medallion is a fake now,” Blake added. The situation was beginning to make sense, though it was still wretched. He studied his daughters for a moment before saying, “We have to return to Selby Manor, at least at first. It’s the only place Ian would know where to find us with further demands.”
“We need to go to London as soon as possible after that,” Niall said. His face broke into an almost nonsensically ironic grin. “I have a show that opens in just over a week. I nearly forgot.”
It was mad. The entire situation was utterly mad, but there was little they could do about it.
“We’ll go to Selby Manor, then,” he decided, squeezing his girls closer. “We’ll have every police officer in this country searching for Ian and Annamarie and Alan. We’ll get Alan back, but we’ll go to London and find a safe place for the girls, where Ian and Annamarie won’t be able to reach them, before we do.”
Chapter 21
The journey back to Selby Manor seemed to take ten times as long as any of the previous trips Niall and Blake had made because of the girls. Niall was impatient the whole time on Blake’s behalf, but he couldn’t begrudge the girls their need for naps and snacks and awkward trips to the ladies’ facilities that were their own kind of puzzle, considering neither Niall nor Blake were permitted to enter a public toilet for ladies, but Greta and Jessie were too young to go by themselves. Not that Blake wanted to let them out of his sight anyhow. He was nearly arrested in Liverpool for accompanying his girls into a facility, even though they’d waited until it was empty and Niall had stood guard by the door.
“Let’s hope that’s the only encounter we have with the police,” Blake said after arguing with an officer at the Liverpool train station. He held each of his girls’ hands and sped through the platforms as they rushed to catch a train.
“I’ve definitely been accosted by the police for less savory reasons,” Niall agreed with a grim look.
“You have?” Blake asked, brow lifting, as he let go of Jessie’s hand at the platform long enough to fish out their tickets for the porter.
Niall waited to answer until they were past the man and settled in their first-class compartment. “It’s unavoidable in London, particularly when one is part of the theatrical set. But they leave us alone for the most part, unless someone does something foolish.”
Blake focused on making sure the girls were comfortable, but the look on his face was wary. “I only hope the officers at Liverpool’s central police office took my pleas seriously and plan to keep an eye out for Ian and Annamarie at the dock today.”
“They will,” Niall said, though he wasn’t so sure.
They’d stopped off at the central Liverpool police station first thing upon arriving in the town that morning. The officers had been sympathetic to Blake’s fears about Annamarie taking Alan out of the country, but even though Blake was a duke, without orders from a court or papers from a solicitor, all they’d been able to promise to do was watch. To complicate matters, Blake had been less than discreet about his dependence on Niall, which had raised eyebrows. Niall loved Blake with all his heart and his life felt right again, now that they were together, but even in London, their life together wasn’t going to be easy, considering the way Blake wore his heart on his sleeve.
Niall had just about resolved to bring the subject up and educate Blake on the various ways men like them could keep a low profile while still living as they wanted to when the carriage they’d hired in Leeds to take them to Selby Manor pulled up to Blake’s front door.
“We’re home,” Greta said, nearly weeping with relief.
“I want to give Sarah a big hug,” Jessie added, leaping toward the door and trying the handle before the carriage had fully stopped.
“Her doll,” Blake explained, holding the door handle firmly so that Jessie couldn’t do herself harm. Enough harm had been done to her already, and Niall shared the rage he saw in Blake’s eyes every time he looked at the bruise Ian had left on the sweet girl’s face.
In spite of the fact that the girls clearly felt their trials were over when Blake finally opened the door, climbed out of the carriage, and lifted them down, Niall had the terrible feeling their problems were