From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(23)

I pressed my lips together to suppress my grin. Gus winked at me.

The brute suddenly stood straight, and drew back his round shoulders. He fidgeted with his cravat and stepped forward. "I was just fittin' the mister here for a new suit, ma'am." He shot a smug grin at Seth, pleased to be included in the lie.

Lady Vickers sniffed. "Does no one use your title anymore?" she said to Seth. "It's Lord Vickers," she said loudly to the brute, as if he were hard of hearing. "And you will address him as such or he'll take his custom elsewhere."

The brute's top lip curled up like a dog ready to attack. "I'll return for another fitting later," Seth told him quickly. He ushered us toward the steps, shooting wary glances back at the thug.

"What about tonight's fitting?" the man growled. "We had an agreement."

"You'll have to find another…client. Surely you must see that I can't stay now."

The brute hurtled toward us like an out of control boulder rolling down a hill, his yellow teeth bared. "Come back here, you fucking cock licker!"

Lady Vickers' jaw dropped. Then it became hard and her eyes harder. She planted her feet and turned. Definitely not a fainter.

"Mother!" Seth shouted. "Move!"

She thrust her hands on her hips. "How dare you call my son such vile things!"

"Move, lady," the thug snarled. "I ain't got no quarrel with you." When she didn't budge, he shoved her aside with a sweep of his arm.

She stumbled and would have fallen if Gus hadn't caught her.

"Go! All of you!" Seth settled his feet in much the same way as his mother had done. He closed his hands into fists and hunched into a fighting stance. "Gus, see that they get to safety."

"Seth!" Lady Vickers screamed. "No!"





Chapter 6





"He'll be all right," I assured Lady Vickers, taking her hand and dragging her with me to the steps. "He's very capable with his fists."

She allowed us to usher her up the stairs, only stopping when the smack of skin against skin signaled the start of a fight. She turned in time to see Seth duck beneath the thug's fist and land his first punch. The brute reeled back, but Seth didn't leave it there. He went after him.

Lady Vickers whimpered and pressed her handkerchief to her nose again.

"Don't watch," I said, taking her arm. "We'll wait for him in the carriage."

We hurried through the storeroom and the tavern, then outside to the carriage. "That man…" she murmured once inside the coach cabin, "he's not a tailor, is he?"

"No," Gus said, taking the seat beside her. He laid the blanket across her knee and tucked it around her. "Nor a dancing instructor, neither."

We didn't have to wait long before Seth tumbled into the carriage. "Go!" he shouted to Doyle. His clothing was in disarray, his hair hung in sweaty tangles, and blood smeared his nose. He grinned. "Bloody hell, it's good to see you, Charlie."

"And you too," I said, smiling at the absurdity of our situation. "You're getting blood on your shirt."

He wiped his shirtsleeve across his nose then inspected it. "Damn. Blood's hard to get out."

"I'm sure Bella will try for you."

His mother's flinty glare told me she knew precisely what Bella would try to do with Seth.

"God, we missed you, Charlie." He still grinned, his perfect white teeth flashing in the light from the lamp hanging by the door. "How did you escape? Where are you hiding? Are we heading there now?"

"Slow down." I laughed. "I didn't escape. Lincoln retrieved me."

His smile wilted. His lips parted. "Who knocked some sense into him, then? Mother?" He laughed. I covered my mouth to hide my smile.

"Seth!" Lady Vickers' barked. "Explain yourself. Have you been fighting? For money?"

"What gave it away? The blood? The fight promoter with the thick neck and no fashion sense? His outfit is a crime, but try telling him that. He thinks he's the modern day Beau Brummel."

Beside me, Gus snorted. "Did you get hit in the head? You're talkin' like somethin' came loose in there."

Lady Vickers leaned closer to Seth and inspected his cuts and bruises. Aside from his bloody nose and cut lip, one of his eyes sported a yellow bruise that must have happened previously. Perhaps he had been hit in the head too many times in recent days. No one ought to be as cheerful as Seth after being battered black and blue.

"Look at your beautiful face." Lady Vickers clicked her tongue as she turned his chin this way and that. "And at such a crucial time too, when you need to be looking your best. What will the girls think now?"

He jerked out of her grip. "You'd be surprised at how excited a few bruises gets them," he growled. "If this doesn't elicit more callers, I don't know what will. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with their newfound enthusiasm once word gets out."

"Once word gets out that you've been prize fighting, we'll be fortunate to be invited anywhere ever again." She sniffed and dabbed at the corner of her eye with her handkerchief, but it was already dry. While she had certainly been worried about him when the fight broke out, she showed no signs of concern for her son's wellbeing now.