His jaw flexed as he answered her. “I have known the name of her husband for some time.”
Victoria had the impression that he would say no more on that subject, and she didn’t ask. It seemed there were many long-held resentments at work here. Obviously this Nina’s husband was the Squire Fairfield he sought.
She found herself asking. “Do you have any other information that might help?”
He grimaced. “I know that the letter was posted from London.” His wide shoulders drew her gaze as he shrugged. “Other than that, I know nothing. I have no leads, no contacts, not one thing. I only know that to find her I must gain entry into the circle she inhabits. When you asked if you could help me in some way…” He shrugged again.
She looked down at her hands, then glanced back to his face as she wondered why this woman had not told him of the child all those years ago. Had she feared that he would not marry her? Victoria could not even imagine that any woman who could have the man before her as her very own would not do so. Thus, the reluctance had to have been on his part.
Although Victoria felt that Jedidiah McBride was in fact a good and decent man, she also thought there might be a hint of ruthlessness in him. She sensed that he would do nothing against his own indomitable will. And, likewise, that nothing he desired could be denied him.
What would it feel like to be desired by this man? A shiver of awareness raced down her spine and she could only pray that he had not seen it.
She tried to focus on what Jedidiah McBride had said to her. Obviously he was determined to find this woman and his child. Doing so might prove very difficult for him. As he had said he knew no one who might assist him. Though she knew many people socially, Victoria could think of no person she would trust to assist a man like Jedidiah McBride with his problem. She, in her own way, was as isolated from London society as he. The responsibilities of her position made it impossible for her to waste time in the frivolous entertainments the London season had to offer. Truth to tell, Victoria cared more for being at her country manor house, Briarwood. It was where she had spent most of her time as a child, where she had lived with her beloved mother and father.
Previous to this night, she would have believed that nothing would threaten the peace of that existence. This attempt to kidnap her gave evidence to the false nature of her security. It seemed that, without a man to protect her, she was vulnerable indeed.
Her searching gaze ran over the man across from her, taking in the wide set of his shoulders, his strong hands, his confident demeanor. The sea captain would have no need to fear anyone. He wore his strength with an easy grace that made him all the more intimidating.
An idea was beginning to insinuate itself into her mind. It was an idea she could not dismiss, though she did make an attempt. Surreptitiously Victoria studied the man seated across from her. He seemed lost in thought, and the tightness of the hands clenched around his knees gave away the tension inside him, his desperation to find this woman. Was he desperate enough to agree to her plan?
There was only one way to find out.
“Mr. McBride,” she began, feeling his attention come back to her face. “I have a proposition for you to consider.”
She glanced at him and saw that he was looking at her with a puzzled frown. “Yes?” he replied somewhat warfly.
She centered her gaze on the hands she held clasped in her lap. “What has happened this evening has made me realize that there is a matter which I have been putting off for far too long.” She paused and took a deep breath, then went on, determined not to let him see that she was nervous. “The matter of my marriage.” Facing him directly, she wondered what his reaction might be to her blunt statement.
“I see,” he told her. But it was obvious that he truly did not see what connection this could have to him.
Quickly ‘Victoria went on. “I have been quite occupied with running my father’s estates in these past years since my parents were both killed in a boating accident at Bath—” Her voice broke for a moment, as the years between had hardly dulled the pain of being without them. She forced herself to continue in an even tone. “My father was the duke of Carlisle, and…”
He interrupted her, scowling darkly. “Duke—?”
“Yes,” she said, not liking the way he was staring at her now. She continued, wondering what had brought about this reaction. “And as his heir I have been left with a great trust in my keeping. I have realized that I should have married long before this. If I had, none of the events that took place this very night would have happened.”
His expression grew puzzled. “You obviously have a problem,” Jedidiah McBride told her, “but I do not see what it has to do with me.”
A frown marred her own brow. “I am getting to that. It seems clear, Mr. McBride, that I have need of a husband, but it seems equally clear that I have need of a protector until such a man is located. I am asking you, sir, to be my protector.” She hurried on before he could reply. “In return, I am offering to introduce you to London society. There, you would be able to make inquiries about these people, named Fairfield, and your child.”
She raised her head and saw that his face was even more thoughtful than before. He looked up at her, his eyes assessing. “Are you sure that you know what you would be doing here? You do not know me, or anything about me. I have just told you that I fathered an illegitimate child. Doesn’t that concern you in any way?”
She watched him, her gaze never leaving his as they measured each other. The moment stretched on, and she felt a strange stirring inside her as she looked into those clear green eyes, with not even a hint of fear. Feeling an unexplainable breathlessness that she could only put down to her anxiety that he might refuse, Victoria answered him softly. “No, I am not concerned. That was many years ago, and I do not know what happened between you and this woman. But you have come to do right by your child as soon as you learned of his existence. That is not the action of a dishonorable man. In fact, everything that has occurred this evening has made me sure that you would discharge the duty of protecting me with great diligence. I will not judge you by something that must have happened between you and this woman when you were a boy.”
“I was seventeen, and what happened between us was she did not want me,” he supplied dispassionately.
Heavens, she thought, but he had been little more than a child himself! “More fool she,” was all she said in answer.
He seemed more than slightly taken aback and, dared she think it, pleased by her reply. She soon wondered if she had imagined the look of pleasure, for he shrugged noncommittally. “And how long do you believe this business association would last?”
She said, “I have no idea of the exact timing, but I can assure you that I should be able to find myself a husband from among the eligible bachelors who will be attending the season without a great deal of delay. I am not without assets.” Her wealth and position were well-known, and were the very things that had made her a target of Reginald’s greed.
“I would not deny that,” he said, causing her to look at him again. She flushed when she saw the assessing glance he cast over her. Although she realized the man had misunderstood her comment, she did not feel that she could clarify the matter. Not with him studying her like that, those cool green eyes of his making her feel warm in a way she did not understand.
Victoria decided to simply go on with the rest of what she wanted to tell him. “For your part, I would be willing to give you my backing until your parties are found. You will, of necessity, go with me wherever I go. Thus, you may make your inquiries at will.” She paused, then went on, “We shall say that you are my cousin, come from America.”
He quirked a brow, the side of his mouth turning up at the same time, and her heart tripped a double beat. “Your cousin?”
She squared her shoulders, doing her best to concentrate on the conversation, not on his mouth, or the way it made her stomach