A Heart in Jeopardy by Holly Newman Read Free Book Online

grabbed his arm and spun around in front of him.
    "What does being a man have to do with it? Are you saying women can have no sense of duty? Of honor?"
    He stared at her. Grudgingly he had to admit she had more courage, more style than her brother did. The flicker of attraction that had glowed within him since he first saw her suddenly flamed. It shook him to the core of his being. But damnation, attraction did not negate her self-seeking behavior. If anything, it explained it further. He deliberately whipped that flame into anger.
    How dare this woman use Chrissy to make herself important? He remembered the magistrate saying she'd climbed in a window to rescue Chrissy, but then led her out through the house risking recapture. Why had she taken matters into her own hands? Why didn't she notify Cruikston sooner? A muscle throbbed in his cheek. He grabbed Leona by the arms and shook her. "You risked Chrissy's life!" he roared, the careful mask stripped away, leaving a haunted visage.
    "Wh-what?" Leona stuttered, confused.
    "Uncle Nigel!" cried Chrissy from the stairs.
    Numbly the two combatants turned to look at her. Her lower lip was thrust forward, and her blue-green eyes flashed anger. Though now dressed like a lady, she jumped down the two last steps like a hoyden and flew across the floor toward her uncle, hurtling herself at him.
    "Stop it, Uncle Nigel! Stop it!" she wailed, pounding on his chest with her small fists. "She saved me! She believed me!" Fresh tears coursed down her pale cheeks. She whirled out of her uncle's arms to hug Leona while propelling her away from Nigel Deveraux.
    "I'm so-sorry, Miss Leonard," she hiccupped. A shuddering sob wracked her small frame.
    Leona stroked the child's hair. "Sh-sh. Hush. It's all right." She glanced over at Nigel Deveraux who stood rigidly where Chrissy left him. Deep furrows ran between his brows and alongside his lips. Leona sighed and looked back down at the small form that clung tightly to her.
    "Y-you helped me," Chrissy sobbed into Leona's chest. "Y-you risked your li-life. You climbed up three stories in the rain and ice!"
    Deveraux's head snapped around. Three stories?
    Leona chuckled. "Only because I believed my brother, Charles's stories about how easy it was. Now I think it was all a hum, for let me tell you after I cleared the ground floor and looked down, I was too frightened to descend. I had to keep going up. But don't be too hard on your uncle." She looked up again, staring into his appraising light blue eyes. "I think the kidnapping placed a great strain on him. He was probably even a little bit frightened," she said slowly, feeling for the truth. "And all that emotion and fear built up inside him is like a great roaring bonfire. He has to release that, you know, and though I'm certain he'd rather release it against the Norths, where it truly belongs, barring their availability I am the next readily available target!" she said with a dry laugh.
    She looked over Chrissy's head at Nigel Deveraux, her smile ruefully inviting his, inviting a truce. Slowly his posture relaxed, and his lips curved upward.
    Where was his mind? What did he mean charging into battle without the least knowledge of the terrain or his enemy's circumstances? He couldn't even be sure an enemy existed here! Not nine months out of the army and he was forgetting everything he knew. He shook his head to clear his mind as he ran a hand through his hair. Wordlessly Leona held out her hand to him. He walked slowly toward them, his hand reaching out to curve warmly around Leona's outstretched fingers.
    Sensing her uncle's nearness, Chrissy loosened one arm from around Leona's waist to snag her uncle. She pulled him close until she could embrace them together.
    Leona blushed and raised startled eyes to meet Nigel Deveraux's. Her position next to Mr. Deveraux was awkwardly intimate for she was pressed against his hard length, and everywhere they touched a prickling sensation skittered through her