Just One Touch Read Online Free Page B

enough horror in her young life. What would happen to her should Randall succeed in killing him?
    Someone knocked on the door. He frowned, turned to face the portal. “Come in.”
    “I beg your pardon, Your Grace.” Kerns, the butler, stepped into the darkened study, still properly dressed despite the lateness of the hour. “The magistrate is here. He wishes to speak with you on a matter of great urgency.”
    “Dear God. Caroline.” The duke swayed, but managed to right himself by gripping the windowsill. “Show him in, Kerns. Immediately.”
    Kenton Docket entered the study with his usualbriskness. He sketched a bow, his balding head gleaming in the candlelight. “Good evening, Your Grace.”
    Belvingham shuffled toward his chair. “Mr. Docket, what’s happened? Is it Caroline?”
    Docket gave a deep sigh. “You’ve heard then.”
    “I’ve heard nothing.” The duke slowly lowered himself into the chair. “But my daughter has not yet returned from her errand of mercy, and the magistrate stands before me. Just tell me she’s unharmed,” he beseeched.
    “She’s unharmed,” Docket reassured him. “But there was an incident.”
    Belvingham took in a shaky breath. “Tell me all.”
    “Lady Caroline’s carriage was overtaken by highwaymen. Your coachman was shot, but he lives. He’s with Dr. Raines.”
    “And my daughter?”
    “She was rescued by a passing rider. He heard her cries for help and incapacitated the villains before they could harm her.”
    “Thank God.” The duke rubbed trembling hands over his face. “To whom do I owe my gratitude?”
    “To Mr. Rogan Hunt. He killed one of the highwaymen, captured the other, and brought both Lady Caroline and her driver to safety at the home of Dr. Raines.”
    “And where is my daughter now?”
    “The coach is but minutes behind me, YourGrace. I felt I should ride ahead and advise you of the situation.”
    “You were right to do so.” He signaled to a footman, who helped him to rise. “Come, we will meet them at the door.”
     
    Candles blazed in the windows of Belvingham Manor as the carriage made its way up the long winding drive. And the closer they got to the house, the more Rogan felt as if a noose tightened around his neck.
    He was a man more comfortable with animals than people. He hated social situations and tried to avoid them as much as possible. He didn’t like to attract attention. Yet here he was, riding beside Caroline’s coach like some knight errant, about to face the gratitude of the Duke of Belvingham after having saved his daughter’s life.
    Clearly attention-attracting behavior.
    He clenched his jaw as he noticed the group of people spilling out of the palatial home’s doorway. The duke. Docket, the magistrate. Footmen and maids and the butler. Bloody hell, why hadn’t he escaped when he’d had the chance? Why had he come?
    Because she’d asked him to.
    Like a splinter beneath the skin, Lady Caroline had slipped past his formidable defenses and taken his unworthy heart in her hand. He could no more refuse her than he could stop breathing. Cursing his own weakness, he dismounted as thecarriage stopped before the manor. At least this would be the end of it. Then he could go back to his farm and his horses. Away from people.
    Away from Caroline.
    A footman scrambled forward to open the carriage door and drop the steps. Then he backed away as Caroline appeared in the doorway.
    Rogan frowned. Did no one have the courtesy to assist her in descending?
    The hem of Caroline’s dress, borrowed from the taller Mrs. Raines, dragged along behind her as she took her first step out of the carriage. She glanced at Rogan, her dark eyes huge in her delicate face, her lips curving with a hint of intimacy, a secret that only they shared. Before he realized what he was doing, he stepped over and extended a hand.
    With a whispered “Thank you,” she wrapped her slender fingers around his and allowed him to help her down from the carriage.