Saving Grace (19 page)

Her eyes smarted again, and she balled her hands into fists.
No matter what I say, he will not believe me.
Every word she spoke only seemed to entangle her more.

“You do recall his greeting, I see,” Lord Sutherland observed.

“Yes.” Grace sighed, weary of the word. “But you do not know the whole of it.”

“I am sure I do not,” Lord Sutherland said. “Though I can guess easily enough. Preston thought to use you to get at me. He hoped to goad me into a duel, and had I agreed, I would have found myself lured into a trap and in prison soon after.”

“No!” Grace said, astonished by such a preposterous scenario. “I had really never seen — never
spoken
to” — she amended, lest, in some odd quirk of fate, Lord Sutherland had somehow been at the theatre too and seen her and Mr. Preston in the same vicinity. “I’d never spoken to Mr. Preston until that night.”

“Correspondence, then,” Lord Sutherland suggested. “Equally effective for sabotage.” He pushed off the desk, towering over her once more. “Do you have any idea of the trouble you’ve caused me? The predicament I find myself in because I came to your rescue, because I tried to save your reputation?”

“Forgive me, milord,” Grace said in her own mocking tone. “For not falling at your feet and expressing my undying gratitude.” She stepped closer to him, tilting her head back to look up at him, pushing aside her fear in place of anger. “Before you rode off on your charger to come to my rescue, did it never once occur to you that I might not
want
to be saved?”

“Not once.” Lord Sutherland’s gaze didn’t leave hers. The hard look in his eyes didn’t soften in the least. “It had not occurred to me that you were in league with Preston. I had not yet realized that I’d
been had
. Believe me, Miss Thatcher, if I’d suspected at all, I would have left you to your troubles, and perhaps Preston would be stuck with you now instead.”

“You needn’t marry me,” Grace said. “I’ve no such expectation. It was never my intent to involve you in my father’s plan. For that, I apologize.”

“You do not deny involvement in Preston’s scheme?” Nicholas asked.

“No,” Grace said, rather loudly. “Because there was —
is
— no scheme.”

“Maybe Preston did not tell you the whole of it,” Lord Sutherland said, as much to himself as to her.

“Mr. Preston said nothing beyond a few pleasantries when we danced. My only crime is in agreeing to my father’s folly and going on this trip in the first place.”

“Ah, your father,” Lord Sutherland drawled in a bitter tone. “A pleasant man. Can’t say as I’ve ever been quite as entertained as the morning I spent with him.”

Grace felt as if a large, sharp stone had dropped to the bottom of her stomach. “Father? Was he — he came here?” She looked to and fro, lest her father jump out at her.

“Ten days ago,” Lord Sutherland confirmed.

Grace’s hands flew to her throat. “Oh no.”

Lord Sutherland nodded. “I was given the generous choice of dueling your Mr. Preston or marrying you. Oh, do not look so frightened,” he snapped. “I could easily kill Preston and should have enjoyed doing so immensely, but I am not a fool. He’d ensnare me in a thrice. More importantly, I am a man of my word and gave it to another some time ago that I would never harm a hair on Preston’s head. So you see my predicament.”

Our predicament
, Grace thought, trying to steady her racing heart. No one was to die over her; that was something. “I will talk to my father,” she said. “If you’ll allow your carriage to take me home, I promise to right the matter with him.”

“It’s a bit late for that,” Lord Sutherland stated.

“Why?” Grace asked. “Have you gone and done the deed while I slept? Did another stand in as proxy for me?”

He gave a short, harsh laugh. “No. But the entire countryside knows of your supposed indiscretion, and no doubt your father and those servants of yours are busy spreading it about London, as well.”

“That is my difficulty to bear, not yours.” Grace looked him directly in the eye so he might see the truth of her words. “I am prepared to suffer the consequences to my reputation.”

“And what of mine?” Lord Sutherland asked. “How shall I be looked upon by my peers and associates for ruining a young lady and sending her packing?”

“I did not think it would matter to you,” Grace said, then cringed at the harsh look he gave.

“No. You did not
think
— particularly about my mother. She will be here in a few days’ time, and no doubt she shall have an earful for both of us.”

“Oh.” This subdued her a bit. Grace frowned in contemplation of what must be done. There had to be a way out for
both
of them. Lord Sutherland had made it abundantly clear that he wished a marriage between them as little as she did.

“Then there is the matter of your sister,” he said.

“Helen? What has happened?” Grace bit her lip as she looked up at him.

“Nothing that I am aware of. Nor is anything likely to, according to your father, as you and your servants have so thoroughly ruined both of your possibilities.”

“Oh.” Grace sagged against the chair in relief.

Lord Sutherland quirked an eyebrow. “This pleases you?”

Here we go again.
She chose her words with care. “I am much relieved that Helen will not be forced to marry. She is young — delicate. I worry for her. I fear her sweet nature would greatly suffer beneath —” Her eyes flickered upward to him.

“One so overbearing as myself?” Lord Sutherland suggested.

“Yes,” Grace agreed — too readily.
Darn that word again.
She hoped to never say it another time in her life.
Though I shall have to at least once — before a priest.

She dared another look at Lord Sutherland. He was indeed overbearing and of a temper and —

“No need to worry over your sister. I have paid your father handsomely for his losses seeing as he cannot sell her off as well.”

— And generous.
Equal waves of guilt and shame assailed Grace. From what little she’d seen of the Sutherland estate, it did not appear that Lord Sutherland had extra funds to dispense of. What must he think of her, having met her father and believing, as he did, that she’d been a willing accomplice to this entire scheme? Though she did not care for Lord Sutherland, she also did not want him believing the worst of her.

