“Good. Then that is settled,” Lady Bute replied. “Shall I ring for tea?”
Louisa raised an eyebrow. “I think maybe a spot of brandy would be in order for all of us.”
Her mother hesitated, the servant’s bell in her hand. With a sigh, she put it back on the table. “Perhaps you are right, dear.” She signaled to Gavin, who was standing closest to the bar cart. “Just this once, mind you.”
…
Alasdair watched as Gavin handed Lorelei a brandy snifter and noticed that her hand still shook a little. He managed to resist the urge to go to her and gather her in his arms again. He’d nearly done that when she entered the room a few minutes ago looking both vulnerable and delectable with her pale hair loose and flowing around her shoulders, her cheeks with color once more, and her lips pink and full and lush. His head filtered the thought that she had just awoken from sleep, but his other head stirred, reminding him she looked as though she’d just been kissed.
He took a healthy swallow of his brandy. Now wasnotthe time to be thinking of how soft and warm those lips had been nor how responsive to him she had been. How easily she’d met his demanding lips, how eagerly she had opened her mouth to him, how she’d quickly met his tongue thrusts with her own…and how she had tightly clung to him, pressing her breasts against his chest. They’d fit together perfectly.
Now wasnotthe time to be thinking about that. He needed to be firm to make sure Lorelei understood how much danger she had been in.
He took another near gulp, not really tasting the expensive liquor, but welcoming a soothing burn. Lorelei could have been killed. Could have been raped. He gave her a quick glance. She hadn’t said anything about that. Had the bastards had time? If they’d even touched her…Sgum na talmhainn!They would die if he found out they had. Even if he had to search every rat hole in London.
“I say we go back to St. Giles tomorrow, now that we have names.”
“First names,” Fiona said. “All Lorelei heard was first names.”
“And common ones,” Lorelei added. “There must be dozens of men named Jack or Billy or Davy.”
“But now that we have those names along with the descriptions—”
“Which doesna tell ye much,” Fiona replied. “Nothing stood out about them.” She glanced at Lorelei. “We would recognize them, but—”
“Doona even think about going back.”
“But what if they try to abduct someone else?” Lorelei asked.
Alasdair raised a brow. “Unless there has been a sudden trend among debutantes to stroll through the slums, I doona think that will happen.”
Fiona frowned. “We were naestrolling. We wanted only to help the children.”
“Those coins meant a lot to them,” Lorelei added.
“Those coins were what drew the bast…the abductors’ attention to ye,” Alasdair said.
Gavin nodded. “That is true. Two well-dressed ladies in that area were sure to be noticed.”
“Andunescortedones at that.” Alasdair looked from Lorelei to Fiona. “Did I nae offer to escort ye both and ye refused?”
“Ye would nae have let us go anywhere,” Fiona muttered.
“And this would nae have happened today!”
“Your brother is right,” Gavin said. “We may have to sit down and come up with a plan to make sure you are both protected from now on.”
“’Tis a good idea.”
She shot her brother a dark look. “I think I liked it better when the two of ye couldna agree on anything.”
“We already said we would not go back,” Lorelei said, “but I would really like to do something for Emma and Abby. If it hadn’t been for them…” She let her voice trail off.
“There is a public school near that area,” Lady Bute said. “The best way to help those girls better themselves is through education.”
“But those schools require funds that they do not have,” Lorelei said.
Alasdair shared a glance with Gavin and then turned back. “Would they attend if their expenses were covered?”
