Free Protected by the Major by Anne Herries Page A

entirely justified in stealing the notes. They belong to you for you were promised them when you wed him.’ His eyes held hers with a burning look that made her tremble inside. ‘You know that I would be happy to take you away. We could go to Italy or Spain or perhaps further away—somewhere that your husband would never find you.’
    His words aroused new hope in her. Perhaps there was a chance of escape if she could recover her father’s debt?
    Yet might Hal demand more than she could give? Madeline knew that she felt tender love for Hal, but was she too deeply scarred to love him in a physical way?
    ‘I think once I had gone he would not bother to search for me, at least if I were no longer in England,’ she said, her throat catching. ‘He spoke of giving me my freedom if I do what he wants.’
    ‘I thought you had already done so.’ Hallam frowned. ‘He has no right to demand more of you, Maddie. Do you know what he wants of you?’
    ‘No...’ She hesitated, then, ‘I fear it may be something to do with the marquis. I think...but no, he could not want me to allow Rochdale to my bed, could he?’ She shivered at the thought.
    ‘Damn the man,’ Hallam growled low in his throat. ‘If he asks you to allow Rochdale to seduce you, refuse him, leave the house and come to me at once. I will promise to give your family a home at my estate if he turns them from their home.’
    Madeline’s eyes were misty with tears as she attempted to smile at him. ‘Lethbridge is a gentleman. I cannot think he would do something so vile as to give his own wife to a man like the marquis.’ Her words were meant to reassure him, but in truth she knew that her husband might stoop even that low to gain what he wanted.
    ‘If you think that, you do not know him,’ Hallam said. ‘I cannot tell you just what kind of a man your husband is, because what I know was told me in confidence—but do not trust him, Maddie. I believe him to be in desperate trouble and he might be capable of anything to protect himself.’
    Madeline inclined her head to a passing lady and gentleman, then turned to look at Hallam once more. ‘You should leave me now, Hal. People I know are walking here and if you stay with me longer my husband may come to hear of our meeting.’
    ‘Very well. I would not have harm come to you,’ Hallam took her hand in his for a moment, looking at her tenderly. ‘Do not despair, Maddie. I have not been idle. Perhaps your release may come sooner than you think.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ she asked, but he inclined his head and walked on past her. Sally joined her and she resumed her walk about the park, stopping to talk to various friends for a few moments here and there, before making for the park gates where the carriage was waiting to take her home.
    What had Hallam meant when he spoke of her release? She prayed that he would not do anything foolish, for unhappy as she was she would rather continue in the same way than have him risk his life for her sake.
    * * *
    Returning home an hour or so later, Madeline discovered that her husband had left word that he would not be home until late that evening. She was free to spend the time as she wished, for he had an appointment that did not include her.
    Glancing through the invitation cards she’d received for that evening, Madeline thought that there was nothing she really wished to attend. Instead, she would spend a quiet night at home, perhaps reading or playing the spinet for her own amusement.
    She went up to change for the evening, but then decided it was not necessary. She would take off her walking clothes and wear a loose sacque gown because she had no need to go downstairs for dinner.
    ‘You may bring me a tray up, Sally,’ she had told the girl and when she did so, ‘I shall spend the evening in my rooms reading. I will not need you again tonight. You may retire early or go out for an hour or two with a friend.’
    ‘I should like to visit a friend for an hour or