To Love and Protect Read Free Page B

bruised and battered features.
    “Well, look at you,” he waved at her.
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “You’re a woman, dammit!   You belong here, not out there.”
    “You think I’m too delicate.   Is that it, Lord Southerby?”
    “Yes!”
    “Aunt Gertie, if you don’t mind, I will rest here tonight, and then I will leave at first light,” Clarissa said.
    “Of course, my dear,” Gertrude replied.   All the while, Justin paced back and forth muttering under his breath.   “What will you need?”
    “Enough!   You win.   You,” Justin pointed at Clarissa, “are going to stay put.   And as for you,” he turned to Gertrude.
    “Yes?” his mother’s best friend asked innocently.
    “Dammit,” he muttered.   “Lady Blackerby, do you have any pertinent information you can share with me?   I need to look into as much as possible here before we leave.”
    “I have his schedule and the route he wanted to take.   There were several stops he planned to make along the way, both going and coming.   I also found all of his personal papers just in case something were to happen.”  
    “Clarissa, we are dealing with the unknown here.   Other than a report that indicates your father never made his meeting, what other evidence do you have?”
    “None.”
    “Then why do you want to come with me?”
    “Lord Southerby, either my father has been kidnapped or murdered.   I think I have a right to be there when we find out which it is.   My step-mother believes I have been moping over Lord Hawkescliffe’s defection, and I want it to stay that way.   She is a woman I dare not trust, and I would not put it past her to be involved in Papa’s disappearance.   If you will not help me, I will find him myself.”
    Justin sat back in the chair looking at Clarissa.   He had not expected this at all.   Clarissa appeared vulnerable to the world.   She was petite in stature but evidently large in her courage.   He stood from the chair and looked at the two women on the divan.   Justin could not think with these two looking at him the way they were, one with determination and the other with hope.
    “I will not beg you, Lord Southerby.   I promise to be a valuable asset and not get in your way.   However, if you choose not to help me, I will set out on my own.”
    “See that you get some salve on those cuts.   I must leave for a while.   I need the name of your father’s solicitor and secretary in town.   Give me until the day after tomorrow before you do anything drastic.   I will be back with my answer.”
    Clarissa looked as if she would argue with him, but instead inclined her head sharply giving him the information he requested and went back to looking at her hands clutched together.
    ***
    Justin left Gertie’s house on a mission to find answers.   He rode to the area of town where most solicitors kept their offices, reading the shingles hanging outside of the buildings looking for the name Cummings.   After passing a dozen offices he finally saw the shingle two storefronts down.   It swayed in the breeze, its creaking sound filling the air.   Justin rode up to the building and tied his horse to the post out front.   A bell clanged above a balding man’s head as he pulled the door closed behind him.   The man checked his pockets as if he had misplaced something.
    “I need to speak to Mr. Cummings about a rather urgent matter.”
    “Come back in the morning,” the man said absently still patting his pockets.   “The wife is expecting me.   Where is that bloody key?” The man asked no one in particular.
    “This key?” Justin asked innocently.   He bent over and retrieved a brass key that had fallen between two cobbles.
    “Yes, sir,” the little man said excitedly, reaching for the key.   Justin held it just out of his reach.
    “As I said, I need to speak with Mr. Cummings.”   A look of irritation crossed the man’s face.   “I won’t take much of your time, Mr.