The Duke and the Dressmaker (The St. James Series) (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The next morning,
Philip exited his carriage and bounded up the steps of the Ardleigh Manor House. As he entered the foyer, he heard his friend in the library and boldly intruded.

“What have you discovered,
Ardleigh?” he queried.

Ardleigh’s
eyebrows rose. “Ah, Brentwood, nice to see you today. Didn’t you sleep well last night? What brings you here so early? You were here just yesterday, were you not?”

“I have more important things to do than to stand here and chat with you,
Ardleigh. What did the investigator have to say yesterday?” He held his hands in his pocket as his foot tapped a beat on the carpet.

“Nothing that pleases me.
He believes one of the two most powerful crime lords is involved. Apparently, Lord Downey borrowed quite a bit more money to try to keep your wife happy. That is why he is bothering Sara. She paid the first time and as long as he can get her to continue paying, he will. Word is out that she is alone, and there are some men keeping watch over her.”

“What? Why? Who would bother with a young
widowed working woman?”

Ardleigh’s
mouth formed a grim line. “Someone that likes to bring new prostitutes into the business to keep his clientele happy. I did not like what I found out, Brentwood. She is being watched to see if there is anyone that would follow up on her disappearance. There is a major boss that preys on young widows that are alone. He forces them into the business, if you get my meaning.”

“What? They just take women to whore for them? Are you jesting? How c
an they get away with such aberrant behavior?”

“They
choose carefully and have been lucky thus far. They only choose women with no family. They want women with no connections, someone who won’t be missed. Women with certain assets, beauty. New blood for the business, so they say. Unfortunately, Sara fits the requirements. No known family, no connections, no one that would miss her. We need to keep her here with us to convince these people she will be missed.”

“Then she goes home with me! I have connections
. I will protect her. Have your servant gather her things. I will take her home with me now.” His hands fisted as he paced.

“
No need to shout at me, Brentwood. I don’t think Sara is ready for that yet.”

“I do not care if she is ready, I will keep her safe. She needs to come with me.” Philip’s mind
reeled at the possibility of Sara being kidnapped. As a prostitute? He could hardly restrain himself from punching a hole in the wall at the thought of such a thing.

“She is fine here with us. I will keep her safe, and she is comfortable with
Phoebe. I think if the men see she is staying with us, they will stay away. If you recall, the lady is not interested in moving into your townhouse, Brentwood. After all, only a slight difference between your wishes and their wishes, isn’t there?”

He stopped his pacing and brought his face about two inches from Ardleigh’s. “I am not above putting my fist in your face, Ardleigh. How dare you speak of Lady Downey that way?”

Philip
jerked away to continue his pacing. “We have to do something. I need to know who this is. Who is making the decisions here? Who is this man? I need to know so I can break his neck with my bare hands!” He knew he was losing it. His nails were close to drawing blood from the flesh of his palms. He told himself to calm down. His control was paramount to a situation such as this.

Ardleigh
calmly continued. “I have involved the authorities. It is time to do what is best for Sara. They will find out for us. Give them some time. They will solve this, and we will keep Sara safe. Now, why are you here, Brentwood? You did not come here in your carriage to discuss the investigator, did you?” Ardleigh stared out the window at the largest carriage in all of London. The golden crest that denoted the Duke of Brentwood was blinding.

He
shook his head. “No, of course not. I came to ask Lady Downey if she would come with me for a ride in Hyde Park today.”

“
Zounds, surely you do not mean that, Brentwood? Of course, you understand what you are implying?” Ardleigh’s lips curved into a light smile.

“Yes, I
believe I possess the intelligence to deduce the implications of my actions, Ardleigh. Now, may I speak to Sara or not?” He tugged on his neck cloth as he spoke. Of course he knew that if he took Sara into Hyde Park with him, he was declaring her off limits to all others. She was his and it was time everyone knew it. He really wasn’t concerned with the realm right now. Why she brought out this fierce protectiveness in him, he didn’t know. He found he didn’t have time to give it much thought. Right now, his primary concern was Sara. He needed to talk to her privately. She was a widow. It was certainly acceptable.

Lady
Ardleigh spoke as she entered the library. Sara was behind her. “The Ducal Carriage, Your Grace? What is the occasion?”

He
cleared his throat. “The occasion is that I have come to ask Lady Downey if she would do me the honor of accompanying me for a ride through Hyde Park this morning. It is a beautiful morning, is it not?”

Sara stepped inside, holding her arm next to her body.
A sling had been fashioned to hold it in position for her.

She
curtsied with a blush. “Good day to you, Your Grace.”

He
almost lost the ability to speak. Sara wore a yellow day dress that made her more beautiful than he thought possible. Why did she grow more stunning every day? Was that possible or was he a hopeless romantic? Damnation, he sounded like a school boy. Was she still medicated today? Could she converse, or would she lose her beautiful, intelligent mind to the torture she had been forced to endure?

Had he really just thought that? He wanted a woman to retain
her ability to think. He blinked his eyes several times at the implications of his thoughts. His brow furrowed as he tried to work through them logically.

Sara stared at Philip.
Was he angry today? She locked gazes with him, and at once she was lost in his soft blue eyes. They weren’t cold today but kind and warm. How she loved him when he looked at her as he did presently. If she could just find a way for him to maintain that look, she would never leave his side. Not that he wanted her that much, but she could be happy with him for a long time.

