Intentions of the Earl (41 page)

“Two? Unlikely? Whatever do you mean? I
remember Alex being there, but he’s not an unlikely hero, is he?”
Liberty asked, perturbed.

“Yes, Alex was there. However, he fell in,
too. The Duke of Gateway pulled you both out,” Madison said evenly,
tucking one of her blonde curls behind her ear.

Liberty couldn’t believe it. That man hardly
knew she existed. They had barely ever spoken. What she did know
about him though was he was the worst kind of man there ever could
be. He never did anything to be nice, and some—most—considered him
to be very dangerous and not a man you’d want to be indebted to.
Liberty shivered.

“Who was the other?” she asked curiously. If
Gateway was one of her unlikely heroes, who else could it possibly
be? There was nobody more unlikely than Gateway.

“Mr. Grimes,” Madison said quietly.

“That’s impossible,” Liberty snapped,
crossing her arms across her chest. “That man wasn’t even there. He
was at his weekly visit with Papa. And anyway, he wouldn’t help me
unless his very life depended on it.”

“That’s not true,” Madison said softly. “I
know you don’t like him, but there’s no reason for you not to like
him. He’s actually a very nice man once you get to know him.”

Liberty scowled. “You can get to know him all
you like. My opinion of him hasn’t changed. He is a filthy cad who
wants my virtue.” Liberty inclined her chin an inch. “But he shall
not get it.”

Madison shook her head. “He doesn’t want your
virtue. I know you think he was undressing in order to ravish you;
but Papa says he was angry and got overheated, and after everything
that had just happened, I’m inclined to believe him.”

“Oh, Madison, you may be three years older
than me, but you are far more naïve. No man starts to take off his
neck cloth and shirt just because he’s hot.” Liberty had heard that
explanation too, and about died of embarrassment when she later
thought about it—especially because it made sense. She may be a
virginal nineteen almost twenty, but she knew if he meant to have
her virtue, he probably wouldn’t have started with his cravat.
However, she couldn’t put her finger on if she was embarrassed
because of her silly assumption and hasty actions or if it was
because he didn’t want her that way. Her cheeks still turned
crimson whenever she thought about it.

“Liberty,” Madison said as she idly played
with the fringe of Liberty’s counterpane and stared out the window
again. Moving her eyes back to Liberty’s face, she swallowed. “I
think if he wanted your virtue, he would’ve already taken it.”

Outraged, Liberty balled her hands into
fists. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

That’s when Liberty heard about her life’s
most humiliating moment, a moment she wasn’t even awake for.

After Gateway had loaded both her and Alex
into his carriage (Lady Olivia had gone into hysterics and her maid
had taken her home already), he took her to her residence and
dropped her off; however, he didn’t stay because he needed to
return Alex to his house. The only person at home at the time was
Mr. Grimes, who just happened to be there waiting for his weekly
meeting with Papa. It was a Wednesday afternoon and all the
servants were gone for their time off, so she’d been left
completely in the hands of Mr. Grimes.

Madison told her that he gathered her in his
arms and carried her up to her bedroom. Once inside, he stripped
off
all
of her clothes and wrapped her in a blanket. Then,
he carried warm water up and filled the copper tub that was in her
dressing room. After the tub was full, and he had word that the
doctor was on his way, Mr. Grimes took her naked, unconscious body
and placed her in the water. Then he sat beside her and waited with
her there until Papa and Mama arrived.

Liberty thought she was going to die. Mr.
Grimes had seen her naked! She closed her eyes to block the tears
of embarrassment that were threatening to spill.

Madison claimed she was in the room when Mr.
Grimes explained all of this to Mama and Papa. “He was so
uncomfortable and embarrassed talking about it,” she said calmly,
as if that would make her feel better about it. “I have never seen
anyone turn that shade of red, well, except you. Right now, you are
just as red as he was when he recounted the events to Mama and
Papa.”

Liberty didn’t respond. She couldn’t respond.
She was too busy wishing he had just let her die rather than take
off her clothes and look at her naked. The man was a monster who
knew no bounds when it came to decency!

“Liberty, it’s not that bad. As it is, you
never even see the man. You’ve made yourself scarce when he’s
around ever since that house party. This changes nothing,” she
assured her. “You’re not going to see him again, so it shouldn’t
matter.”

“You wouldn’t know,” Liberty shrieked between
the sobs that were racking her body. “You’ve never had a man see
you naked before.”

Madison looked like she had been struck.
Liberty thought she should say something, she hadn’t meant for it
to come out like it sounded. But she wasn’t given the chance to
make amends before Madison quietly stood and departed. That was the
last time she saw Madison for the rest of the day.

Sitting alone in silence, she thought of the
apology she owed Madison. After she’d worked out the perfect words
to express her remorse for her heartless comment, she started to
form her plan of how she was going to get revenge on Mr. Grimes. He
had no business seeing her naked, which was bad enough, but he’d
taken it one step farther by carrying her around and bathing
her.

Madison said he
claimed
not to have
taken her virtue, but he was the only one who really knew for sure.
Even she couldn’t be certain she was still in tact down there. She
suppressed
that
thought immediately.

No doubt about it, the man had gone over the
line this time, and she was going to make sure he never did it
again. After she was done with him, he would never show his face in
England again. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad he’d be exiled,
but he would not be going anywhere near any member of the Banks
family anyhow. She was going to make sure of it.

About the Author

When not tapping out a novel, Rose Gordon
spends time chasing around her young children—both indoors and
out—hiking, camping, and doing other outdoor pursuits.

Her follow up novels,
Liberty for Paul
and
To Win His Wayward Wife,
can be found Spring, 2011. Be
sure to visit
www.rosegordonromance.com
to find other information about Rose and her books.