Free Rescuing the Heiress by Valerie Hansen Page B

the police department a few years back. Next thing he knew, they’d be wanting to join the fire brigades!
    A stir near the wide sets of double doors drew his attention. They swung open and hoards of excitedly babbling women began to exit the hall.
    Michael stepped up on the base of the monument to labor so he could peer over the heads of other men.
    He spotted his mother, Tess and that despicable little banker in moments.
    Shouldering his way through the crowd, Michael quickly joined them. If Tess was surprised to see him she gave to indication of it.
    â€œI’ll walk you home,” he said.
    â€œThat won’t be necessary but we do thank you.” Tess smiled slightly. “Don’t we, Mary?”
    â€œAye. We know the way. You can go back to work, son.”
    â€œI got O’Neill to cover for me,” Michael explained. “I don’t have to report back till morning.”
    Tess’s smile spread. “Well, it won’t take us that long to walk the few blocks home, even if it is mostly uphill.”
    Next to her, Phineas cleared his throat. “Ahem. I have a carriage waiting, Miss Clark.” He fidgeted and ran a finger beneath his starched collar as if it was choking him. “I, um, well, I didn’t know you’d be with anyone. It only seats two.”
    â€œThen I know there will surely be plenty of room foryou to ride alone,” Tess said, reaching to pat the cook’s hand. “I shall walk with my friends.”
    It didn’t escape Michael’s notice that she had said friends, not friend. Good. The young woman might be capricious but she was definitely loyal. If she had gone off with that weasel of a banker and left his mother to trudge home alone, Michael would not have thought well of her. Not well at all.
    To his delight, Phineas appeared to be struck dumb.
    â€œShove off, man,” Michael told him. “You heard Miss Clark. She has no further need of you.”
    â€œWell, I never…”
    â€œNo, you probably haven’t ever been talked to this plainly before. ’Tis high time you were.”
    In the background, Michael was certain he heard Tess’s familiar giggle when the other man turned and stomped off. That laugh warmed his heart. Obviously she wasn’t angry with him. What a relief.
    Now, his biggest remaining concern was his mother’s welfare. When her boss got wind of her nighttime outing with Tess, there was sure to be a blowup. He just hoped and prayed it wasn’t going to cost her a job she loved and the rooms she occupied in the servants’ wing of the estate.
    When he offered his arm to Mary, Michael was astounded to feel Tess fall into step on his opposite side. She was not only grasping his elbow as if they were promenading, she was grinning beneath her thin veil.
    He chanced a smile in her direction. “I take it youweren’t disappointed that your beau had no room for the likes of us.”
    â€œOh, dear. I hadn’t thought of it that way but you’re probably right. Phineas is terribly snobbish.” She huffed. “And he is certainly not my beau.”
    â€œI take it he believes he has your father’s blessing to court you.”
    â€œThen Father is sadly mistaken,” Tess replied. “I have no beau, nor do I seek one. The more I hear about women’s rights, the more empowered I feel.”
    â€œYou have no desire for home and hearth?” Michael asked, feeling his mother squeezing his arm as he spoke.
    â€œI didn’t say that, exactly.” Tess gathered her skirts in her free hand to keep them out of her way as they began to ascend the steeply sloping avenue. “I simply see no pressing need to swoon at some gentleman’s feet and pretend I am in need of sanctuary.”
    â€œI see.” It was all Michael could do to keep from chuckling at her naïveté. She had grown up so cosseted by her father she saw herself as far more independent than