn’t have just disappeared, she thought frantically. She heard the crunch of footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, a firm hand clamped over her mouth.

  ***

  “Why would she hie off on her own like that?” Gertrude moaned softly and not for the first time. Both she and Justin were looking frantically out the windows on each side of the carriage hoping for a glimpse of her.

  “Because she thought I wouldn’t help her, and as is the case with most women, she acted without thinking.”

  “Now Justin, I think that quite unfair of you,” Gertie complained never taking her eyes from passing scenery. They had been searching for over half an hour for the elusi
ve Clarissa. One thing was certain, when she did not want to be found, she did a good job of it.

  Justin opened the carriage window and called out to the driver, “Let’s try this street.”

  “Aye, sir.” The unmarked carriage turned slowly onto the busy thoroughfare. People were bustling to and fro, making purchases for the larger houses in London. Street vendors were crowding every available space to try to sell their wares. A woman stumbled in the midst of a crowd, but caught herself before falling. No one seemed to notice her, they were so busy with their own errands.

  The carriage lumbered on down the street, and they passed the mail coach station, empty except for the ticket agent. They traveled slowly both because of the people filling the streets and sidewalks and their meticulous search for Clarissa. “Have you seen anything yet, Gertie?”

  “Other than Clarissa, I really don’t know what I’m looking for.”

  Justin leaned out the window once more and gave instructions for the driver to turn around when he came to a good spot and go down the street the other direction. When they were able, the coachman turned down a side street and made several more turns before once again, coming out onto the main street. “Look for anyone you might think is Clarissa.”

  Silence permeated the coach. He saw the same woman who had stumbled earlier. Something about her looked familiar, but he could not quite put his finger on it. She wore an old bonnet pulled low. They passed by and Justin looked back once more, but she had disappeared.

  “It’s Franklin,” Gertie gripped Justin’s forearm to get his attention.

  “What?”

  “Franklin,” Gertrude pointed her finger at the carriage across the street.

  “Stop the coach,” he called to their driver. “Gertie, I want you to stay in here, do you understand?”

  “Of course.”

  “We have to be ready to leave quickly.”

  “I understand, and you’re wasting time.”

  Justin slipped out of the coach and had a quick word with the driver. “Point the man out to me.”

  “He is at the mail coach station.” Justin looked around the end of the coach and saw a blonde, fashionably dressed man talking with the booking agent. He passed some notes to the man and then did a turn as he scanned the area. Recognition gleamed in his eyes and across his face as he walked across the street.

  Justin looked down the street and saw the woman he watched earlier slip into an alley. He thought he recognized her, but the bonnet and servant’s clothes had thrown him off. None of her silvery blonde hair showed from beneath the bonnet. Justin watched as Franklin entered a shop, but never came back out. He had just arrived at the alley entrance when he heard, “Come back here, you little bitch.”

  A soft, warm body ran into him, her eyes frightened and then relieved after she looked up and realized who had her now.

  “Get in the carriage,” Justin bit out.

  “But Franklin,” Clarissa tried to argue now that she knew she would be safe once more.

  “Go,” he growled cutting her off and turning into the alley. Justin walked the dark alley, but saw no sign of the man Gertie had pointed out to him. Franklin had wisely disappeared down one of the turns off the alley. He gave directions to the coachman and climbed in, slamming the door shut. The window across from him showed that the Duke of Hamilton’s carriage was still there and empty. He would not risk Clarissa’s safety yet again to hunt for the man. The coach lurched into action.

  Clarissa watched covertly from her corner of the carriage wondering why he did not attempt to find Franklin. She fought shivers that ran down her spine as she thought about how close she had come to being taken by the man. Aunt Gertie sat directly across from Southerby and twisted her hands worrisomely. Her eyes darted back and forth between Justin and Clarissa. Clarissa refused to be intimated by Southerby.

  “Why did you run off?”

  “I didn’t think you would help me.”

  “I was going to help you.”

  “Would you have let me come with you?”

  “No.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Clarissa,” he began, but Gertrude cut him off.

  “Now children. We are going to be in tight quarters for quite a while. Let’s play nicely with each other, hmmmm?”

  “Papa’s carriage is following us.”

  “Is that really a surprise?”