She was surprised that she was able to nod her head when he asked her to go for a ride in his carriage. Phoebe found her a shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders. Her mind was not cloudy today as it had been yesterday. When she awoke this morning, she had asked Phoebe to lighten the amount of medication she was given for her pain. She wanted to
be back in control again, needing to put her life back in place and move forward. Customers awaited their garments, and there was no one else to sew for her. Although it would be hard with two fingers broken, she would find a way.

She found herself resting her arm on Philip’s as he
escorted her to the carriage and helped her inside. Was she doing the right thing? How quickly she forgot about his insult to her.

Philip closed the door behind him and sat next to her.

“Here, Sara, I brought this pillow to prop your arm. I was afraid it would still be sore today.” He fussed over her until he thought everything was perfect. He rapped on the roof to get the carriage moving and settled himself across from her.

“Philip, do you care to tell me what this is about? I didn’t expect to see you again.”
She brought her gaze up to lock with his blue eyes. They remained warm, fortunately. Why was she even here? He had been very clear what he wanted from her.

“I am here because I enjoy your company. It is that simple. I am also worried about you. You have been through a most traumatic event. How
are your fingers? Is your pain any better?”

She
turned her head to stare out the window. “I am better, thank you.” She knew it was rude to look away, but she could not handle having him so close to her. She caught his scent, burned from his touch, and she was lost again. How could she not love him? When the two of them were alone, he was so attentive, so thoughtful. A quick glance at him was enough to start butterflies in her stomach.

However,
every time she thought of what he had asked her to do, she became angry again. She hated him! How could you love someone and hate him at the same time? Was that possible? She needed to get her emotions under control because she needed his assistance. The Duke of Brentwood should be able to help her out of her predicament.
Get control and think, Sara.

“Sara, why did you return the necklace?”

Her head snapped back to glance at him. Was he dense?

“I th
ought I explained that in my note, Your Grace. I am not interested in your offer.” She dropped her gaze to her hands as she blushed.

“I understand your feelings. I need to apologize. I should not have insulted you with that offer.
You are a widow, are you not? I did not intend it as the insult it was perceived to be.”

Sara glanced at him
but then turned her head to stare out the window again. What was he searching for?

Philip reached over and took her chin in his hand. He gently turned her fac
e back to him. “Why didn’t you keep the necklace? Why didn’t you keep it to give to Stinky? You are an intelligent woman. I was hoping you would keep it to pay off your debt. I wanted you to be rid of the man. The necklace was worth a fortune. You could have paid him off.”

She
pushed him away with her good hand. “Because it would have been wrong, Philip. I was not willing to accept your terms of the agreement. If I could not uphold my end of the bargain, I certainly could not keep the necklace.”

“You could have paid him off
, and we could have worked the terms out at a later time. If you had kept it and given it to him, it may have been enough for him to leave you alone for good. Why would you risk what happened when you had a way out? Help me to understand. Your nightmare could have been over.”

They were almost to Hyde Park.
Silence descended in the carriage. He just didn’t understand her. He would never understand her. How could she explain how important maintaining the dignity of her character was to him?

“You thought I should give him the necklace and then tell you I changed my mind? You wanted me
to keep the gift with deceitful intentions?” She pinched the end of her good fingers with her gloved hand. The pain had become unbearable again. If she pinched really hard, it took her mind off the pain in her broken bones.

Philip crossed his legs as he continued.
“I thought you were intelligent enough to take advantage of a solution to your problem. Instead, look at what happened to you. You could have avoided this pain.”

“Intelligent enough?
Are you implying that I am stupid because I did not accept your gift?” She bit back all the insulting words she wanted to throw at Philip.

“No, of course not.
Surely you can see my position.”

“What position?
Your position to insult me?” Sara made no effort to disguise the anger in her tone.

“No!
” The level of his voice rose as he continued. “You would not be reasonable and move out of that shop. You knew he would be back. Why did you leave yourself in that position? Stinky was bound to come back and hurt you. What are you trying to prove?”

“Trying to prove
? Perhaps I am trying to prove that I have a shred of decency left inside of me. Perhaps I am trying to prove that I can support myself with my own business sense and hard work. Surely you can see that being dependent on a man has not worked out for me in the past. Duncan almost ruined me,” she yelled at him as they entered the park.

“
My husband kept me hidden away, and you want me to hide in your townhouse, away from your mother and sister, away from the
ton
. Perhaps I would like to be able to talk to someone in my shop without being embarrassed about what I do when I walk out the door. I have some pride, Philip! Someday, when I move from this world, I hope to meet the mother I never knew. And when that happens, I will not allow myself to be in a position to regret any of the decisions I make while I am here. Take me back to the Ardleighs, please!” The pain in her heart bothered her now more than the pain in her arm. How could he think she was so shallow?

“No, Sara, I will not take you
back yet. Not until you can see the danger you are putting yourself in. Do you think I want to spend every minute of my life worrying about whether that man is coming back to hurt you, or worse yet, kidnap you? You won’t let anyone help you. What else should we do? Tell me, because I have no idea how you will let me help you. You push away everyone; you push away everyone that loves and cares about you!” Philip’s bellow was loud enough to attract attention from others outside, but he was oblivious.

“Goodness, Your Grace, who is in the carriage with you that you love and care so much about that the whole park can hear you yelling?”