At Any Cost Ch. 06

"Odd sort of man, milord." Sykes announced as he approached. "Dressed like a gent, but he came through the back."

"McGallagher." Derek murmured. "Show him in."

"Very good, milord." The butler nodded. Vivian looked up curiously from her post. "Who is it, Derek?"

He was already standing up from the chair and discarded his napkin. "An associate." Was all he supplied to her question.

"From the runner's office? But I thought you no longer work there."

His temper was flaring up. There were reasons why men don't marry, one being so they wouldn't have wives asking them silly questions or inquire about everything they did. And they had the worst way of getting under your skin. He looked into Vivian's eyes. Well, he married her, he would protect her, but by god, he wasn't going to explain his every move to her.

"It is nothing to concern yourself with, Vivian."

"Is this your lovely bride?" They both turned to the man who entered the room, his thick Scottish brogue filling the room. He possessed a beard, his reddish brown hair had grown unruly and yet underneath it all, he looked to be quite handsome. As Sykes had pointed out, he was dressed as a gentleman, his clothes made by the finest material and tailor and he walked in with a confident ease that not too many men could pull off.

He went straight up to them and bowed. "I will take it upon myself to start the introductions. Nathan McGallagher, at your service ma'am. I'm an old friend of Trentham's. You must be Vivian."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McGallagher."

"Nathan, please." Then he turned to Derek, casting him a boyish smile. "Looking good, mate. Marriage agrees with you."

Derek frowned. "Let us go into the library."

"Lead the way." Nathan replied.

Vivian slumped into her seat when they left. Derek was trying so hard to push her away and keep her away, at least in the daytime, letting her close only at night. Suddenly losing her appetite, she did nothing but toy with her napkin ring, even ignoring the morning post, which normally gave her so much delight.

It was a long time before both Nathan and Derek emerged from the study. She heard Nathan say something in a low voice and then something about giving his best to the wife, meaning her, before leaving, through the back, it sounded like. It was another moment later when Derek returned to the breakfast room.

"Did he come on business?" She asked rather casually. She made a point of eating her breakfast as if she had been doing so all along. Derek looked up.

"Yes and no." He paused. "Vivien, I've decided we're going to the country."

"The country?" She asked, utterly confused. "But we've accepted all those invitations. We cannot possibly go now. Besides, no one is there right now."

Exactly, he thought. She would be safe, completely safe on his vast property, where all his staff, all his men would be there to look out for her.

"I've already informed Sykes about it and we're leaving in a week. There will be plenty for you to do there and I have neglected my tenants there for far too long."

"I suppose I can send out our apologies for canceling, but really, Derek, this just isn't done. I hope you do not always intend to change plans at the last minute in the future. Everyone will hate it."

Now that was a comment that made his lips curl slightly into a wry smile. "No one could hate you, Vivien."

"And you?" She hoped he would take this opportunity to tell her everything. About this reputation of his that everyone seemed to whisper about. But he merely smiled.

"As long as you're with me, Heaven itself would accept me into their gates."