His sister blinked then pulled herself together enough to descend the stairs. “He wasn’t threatening me,” she said. “He said he’d destroy your work in Parliament.” She glanced worriedly out the door. “Do you think—”
“He can’t,” Aaron huffed. “Do you think no one knows me in Parliament? Damnation, Clara, they make jokes about how boringly upright I am. No one’s going to believe anything he says.” He blew out a breath and turned to the other man in the room. “And why are you sleeping here? Don’t you have a home?”
Lord Loughton straightened up, but it was Clara who answered for him.
“I asked him to stay. I was worried when you didn’t come home last night.”
The gentleman spoke up. “I told her you likely couldn’t—”
“Is Lilah all right?” Clara interrupted. “We saw her lose all her money. Five hundred pounds! It’s all she has. Can you help her, Aaron? Can you—”
He held up his hand to silence her as he thought through her words. Damnation, she’d gone to the hell last night. She’d risked her reputation and her safety, and he wasn’t sure if he was grateful or furious that she’d had the wherewithal to bring an escort.
“Clara, you try my patience,” he growled.
“Me!” she exclaimed. “When you—”
“Best to let the man have his say,” interrupted Lord Loughton, his words obviously meant for Clara.
Aaron shot the Scot a dark look simply because he could, then crossed down the hall enough to open the door that led down to the kitchen. “Could someone bring me some tea?” he bellowed.
“Right away, my lord!” responded the cook.
“Thank you.”
Then he shut the door and turned back to the main hallway. Lord Loughton was in his shirtsleeves and stocking feet as he crossed to Clara. Even Aaron had to admit that the morning light made his rumpled hair and devilish grin handsome. Clara, on the other hand, wasn’t paying the least bit of attention. She was wrapping her arms around herself as she kept looking out the front door.
“It’s all gone wrong,” she murmured. “Binner deserved it, of course, but I didn’t know how to stop him. And Lilah—”
“There, there,” Loughton murmured, the two words taking on a slightly musical tone when touched by his Scottish brogue. “I’ll make sure that bastard won’t say a word against you.”
Clara shook her head. “You can’t stop him.”
“I can, an’ I will.” He looked over to Aaron. “I’ll help however you need.”
“I don’t need help,” Aaron growled. “I need an explanation as to why you are here.” Then before the man could answer, he pointed into the parlor. “In there. Both of you.”
All three of them tromped into the parlor. The cushions were rumpled since it had been his lordship’s bed, but there was a wingback chair next to the fire. Aaron claimed that, which left his sister and Lord Loughton to cozy up to one another on the couch. And they did. Cozy up, that is. They sat near enough to touch, and it was clear that Lord Loughton would have welcomed the woman into his arms if Clara had wanted it. She didn’t. Or at least she wasn’t willing to in front of her brother. She sat straight as an arrow beside his lordship at the polite distance of a scant few inches.
It was unsettling. He was used to Clara pressing herself forcefully to the farthest end of any couch such that she wouldn’t be near any male. Obviously, she’d had a turn of heart regarding His Lordship.
“Out with it,” he said grumpily. “What has happened such that my sister doesn’t hate you?”
Lord Loughton turned to Clara, clearly waiting for her to explain. When she remained resolutely silent, the Scotsman spoke up. “She sent me a letter last evening asking me to help her get to the Lyon’s Den.”
Yes, so Aaron had gathered. “I asked you to trust me to handle it,” he said to Clara.
Her chin lifted, and she spoke in haughty accents. “I wanted to help, and you wouldn’t take me.”
Aaron glared at Lord Loughton. “And you thought that was an appropriate place to take my sister?”
The man arched a brow. “She was going whether I took her or not. I kept her safe from discovery.” Then the bastard had to point out that he’d made the exact same choice when it came to Lilah. “I’d wager you faced a similar problem with Miss Rees.”
“No one knew I was there,” Clara said. “Everyone was watching Lilah and you. Is she really all right?”
“Better than all right. She starts work tomorrow running the registry office she wanted.”
Both people on the couch straightened up in surprise. “What?”