Lonsdale shrugged. “You can try to take them from me, Digby, but you will not succeed.”
Caroline felt a shiver shoot up her spine.
Her entire body tingled with the surge of unexplored emotion. She inched a tiny bit closer to Lonsdale. Not much. Not so that he would notice. Just enough to inhale his scent. Just enough to draw his aura around her like a shield. She couldn’t deny that his presence made her feel safe. Accepted.
Treasured.
“They are my daughters!”
“And I have appointed myself as their protector. If you wish to settle this with the authorities, feel free to do so. Just remember to tell them how you and my uncle set up your own daughter. You are not fit to care for them.”
“Caroline?” Her father asked with disbelief. “You will allow this?”
Caroline stepped out from behind Lonsdale. “The viscount has asked me to marry him. I am considering his proposal.”
“And you believehewill go through with it? Marry a by-blow?” She paled at his words. “The man I have chosen—”
He was suddenly cut off by a hard shove. “Get the hell out of my house,” Lonsdale roared. He did not stop there. A hand grabbed the baron by the collar and forcibly pushed him through the door.
Caroline could only stand frozen.
“Let me be clear, Digby,” Lonsdale bit out. “Do not darken my doorway again. You are not welcome here. If your daughters wish to see you, they’ll be chaperoned and protected. Other than that, you have no authority over them anymore. You lost that right the moment you sold your daughter out.” Lonsdale slammed the door shut in the baron’s astonished face.
He faced her, the heavy rise and fall of his chest an almost hypnotic sight. Caroline looked away and let out a shaky breath.
You believe he will go through with it? Marry a by-blow?
“Caroline?” A gentle finger lifted her chin. His eyes searched hers. “I’m sorry. I lost my temper.”
“He . . . I do not want to marry . . .”
“I will never allow it.” Fury flashed in his eyes. “Do not think of about further. I doubt your father has signed a betrothal agreement. And if he did, there is nothing I cannot fix. Trust in me.”
Caroline nodded.
Lonsdale hadn’t given her any reason to doubt him yet. He did not judge her; did not treat her as inferior. Instead, he offered her and her sisters protection. In any event, whatever the future held, she would not face it cowering.
“Caroline?” Kate’s voice startled her. “Was that the baron?”
Kate and Clair stood on the stairwell a few feet away, their faces as pale as their night frocks.
“Yes,” Lonsdale piped before Caroline could explain. “Great news, your father gave us his blessing.”
***
“He didnotgive us his blessing!”
Mason grinned inwardly as a furious female stomped all over his newly-bought Persian rug decorating the floor of his private study; shooting icy glares his way whenever she turned on her heel to make another round. Caroline in a fine snit cut an intriguing figure.
“Not in words, no,” he agreed.
She shot him an incredulous look. “What other manner is there?”
“He left. That spoke volumes.”
“You tossed him out!”
“He allowed it.”
