.
After Tristan and Blythe left the Portings, Thomas was so overcome by a blind rage that he nearly went after them. It was Georgiana who caught sight of him, and, dismissing her near-permanent crowd of admirers, herded him back to a quiet corner to calm him down.
“Seriously, Father's already irritated enough with you for the gambling and roistering you do. Do you need to make things worse by trying to get into a boxing match with Tristan Carrow?”
“I don't want to box the damned man. I want to challenge him.”
“Brother, no. Things are surely not that bad.”
“No, they're worse. He has some... some kind of blackmail that he's using on Blythe. He's forcing her to do as he says.”
“Custom and fortune are enough that a man does not need to blackmail a woman.”
“No! That may be true for most, but it's not true for Blythe. If it was the fortune, she would tell him to go hang, and well, you know by now how she feels about custom. No. Blythe's in danger, and that danger might be her damned cousin.”
“He's not going to murder her in her bed. Whatever Tristan Carrow is going to do, he's going to do it legally, openly, and in as pompous a manner as possible. He doesn't have a murderous bone in his body.”
Thomas eyed his sister. When she spoke of the eldest Carrow brother, there was always something especially venomous in her voice. “Is there a reason you are so very convinced of this?”
“It's hardly less than public knowledge what a prig the Duke of Parrington is. He's not a murderer, and I would stake my life on Blythe being safe at least for the night. Come. You are overwrought. We need to get you home.”
Thomas acquiesced, but when he saw Robert on the front doorstep, his heart jumped again. Robert was coming to the side of the coach even as they disembarked, and the look on his face was grim.
“Any news, Robert?”
“Some, but we ought not talk about it on the street.”
“Right. Come on, we'll go to my study.”
Before they entered the study, he turned to Georgiana, hesitating for a moment. “This does not necessarily concern you. It's a strange and bloody business.”
Georgiana's eyes flashed blue murder. “If it concerns my flesh and blood, it concerns me. Let me in.”
Thomas gave way without an argument. Georgiana had a good head on her shoulders, and God alone knew how tired he was of dealing with this all on his own. Quickly, he and Robert filled Georgiana in on the situation, and then Thomas turned to Robert.
“Were you able to chase the men down?”
“I did. I lost one, but I caught the other somewhere around the theater. I slammed him against the wall, demanding to know who he was working for and what the hell they wanted with Blythe Dennings. He babbled that it was a lord who had paid them to drag her out of there, that they were lucky she had gone out into the garden. He didn't know the name of the lord, only that he spoke with an upper-class accent and that he was disgusted by the filth of where he had to go to hire those men.”
“God, some lord hired thugs to kidnap Blythe.” Thomas shook his head.
“Yes, and unfortunately, while I was digesting the news, the man made a strenuous effort and twisted away. I was left holding a particularly filthy sleeve, and he disappeared into the crowd of theater-goers. I'm sorry, Amory, I've let you down.”
“No, no, you've done more than enough.”
Thomas’ head was spinning, and he had to shake it a bit to try to clear it.
“Tristan Carrow. Could he be the one behind this? He's already had no problem with having her followed, and I wouldn't put this past him either.”
Georgiana was already shaking her head. “This is underhanded. Carrows haven't the wit to do anything but move in straight lines.”
“I don't want to underestimate him. Blythe looked... I can't describe it. She looked genuinely afraid when she stepped to Parrington's side. I've never seen her look like that before, and I've seen her in actual fights.”
Georgiana gave him a long look. “What does she look like when she's scared for other people? Something like that?”
“You think he's using someone else to blackmail her?”
Georgiana shook her head as if utterly confused at how Thomas could be so very slow. “I think she's trying to protect you, brother. The way you describe Miss Dennings, she seems impervious to most threats that Tristan can make against her, yes? She doesn't care about having her allowance docked because she doesn't need money for what she does. She doesn't care about not going out, because she can always sneak out. You're what's left that she cares about.”
Thomas sat in silence, feeling as if the sky had gone white with shock. He was the tool Tristan was using to break her spirit? She was suffering because of him? If Tristan Carrow were standing in front of him right now, he would have cheerfully shot the man.
