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Sterling believed it telling that the man didn’t immediately jump to the defense of his employer.
“Get out,” the earl shouted at the butler, waiting until he had reluctantly done so before turning back to Sterling. “You cannot expect to get away with making these wild accusations, Bristol,” he threatened. “If you do, I will simply tell them you have been fucking Elizabeth—”
Sterling’s fist shot out instinctively, the noise as it made contact with the earl’s nose and the gush of blood which followed as the earl staggered and then fell on his backside telling him that the appendage was broken.
Sterling stood over the older man, looking down at him. “If you are wise, you will not even attempt to get up again until after I have left.”
Whitlow held a hand up beneath his profusely bleeding nose. “Bastard!”
He gave an unconcerned shrug. “I advise you do not return to London, but instead make some sort of life for yourself down here. But be aware that even if you stay here, I intend to have your behavior monitored and watched in future.”
He had brought two of Stanley’s associates with him to Cornwall and fully intended leaving them here. He could see about hiring more permanent watchdogs, who had no problem living in Cornwall, once he was back in London.
“I shall be returning to London myself shortly, and Elizabeth will travel with me,” he continued. “But if there is the slightest indication you are sexually molesting any more unwilling young ladies, or have attempted to bully or harm Elizabeth from afar, you will suffer the consequences.”
Whitlow wisely remained on the floor, his attempts to stop the flow of blood from his nose proving futile as it dripped down his linen shirt and waistcoat. “What consequences?”
Sterling’s smile was predatory. “I have always thought it better to leave some things unsaid. That anticipation of a deed, good or bad, can bring about its own satisfaction.”
“You cannot just take my daughter-in-law and grandson into your household without expecting some form of protest or retribution from me!” the older man blustered.
“I believe I have stated exactly why I can, and have, done exactly that,” he dismissed. “Now, if you will excuse me, Elizabeth is waiting for me to join her for luncheon at Bristol Manor.” Sterling doubted that to be true, in view of her health and the way the two of them had parted earlier, but Whitlow didn’t know that.
Besides, Sterling really couldn’t remain in the company of this disgusting man a moment longer.
Except, once he returned to Bristol Manor, it was to learn that Elizabeth, her son, and her two servants, plus one of Sterling’s own grooms—no doubt needed to drive the Whitlow carriage, which was missing from the stables—were gone.
“—never have agreed to let you travel in your condition,” Peggy muttered as she sat in the same Whitlow carriage they had originally taken from the earl’s stable the previous night.
Elizabeth gave a wince as she tried to find a comfortable position on the bench seat opposite her maid. “I do not believe I asked for permission,” she teased lightly, well aware she could not have managed without Peggy these past few days.“Anyway”—she sobered—“it was no longer agreeable for me to accept the duke’s hospitality.”
“Why not?”
Because Elizabeth had committed the folly of falling in love him!
Because she had made love with him.
Because afterward, Sterling had reduced that lovemaking to nothing more than gratitude on her part, as reparation for his giving all of them refuge at Bristol Manor.
She had felt the only response to such an unfair and untruthful accusation was to remove herself and the other members of her household from the duke’s estate.
Which she’d done the moment Peggy informed her she’d seen Bristol leaving the estate on horseback.
To go where, Elizabeth had no idea. She only knew that the duke’s absence gave them the perfect opportunity to leave before he returned.
They had necessarily borrowed the services of one of the duke’s grooms, but only until they reached London, when he would be able to return to the duke’s household.
Except the doctor’s medication was nowhere near strong enough to dull all the pain, and the journey was proving more troublesome to Elizabeth the more miles the carriage traveled on the often uneven and rutted roads.
But she would withstand it.
The alternatives, return to Whitlow Grange and the cruelty of her father-in-law or remain at Bristol Manor with Sterling believing she had only made love with him as payment for his kindness for offering them shelter, were unacceptable.
Shewouldremain strong enough to withstand the journey back to London.
Shemust.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
