A Dangerous Pursuit (Regency Spies & Secrets Book 1) - Laura Beers (macos ebook reader .TXT) 📗

She cut him off. “No more apologizing,” she declared. “I was in that room for hours and I began to lose hope that I would ever be saved. I saw the other girls give me looks of pity as I tried to convince them that the Runners were coming to save us.”

“The Runners were late, but you were in no real danger,” he assured her.

Her eyes grew fiery. “It certainly felt like I was.”

Baldwin put his hand up, and Miss Dowding flinched. He stared at her in bewilderment. “Did you think I was going to hit you?” he asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” she replied, and he could hear the sincerity in her voice. “I can’t seem to determine who you truly are anymore.”

“I am the same man that you knew before the abduction.”

“You aren’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “I became frightened of you in that room in the pub.”

“Please don’t say that,” he murmured.

“How is it that you can be such vastly different versions of yourself?”

“I’m afraid I cannot say.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” she asked defiantly.

Baldwin ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t even know what you are asking me to confess,” he said.

“That may be true, but I can’t seem to come to terms with what I saw in that room,” she said. “Your cold eyes haunted me every time I closed my eyes last night.”

“I know what you saw in that room was confusing, but that is not a reflection of who I truly am,” he attempted.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she asked, “Why are you even associating with those types of people?”

“I am not at liberty to say.”

“You are a marquess and should be above reproach. It looks suspect that you associate with such ruffians—”

He cut her off. “I am well aware of my responsibilities, and I don’t need you to lecture me on it.”

“Well, someone needs to.”

Baldwin shook his head. “You know not what you are speaking of.”

“Then enlighten me.”

“I’m afraid you don’t understand the depravities of men, my dear,” he mocked.

Madalene tensed at his remark, but she didn’t back down. “I believe I experienced a taste of it yesterday when I was abducted by you.”

Taking a step closer, he said, “Need I remind you that you willingly allowed yourself to be abducted in an attempt to save your friend?”

Madalene tilted her head to look up at him. “That is true, but—”

“Perhaps I misjudged you,” he stated, speaking over her.

“I am asking myself if I have misjudged you,” she declared.

Being this close to Miss Dowding, Baldwin had a sudden urge to gather her in his arms and kiss her until she came to her senses, which was ludicrous. The last thing he wanted to do was complicate his situation with Miss Dowding by kissing her.

Finding strength deep inside himself, Baldwin stepped back and bowed. “If you will excuse me, I am late for a meeting at the House of Lords.”

As he brushed past her, Miss Dowding spoke up. “Out of curiosity, are you voting in favor of Lord Desmond’s bill?”

“I am not.”

She frowned, appearing displeased by his response. “Are you not in favor of additional workhouses in the rookeries?”

“I am, but I do not believe that the Home Office should be responsible for overseeing the workhouses.”

“But the morning newspapers say—”

He cut her off. “I’m afraid I don’t have the energy or the right mindset to continue debating with you, Miss Dowding,” he said. “But you should be careful not to believe everything you read in the newspapers.”

“I suppose you make a good point,” she replied, albeit reluctantly.

“Good day, Miss Dowding.”

She tipped her head politely. “Good day, Lord Hawthorne.”

Baldwin continued to watch her for a moment before he departed from the room. He knew he shouldn’t have spoken so harshly to her, but he found that Miss Dowding caused him to lose all rational thought. Something he hadn’t thought was possible.

Blasted woman!

Miss Dowding was proving to be a distraction, and he didn’t need any more distractions in his life.

“Will you see that coach is brought out front?” Madalene asked Graham as she put her gloves on.

“Yes, Miss,” Graham replied as he departed from the entry hall.

The butler had barely stepped out of the room when she heard her companion ask, “May I ask where you are going?”

Madalene turned around to face Mrs. Foster, who was descending the stairs. “I am going to call on Lady Jane.”

“Would you like me to go with you?”

“No, I will be fine going alone.”

Mrs. Foster came to stand in front of her. “Do you think that is a good idea?”

“Why do you ask?”

With a pointed look, Mrs. Foster replied, “You haven’t seemed to be yourself since you came back from your extremely long carriage ride with Lord Hawthorne yesterday.”

“It was rather long, wasn’t it?”

Mrs. Foster didn’t appear fooled by her response. “You are keeping secrets from me again, my dear, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

“Lord Hawthorne and I had much to discuss, and it took longer than we anticipated,” she attempted.

“It appears that you and Lord Hawthorne are growing closer to one another.”

Madalene huffed. “Heavens, no. We are merely acquaintances.”

“I daresay that you are more than acquaintances if he is taking you on carriage rides through Hyde Park.”

“Trust me,” she started, “the more I learn about Lord Hawthorne, the more I realize that he is an insufferable man.”

Mrs. Foster clasped her hands in front of her. “Pray tell, why do you keep spending time with him if he is so ‘insufferable’?”

“If you recall, he offered to help find Edith.”

“I do, but he hasn’t been able to locate her yet.”

“That is true,” Madalene admitted, “but neither have the constable or the Bow Street Runner.”

Mrs. Foster stepped forward and tucked a wisp of Madalene’s brown hair behind her ear. “I just want you to be careful around men who use flowery words and offer promises they don’t intend to keep.”

“Lord Hawthorne isn’t like that.”

“Isn’t he?” her companion asked, the