coat. “Perhaps you are interested in her, and perhaps I have found a way to make you pay.”
Heath ground his teeth. “Take care now, Your Grace. You know I can make you suffer. Do not force me to make you regret those words.”
Blackstone let out a dry laugh before he drank deeply from whatever lay within that flask. “There’s nothing I can truly regret now, Heath. Perhaps, one day, you’ll understand that. Good day to you, sir.”
And with that, the Duke of Blackstone turned on his booted heel and stormed from the room.
Heath watched him go, tempted to toss back a snifter of brandy, but deciding that imbibing was the worst thing he could possibly do at this moment.
No, that would not honor Lady Mary. Or the countless women like her. Women were in a position of general suffering in the world, but he hated to think of Lady Mary’s pain every day at the hands of such a man.
How had she survived?
By not giving up. And at that moment, he knew; Lady Mary was the sort who would never give up. . . And by God, he was in awe.
Chapter 5
Mary woke with a start.
Something was amiss.
She blinked in the darkness.
She was used to strange things happening in the night. Her father often brought strangers into the house. There was often loud carousing. The sounds of crashing bottles. The loud noises of men drinking and women laughing.
She’d grown accustomed to it, but tonight, there was silence.
Still, she was certain something was not right.
She held very still on her bed. Her breath caught in her throat. She rolled over onto her back, glancing about the shadowy chamber.
Everything looked as it should, except one corner of the room was darker than the rest, and her heart began to pound in her chest.
“You know I’m here. Don’t you, Lady Mary?”
She gasped and sat up abruptly. “Mr. Heath, what ever are you doing here?”
She held the mended linen sheet close over her thin night rail.
“I’ve come to warn you.”
“Warn me?” she repeated, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness until she saw his figure more clearly, like a demon summoned.
“Your father knows you came to see me,” he said softly.
Her heart hammered in her chest, terror taking hold of her. Her father was a vicious man, and he might absolutely take vengeance upon her for getting in the way of his plans.
“How?” she whispered.
Even in the shadows, she sensed his grimace. “I had a moment of lapse, and I said something which indicated you had come to see me, and for that, I greatly apologize.”
She bit down on her lower lip. “Thank you for coming to warn me, but I don’t know why you would.”
“Don’t you?” he queried. “I promised to give you power, and I put you in a more difficult position. So now. . .”
“Now?” she prompted, shocked she was in a room alone with him, she in her bed, barely clothed.
“Now, I’m going to help you more directly.”
“I don’t understand.” And she didn’t. How could he?
“I want to take you away from London,” he said intently. “I want to take you away to a place where you’ll be able to grow strong and away from your father, and he won’t be able to push you into a dangerous position, one that you cannot escape. I have a strong feeling he’s going to do everything he can to put you into a marriage that you don’t wish.”
“I’ve already assumed that was his plan,” she said. “He’s been making it clear to me that is my role: to make a financially advantageous marriage.”
“Yes,” Heath sighed. “But now, he’ll be more angry because I won’t be the one, as he planned. I made it very clear to him that I will make his life hell if he tries to hurt you. But in consideration, I think that might have angered him more. He’s not a rational creature.”
How he knew her father. Heath was correct. Her father was not a rational man. He did not respond with reason. If one pushed him into a corner, he was more likely to lash out than to pay heed.
“I cannot leave my mother here.”
“Your mother will be safe,” he promised.
“My brother is going to return soon,” she protested. “I cannot bear missing him.”
Heath sat silently for a long moment. “So you will not go away?”
She swallowed. “I-I don’t know. Do I have to decide at this very moment?”
He took a step out of the shadows, sliding