Read Realm 03 - A Touch of Cashemere for Free Online Page B

incoherent, the estate ledgers became my duty to oversee and to update. How about the fact that when Velvet came of age, no one in your family acknowledged it with an appropriate dowry? Again, it was that depraved man known as William Fowler–my father–who bequeathed her a dowry of thirteen thousand pounds. But even more importantly, it was my family who saw to Velvet’s education, who tended her when she was ill, who nourished her hopes and her dreams. You may be Velvet’s sister by blood, but I am her sister in life. Despite our depravity and our ill breeding, my family gave Velvet a home when your righteous grandmother and Uncle Samuel would not.” Lady Worthing gave Marcus a quick curtsy. “Your Lordship, I shall see to your and Miss Cashé’s carriage. I assume you will be a gentleman and will accompany her west.”
    Marcus certainly wanted nothing more to do with Miss Cashémere, but he would not leave the girl to plague Linton Park with her misconstructions. He refused to subject Kerrington’s wife to such a fate. He would remove Cashémere Aldridge from the viscountess’s household if he had to physically carry the spoiled brat all the way to Cheshire. “Unfortunately, Lady Worthing, my parents raised a gentleman.”
    “And the world is a better place for it, my Lord.” Lady Worthing rolled her eyes in disbelief. She plastered a cordial smile on her face when she turned one last time to meet Marcus’s gaze. “Tell my brother that I pray for the speedy and safe return of each of you.”
    “Yes...certainly, Lady Worthing,” Marcus stammered. Then she left them alone in the drawing room. Marcus waited until Lady Eleanor’s receding steps had told him that she had departed before he vehemently attacked Miss Cashé. “I have traveled through much of the Continent and the East. I have known schemers and liars, but not in all the years of my life have I known anyone who spoke with such hatred and such ignorance! What is it about you that makes you so despise the world–to see nothing but evil and iniquity? To put yourself as judge and jury? I can conceive of your immaturity, Miss Cashémere, but I cannot comprehend your need to lash out at everyone.”
    Tears misted the girl’s eyes. “I am not immature, Your Lordship. I have learned my lessons well. You have no idea...”
    “Then tell me, Miss Cashé. I will understand. Explain it to me, and I will make the things right. I swear by my honor.”
    “I need not your honor nor your understanding, my Lord!” She stood quickly. “I also do not need your protection. I release you from your promise to see me to Cheshire. It is still daylight, and we can be at Chesterfield Manor in a matter of hours.” Cashé reached for her reticule and bonnet. “I thank you, Lord Yardley, for your concern for my well being.” She made a curtsy to leave.
    Marcus caught her arm. “If you think I will allow a girl to travel alone even for a few hours, Miss Cashémere, you are sadly mistaken.”
    She hissed, “I am not a girl, Lord Yardley.”
    “You are not yet a woman for you act as a child,” he growled.
    She flushed. “I am nearly nineteen. My uncle intends for my betrothal after my next birthday. If I am woman enough to marry, I am no longer a girl.”
    Marcus studied her countenance. Cashé Aldridge was an enigma to which he held no answer. “I will see you safely to Baron Ashton’s estate and then join my friends in your oldest sister’s rescue.”
    Her bottom lip trembled. “As you wish, Your Lordship.” She jerked her arm from his hold and raced from the room.
    Marcus simply shook his head. “No, as you wish, Miss Cashémere.”
     

Chapter Three

    “Miss Cashé, we must talk.” Marcus assisted Cashémere into the waiting coach. “I could ride with you, and Edana could join the driver for a few minutes.” He breathed the words into her hair. He had spent the last twenty minutes in a private conversation with Lady Worthing. Eleanor Kerrington had