But when she saw Gabriel’s face, she felt a flicker of doubt. She had seen him look like this before—in the gentlemen’s club, when that awful Stephen had put his hands on her. She had never imagined this expression would be pointed in her direction, and yet, here it was.
“Gabriel,” she managed.
“Where is she?” he bit out.
“She’s still sleeping. Don’t raise your voice.”
“Excuse me? Don’t you tell me what to do with my voice.” He made as if to walk past her and into the house.
She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “I will tell you what to do,” she countered. “I’ll ask you to remember that this is my house.”
“And you are harboring my niece within it!”
“Yes, and I’ll happily release her to you,” Agnes said. “But while you’re here, you will respect my home. Now, I’m more than happy to have you come in while we wait for Helena to wake, if you can promise not to make trouble.”
He stared at her. “I don’t know who you think you are, speaking to me like that,” he said. “I know I’ve given you the impression that you and I are friends—perhaps we are. But I am still the Duke of Bellmoor, and you owe me your respect.”
“You have my respect,” she said evenly. “And I am the lady of this house. If you can’t treat me accordingly then you may wait here on the path until Helena can be made ready to leave. You are entitled to demand her back from me, but you are not entitled to enter my home. Even your rank doesn’t grant youthatpower. So what will it be? Will you be cordial and come inside, or will you wait out here?”
He gritted his teeth. “Very well,” he said. “But you and I have scores to settle.”
She stepped back and allowed him into the house.
He looked around. “Point me to where I can find her,” he said.
“She’s sleeping, as I told you. When she gets up, I’ll send her with you.”
Gabriel balled his hands into fists. “That isn’t good enough.”
Reeves came into the room. “Your Grace,” he said. “I understand your feelings of concern right now, but I cannot allow you to speak harshly to my sister.”
“No, it’s all right.” Agnes held up a hand. “I’m fine, Reeves. I do want to talk to him about all this. But—Gabriel, you shouldn’t be angry with me. I gave her a place to stay when she needed one.”
“Have you any idea what the past twelve hours have been like for me?” Gabriel demanded. “Can you even imagine it?”
“I wrote you a letter,” she pointed out. “I knew you would worry, so I let you know where she was. That should have solved the issue.”
“Agnes, anybody could have written that letter.” Gabriel raked a hand through his hair. “She was missing. We had a fight and then she ran off and I had no idea where she could have gone. Yes, I received a letter—but what if someone had picked her up and written that letter? What if she had run off with that boy and written it herself? I suppose she told you about that boy?”
“She told me,” Agnes agreed, her stomach churning. She hadn’t considered what he was saying. Of course, he couldn’t have been sure she’d been the one to write the letter, and now she ached to put his mind at ease. “I told her she needed to listen to you.”
Gabriel sighed. “That’s something, at least.”
“Gabriel, you can trust me,” Agnes insisted. “I have never betrayed you. Not when it comes to Helena. I know how important she is to you.”
“Yes, but you think your ideas are always the right ones,” Gabriel pointed out. “You think she’d do well to grow up and follow in your footsteps. You probably see nothing wrong with the idea of her running away with the son of a solicitor.”
“For heaven’s sake…come into the dining room and sit down,” she said.
To her surprise, he followed her in and took the vacant seat next to Reeves. Reeves signaled one of the servants to bring out a fresh plate of food.
Agnes sat down too. “I understand you were worried,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to cause you any strife. I assumed you would know that the letter was from me. But you’re right—I gave you no proof of that, and it’s reasonable that you would have apprehensions. I should have come up with some way to make you feel reassured that I was the one who’d written it.”
“I just don’t know what you could have been thinking, letting her stay here,” he said. “You should have brought her right back to me.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Reeves chimed in.
Agnes sighed. “Neither of you can understand this.”