Robert whistled. “She must care for you a great deal.”
“She does. I know she does.”
Thomas could barely believe what a fool he had been. He had seen how she suffered the day she left the flat he had bought for her. He could remember how she looked at the ball. He had thought Tristan had some terrible hold on her, and now he could tell that the hold was only love, a great and terrible love that bound them together and would not release either of them.
“I have to go to her.”
Thomas stood from his chair, ready to go down to the stables, wake the grooms, and demand a horse so he could go and storm the Carrow residence. Before he could quite make it to the door, Robert had caught him up and pushed him back into the chair. He stared up at Robert in bafflement.
“What you are doing?”
“He is stopping you from making a terrible error,” Georgiana's voice was strict as a schoolteacher's. “If you go rampaging over to Grosvenor Street like some kind of barbarian, don't you realize that will only give Tristan even more fuel to add to the fire? You certainly won't be making him calmer, I'll tell you that for nothing. Carrows find their strength in conventionality and tradition, and believe me, they are unassailable under that fortress. Nothing touches them. That's why you need to sit the hell down and not go charging over there.”
Despite how very much Thomas wanted to argue against it, or to simply break Robert's grasp and race for Blythe, he had to admit his sister was right. If he went raving over to the Carrow residence, he could get himself arrested, and then what would happen to Blythe?
He nodded. “All right. You have my word. I will not run over to howl at Blythe's window.”
“Good. Blythe isn't going anywhere, and fortunately, neither are we. We have time to plan, to think, and to figure out what needs to be done. Have you even thought about what your goal in all of this is?”
“To marry Blythe. To be with her no matter what the cost.”
Robert grinned. “A Carrow and a Martin. All right, this is turning into quite an escapade.”
Georgiana looked more troubled. “Are you certain? The feud hasn't been bloody for quite some time, but the way you and Tristan go at each other, that might change.”
Thomas shook his head decisively. “She is the only thing I want, the only thing in the world worth fighting for to me. If I get her free of Parrington's clutches, I swear I will let her make her own choice, but if she says she wants to be with me, I'll gladly let Father disinherit me before I allow anything to stop me.”
Georgiana looked at him, and her eyes were soft. “I do believe you mean it.”
“I do.”
“All right then. Thomas must have his way. We should all get some sleep. Robert, if you wish to stay, a room can be made up for you, but otherwise, we can get one of the coachmen to get you home. We can discuss battle plans in the morning to rescue your poor benighted love.”
When Thomas woke the next morning, he was startled to find himself cheerful and bright. Things did not look so hopeless after all. He dressed quickly and met Georgiana in the breakfast room, where she was frowning at the Society pages.
“Good grief, sister, I would think you of all people would know that those things are half lies and half vicious rumors.”
“You'd better hope that that's all they are.”
A peculiar terseness in her voice made Thomas still. “What's the matter?”
“According to the gossip pages, it looks as if the Duke of Parrington has suddenly retreated to the country. The Duke has apparently decided he wants to take some country air while Parliament is momentarily deadlocked, but it is unusual.”
“What? Parrington's left the city? Did he take Blythe with him?”
Georgiana's face was grim. “I can't imagine he left her behind. He wouldn't trust her alone in the house after she's escaped it so many times.”
“What the hell is he doing kidnapping her like that?”
“He's doing whatever he can to control her. That's what families may do with unruly daughters. They send them away to places where they can no longer do any harm, and the world never hears from them again.”
Even in his distress, Thomas paused to look at his sister. There was something deeply bitter in her voice, something he had never before heard from the girl who was the toast of London's ballrooms.
“Georgiana... has Father ever...?”
“Father and I have an accord.” Her voice was sharp, and there was some old pain there Thomas had never guessed at. He had always known Georgiana had secrets, but now he wondered if they were darker than he had ever guessed at.
“When I am Duke, you will never do anything that you do not wish to do.”
Georgiana's smile was bright. “I already don't do anything I do not wish to do. Right now, though, we have better things to do than to talk about whatever problems I am having. We need to find Blythe, and then we need to figure out what in the world you are going to do.”