  “I didn’t expect them to come looking for me. They usually arrive home early in the morning and sleep until mid-afternoon. I thought I had plenty of time. Some of the new servants report directly to them. I made a mistake stopping by the house before going to the mail station.” Not for the first time, she said the admission aloud. Silence reined from the other side of the carriage.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “I had to see if any correspondence had arrived from Papa.”

  “Did Franklin see you?”

  “He had me.”

  “Oh, dear,” Gertie put her fisted hand against her mouth.

  “Should I dare ask how you got away?”

  “I don’t think so. So, what are we going to do?”

  Justin opened the hatch and had a quick discussion with the driver. After closing the hatch once more he settled into the corner of the carriage, stretched out his long legs at an angle, and closed his eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Clarissa asked angrily, confused by his languid mood. She also found herself irritated that his legs were invading her space.

  “Taking a nap.”

  He knew Clarissa fumed at his attitude, but he had to think and could not do it if she thought him awake and continued to talk. Being followed was a bit of a problem, but they were currently on their way to his country estate. If they could throw him off between here and there, Justin knew they would be well protected once they passed through the gates. How would he ask the director for time off? Damn, the director, he thought suddenly remembering his meeting tomorrow. He had no other choice, he would have to return to town for the meeting.

  He had yet to discuss Hamilton’s will with Clarissa. It remained to be seen how she would take the change. Franklin seemed very interested in Lady Clarissa. If what Clarissa and Gertrude said had any truth behind it, they were an awfully ambitious brother and sister. They needed further investing for certain. He heard the sound of the horses’ hooves change as they left the cobbled streets of town behind. Mere seconds later, he felt a swift kick against his shin.

  “What was that for?” he bellowed and rubbed his shin.

  “Where are we going?” Clarissa demanded to know.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he replied back.

  “Justin, I think she, no we, have a right to know.” Justin turned a scathing look on his godmother. “Oh, don’t give me that kind of look, young man. I’ve known you since you were crawling around the nursery in your nappies, if you remember. Do quit being sour and tell us where we’re going.”

  Justin muttered something under his breath that the women could not understand, then cleared his throat. “We are going to mother and father’s country estate. I hope that I can come up with a plan in which we lose Franklin for a short time.”

  “Now was that so hard?” Clarissa asked sarcastically.

  “Clarissa, please, my head is pounding.”

  “Go back to sleep Justin,” Gertrude interrupted, attempting to be a calming force. “Clarissa perhaps you should rest as well.”

  “I can’t,” she muttered and continued to watch her father’s coach trail after them.

  ***

  Justin surreptitiously watched Clarissa from half-closed eyes. Her pointed chin raised a notch in defiance of the situation. A few feathery tendrils of her silvery hair escaped the bonnet to frame her elfin features. Her eyes held a determination that belied her circumstances, and the brown sparkled with flecks of amber.

  She was much stronger emotionally than he had originally thought. He did not know about physically, but she had escaped Fr
anklin in some manner. Justin would have chuckled over her expression when she ran into him, but he wanted her and Gertrude to believe that he slept. His shin still smarted from where Clarissa had kicked it earlier. She packed quite a punch for someone so small.

  He needed to put a plan in place. As long as they were on his estate, they would be safe. King and Prince, his two wolfhounds, would see to that. After making certain the two women were securely placed there, he would head to London for his meeting with the Director. He would also send out some dispatches to find out as much as they could on Lorraine and Franklin Montmorency.

  Deciding he really did need the rest if he had to travel to London tonight, Justin relaxed his body and let the rocking motion of the carriage help him drift off to sleep.

  ***

  The man had actually fallen asleep. Clarissa fumed inwardly. How could he? Her father had disappeared, she had almost been kidnapped - twice, they were being followed, and Southerby slept. Snored, in fact. Rage simmered below the surface. She looked over at Aunt Gertie and noticed that even she had nodded off. Was she the only one that cared what happened to them? Evidently.

  When Franklin had grabbed her in that alley, she truly thought her life was forfeit. Sheer panic made her bite his hand. Thank goodness she had good, strong teeth. She hoped his hand still throbbed as well as another part of his anatomy that she had struck with her knee in a moment of anger-laced fear.

  Why did Papa have to get taken in by that unscrupulous woman? She lamented, not for the first time. She wanted him to have a relationship, encouraged it, in fact; however, she never expected him to choose someone like Lorraine. She had thought he would court one of the widows of the ton, but instead he had chosen that she-devil.

  Clarissa thought back on one of their conversations about he matter.

  “Papa, why won’t you remarry?”