“Thank you for that.” She met his eyes briefly but saw no welcoming light there. Like Kingsley, he would not accept her gratitude, instead reading it as false.

“You will have ample time to show your thanks in the future.” His eyes perused her for a long moment before he looked away. “For now, I suggest you return to your room and continue recuperating. I have not spent a small fortune on the physician to have you become unwell again.”

Feeling ill-used, Grace wrapped her arms around her middle and turned to go, eager to escape Lord Sutherland’s presence.

A temporary escape. I am indebted to him. I am trapped.

A swell of panic rose inside her, bringing to mind another time, long ago, when she’d been in a similar predicament. Her betrothal to Sir Edmund Crayton, and her worries over what their marriage would bring, had been more than frightening. But then, at least, she’d had the hope that he would leave her often. That he and his pirates would take to the sea frequently.

And then Grandfather rescued me.

She had no such hope now. She’d had her one miracle, a few worry-free years of happiness. Here she was caught beneath Lord Sutherland’s fist for the duration of their betrothal, and for a lifetime beyond. When she thought of that, she wanted to cry. To have enjoyed freedom and have it taken away was almost worse than not having known it at all. And now she would be here, alone. She longed for Helen’s company but would never dare subject her sister to Lord Sutherland’s temper. If only there was someone else she might turn to for help in reasoning all this through, or in finding a way out. Then her situation might be bearable.

If I had a friend —

Grace stopped in the doorway and turned around suddenly, facing Lord Sutherland seated at his desk once more. “I should like my maid to join me,” she informed him with as much authority as she dared. “Her name is Miranda. She was with me at —”

“I am well aware of your servants’ names and their capabilities for ruining lives.” Lord Sutherland looked up from his work. “They are not welcome here. Furthermore, if I were you, I should send word of that at once. I am not under the same constraints with them as I am with Preston, and should either of your servants venture onto my property —” He opened a lower drawer and pulled out a revolver. “I would not be averse to taking them out for the trouble they have caused me.”

Grace stared at the pistol, her fear transitioning to anger once again. She’d spent a lifetime being threatened and bullied by her father and his creditors, and she had no intention of continuing the pattern here. Helen, at least, was safe now.

So it doesn’t matter if something happens to me.

She stepped back into the room, standing squarely before the desk. “Perhaps you should rid yourself of the problem right now,” she challenged. “Just shoot me and be done with it. Then you can go about your way unencumbered.”

A brief flash of what might have been admiration flickered in Lord Sutherland’s gaze. He set the revolver aside but made no move to put it back in the drawer. “You are the Duke of Salisbury’s granddaughter — and were well received during your time with him in London, I hear. Were I to dispose of you so readily, there would likely be repercussions. I’ve no desire to trade one problem for another, particularly when the first, at least, promises something in return for my trouble.”

Grace felt a blush staining her cheeks at his insinuation and berated herself for it. “I have promised you nothing.” Whatever attraction Lord Sutherland might hold for other women, she felt none of it. He was arrogant and domineering, threatening and — far too close, as he rose from his chair and leaned over the desk.

“Get out.” He pointed to the door. “I’ll summon you when I wish to see you next.”

“And I’ll come if only if I want to,” she countered, turning away and walking sedately toward the door. When she passed through it, she grabbed the handle and pulled, slamming it behind her with unnecessary force. Only then did she allow herself to move quickly, practically running across the entry as the previous visitor had done. Kingsley was not there to open the front doors for her, but she exited them anyway, running onto the drive and as far away from her
betrothed
as possible.

Grace stumbled on the loose gravel of the drive, her slippers not being the sort appropriate for an afternoon walk, and the drive having been long unattended. A short distance from the house, she turned into what must once have been a lovely garden. Several seasons’ worth of leaves and debris covered the brick paths, and trees and bushes grew in disarray, their previous forms indiscernible. None of that mattered. Grace knew only that her surroundings were as dismal as the man within the towering edifice behind her and that, from now on, she wished to avoid him at all costs.

Even if that meant being out in the weather unprepared and alone in a place that was altogether eerie. She lifted her face to the sky and the low-lying clouds. Rain threatened but had not yet come. The thought of returning to her room was stifling. Being shut up there, worrying about when a summons from Lord Sutherland might occur, held no appeal.

Suppressing a shiver that was part nerves, part cold, Grace wrapped her arms around herself and persisted in discovering where the mostly obscured path might lead. With care, she watched her footing and found herself ducking this way and that to avoid overgrown bramble. After a time, and with more than a few scratches to her person, the house behind her grew distant.

She reached a stone wall of significant height and was faced with the choice of heading one direction or the other along it. With tired feet and lungs burning from overuse so soon after her illness, she chose to rest instead and plopped onto an iron bench near the wall.

As she sat, the reality and severity of her circumstances returned to the front of her mind with sudden force.
I am betrothed to the loathsome man. He has given Father his word and even paid to compensate for Helen. And when shall I even see her again now? I shall never be able to escape with Christopher and Helen to the country.
Grace’s throat constricted, and this time she could not stop the well of tears that surfaced and began to spill over. Leaning forward, she brought her hands to her face and cried in earnest, weeping out all the fear and anger she’d barely managed to contain during her confrontation with Lord Sutherland.

How will I ever get out of this? He will own me.
Her tears flowed freely, and her shoulders shook from the depths of her sorrow.

The lightest touch fell upon her back, and Grace sat up, alert and wary of what creature might have joined her. She looked up and saw not a bird or insect, as she had expected, but a — man.

She screamed and jumped up, and the man leaning over the wall nearly lost his balance, his arm extended toward her, a coat dangling from his fingers.