gaze returned to Mr. Wolsey.
Clearly offended, his eyes murderous and his mouth contorted into a snarl, Mr. Wolsey shot to his feet, his hands braced on top of the desk as he leaned forward. “Your arrogant and high-handed ways have no effect on me. I know your kind. I know how you treat those you deem inferior. I—”
“If you truly believe this has anything to do with rank or station or status,” Caroline interrupted, “then you’re an even greater fool than I’d thought. This is about doing the job that was entrusted to you, about not shirking one’s responsibilities, about looking after others before oneself. You’re a disgrace, Mr. Wolsey. You’re not fit to look after these children, to ensure their well-being, and I will not have you risk their futures!”
All but mesmerized, Pierce stood in the doorway, delighting in each spark that lit up her blue eyes and savoring each flare of anger that strengthen her voice. She was magnificent in the way she fought without regard for herself! Indeed, he would be proud to call her an ally, to see her stand up for him like that one day.
Should he ever manage to gain her trust.
And her affection.
Debating whether or not to interfere, Pierce had his decision made for him when Mr. Wolsey made to climb onto the desk in order to launch himself at Caroline, his face contorted into an almost animalistic sneer.
“Stop!” Pierce ordered in the same kind of voice that made lords quake in their boots when faced with his masked self in darkened alleys. While Caroline merely cast him a curious look, Mr. Wolsey craned his neck to locate the origin of the command and thus lost his balance, all but crashing face-first into the desk.
A howl of pain escaped him a moment before Pierce grabbed him by the shoulders and jerked him back onto his feet. Then he spun the man around, seizing him by the front of his stained shirt. “Look at me!” Pierce commanded as Mr. Wolsey gasped, clutching a hand to his bleeding nose. “You will leave this place,” Pierce snarled in a menacing whisper that had the other man’s eyes going as round as plates. “You will leave and you will never come back. Is that clear?”
Mr. Wolsey swallowed hard, his jaw trembling as he bobbed his head up and down in a rather agitated manner.
Pierce leaned closer, forcing himself to ignore the stench that emanated from the man. “If I ever lay eyes on you again,” he whispered in the same menacing tone before he paused for impact, his eyes trained on the man shaking in his grasp. Then he merely lifted his brows, leaving the threat unspoken and up to Mr. Wolsey’s imagination, a powerful tool if ever Pierce had known one.
As expected, Mr. Wolsey went paler than a sheet, horror darkening his eyes, before Pierce all but dropped him, then watched as the man scrambled to his feet and fled the room in a near panic.
“It seems you do have a way with words,” his little mouse remarked, a curious look in her eyes as she watched him, a hint of amusement tinging her voice.
Pierce chuckled as he walked around the desk toward her. “We all have our talents.” Then his gaze veered to Albert, all but cowering in a corner, his breath coming fast with a slightly wheezing quality to it. “Does your lady’s maid have a name?” he asked Caroline with a sideways glance at the young woman in question.
His little mouse frowned. “Her name is Sarah. Why?”
Turning to meet Sarah’s rather thunderous green eyes, Pierce asked, “Sarah, would you be so kind as to accompany Albert outside? I believe he could do with a bit of fresh air to calm his nerves.”
Inhaling an unnecessarily deep breath—one that no doubt betrayed her annoyance with him—Sarah cast him a disapproving look before turning to assist a shaking Albert to his feet, who mumbled his deepest gratitude as they proceeded out the door and down the hall.
With Albert and Sarah elsewhere, Pierce’s attention returned to Caroline.
With her arms crossed in front of her, she still stood on the other side of the desk, her nose slightly scrunched as she regarded him. A lock of her hair had come loose and tumbled down the side of her left temple, softening her features. Still, most of her dark brown tresses were still pulled back, complementing the stern look brought about by those hideous spectacles as well as that