how anyone could plan an ensemble for breaking into a criminal bordello and visiting an earl’s London town house in the same day, she did not know.
The butler and the housekeeper looked at her, evaluating. They’d taken in her manner and way of speaking. “Yes, ma’am,” the housekeeper said, and Teresa knew that she had established a measure of authority.
By the time the rooms were ready and the girls settled, the doctor had arrived. Teresa stayed with her charges for the examinations, knowing that they should not be left alone with a strange man just now. Afterward she returned to the drawing room and sat with Lord Macklin to hear the man’s opinion.
“Most of the young ladies are merely bruised and weary,” he said.
“Merely?” Teresa could not help but reply.
The doctor accepted the reprimand with a bow of his head. “I beg your pardon. There is nothing ‘mere’ about such treatment. I found no broken bones or serious injuries except for the first. Odile, isn’t it? She has been hit very hard in her midsection.” He touched his own torso to demonstrate the location. “Very hard. Something may have ruptured inside. With complete rest and quiet and proper care, she may heal.”
“May?” asked Teresa, dismayed.
“Some recover from this sort of injury. Others do not. It is difficult to tell why.”
Lord Macklin looked as grim as Teresa felt. “Leave instructions about what she requires,” he said. “We will see that they are carried out.”
“Yes, my lord.” The doctor looked from him to Teresa and back again. “These girls have been badly treated. I hope something is being done about that.”
“The matter is in the hands of a magistrate,” replied Lord Macklin. “All that can be done will be.”
Teresa wondered a little at the way he phrased this.
“Ah. Good,” said the doctor. When it became clear that he would be told no more, he rose and took his leave, promising to send the medications he recommended with all speed.
And then Teresa was left alone in the grand drawing room with its noble owner. He sat beside her, the partner who had helped her accomplish…miracles really. And he hadn’t asked for anything in return. He was a man like no other.
If she reached out, she could touch his hand, his cheek. The love she felt for him filled her. “I would like to thank you,” she said. “For helping me get them out.”
“As who would not?”
“So very many people. You know how girls in their position are valued by most of society.”
“Not at all, you mean.” He looked vexed. “I admit I never paid much heed. You have shown me so many things.”
Teresa’s throat was tight with emotion. “You are extraordinary.”
“I hardly think so.”
“That is part of what makes you so.” She hadn’t understood that such men existed. She hadn’t believed until he proved it to her. Now he drew her irresistibly. She wanted to nestle into his arms. She wanted to throw off every scruple, forget everything but him.
“That word applies better to you,” he said with one of his dizzying smiles. “But I’m pleased that you think so. I want you to think well of me.”
“I?” He said this even though he knew the truth of her past? She’d fallen in love with this English earl because of the way he treated her. She’d been certain his attitude would change when she told her story. How had it not? She leaned closer. Her fingers brushed his sleeve. His lips were right there. She moved the last few inches and kissed him. Tentative at first, questioning, merely exploratory. At his immediate, ardent response, she slid her arms around his neck, pressed close, and lost herself in the embrace. Soft, all-encompassing, replete—a kiss like no other. She’d thought of him once as an ocean wave that knocked one tumbling and then dragged irresistibly toward the depths. Here they were, engulfing her. And she didn’t care. She surrendered to that passionate tide.
Lord Macklin pulled away from her. Teresa reached for him with a soft protest. “I cannot,” he said, his voice uneven. “You are a guest in my house. Under my protection. Any… It would be quite wrong of me.”
“I don’t require protection from you,” she replied. The truth of it rang through her as soon as she spoke, leaving her shaken. Here was the heart of the matter—trust.
But he edged farther back and then stood up. “I had better go before…”
The always immaculate earl looked mussed. His neckcloth was twisted.
“One cannot resist the