"Hellfire, one of her lovers beat her! I locked the boy in his room to protect him!"
"One of her lovers beat h
er," Ryder repeated slowly. "Which one, I wonder? Perhaps Oliver Susson? Now, he's certainly a vicious brute, isn't he? No, I think you must be mistaken. He'd already been dismissed, and according to my sources, he didn't seem at all upset by his dismissal. Who else? Charles Grammond, perhaps? I hear his wife's a regular tartar, perhaps she did it?"
"Damn you, Sherbrooke! Get them!"
Ryder smiled. "You will now listen to me, Thomas. I think you're a conscienceless bastard. I will have no more dealings with you. Your master, however, is another matter. Tell him he will hear from me shortly. Now, if you attempt to bring back some of your cronies to Kimberly Hall and cause a ruckus, I will come after you. I will kill you and I will do it very slowly. Do you understand me?"
Thomas didn't know what to do. He'd told Mr. Burgess that this man wasn't like the other men here on Montego Bay. This man was hard and smart. "As I told you, Sherbrooke, one of Sophia's lovers beat her. Her uncle tried to stop it. If she's told you differently, it's because she's ashamed of her notoriety. Now, be sensible. Why would you want to be saddled with a little cripple and a whore?"
Thomas didn't get out another word. Ryder smashed his fist into his jaw, a hard, clean blow. Then he drew back his right arm and sent his fist into the man's belly. Thomas yelled as he fell like a stone to the floor.
"James! Ah, I'm glad you're here. Didn't go very far, did you? Well, I very much do need your assistance now. Please ask another strong man to take this vermin back to Camille Hall and dump him there. In the dirt. On his face."
"Yes, massa," James said and he was smiling. "Dat man a bastid, a real bastid. He look good flat on de floor. No, not a bastid, he be a serpent."
"His fangs should be dangling loose, at the very least," Ryder said as he rubbed his knuckles. He frowned down at Thomas. "He's got a big belly. That's not good for a man. No, not at all healthy."
He rubbed his knuckles again as he finished speaking, thinking again how good it had made him feel to vent his rage on that mangy bastard. He looked at Sophie and grinned just as he had before to James. "That's all that happened. Nothing more. James and another fellow took him away."
She said, "I'm glad you hit him. I hope you struck him very hard. I've wanted to many times. He's a horrible man. Good heavens, you enjoyed that!"
"Perhaps," Ryder said with obvious relish. "The man's a rotter." He fell silent then and he gave her a brooding look. "However did you manage to get yourself into this ridiculous mess?"
"What do you mean, sir? Ah, you wonder why I chose of my own free will to become a whore? Perhaps why Jeremy decided to become a cripple? I would that you be more specific."
"You were much easier to handle on your back. You're all vinegar again."
"A pity, for you will never see me like that again."
"Not even when I make love to you again?"
Another very small jerk of her shoulders. Yes, he was getting to knew her quite well.
"Sit down, Sophie. I'll keep my distance. I don't wish to frighten you."
That got to her. Ryder was pleased; he was even grinning shamelessly when she said, "You don't frighten me. No man frightens me."
"As a matter of course I would believe you. You appear quite skilled with men. However, I am not other men and I do frighten you. You will admit it eventually and then, I daresay, you'll be more careful around me. Sit down before I pick you up and set you down."
She sat down, smoothing the nightshirt over her legs. It occurred to her then that it must surely be odd to be here in a bedchamber with a man wearing only a man's nightshirt, and that made her smile.
She said then without preamble, "Kimberly Hall belongs to you, not to your brother, the Earl of Northcliffe."
Ryder stared at her, his mouth open. "What did you say? No, that's absurd, that's utter nonsense. Wherever did you get such an idea?"
"Be quiet and attend me. Kimberly Hall belonged to your uncle Brandon. When he died, you inherited his fortune. However, Oliver Susson neglected to attach the specifics of this property to the will he sent back to your family. At the time it was truly an oversight. Also, at the time, I believe your father had just died and thus there was some confusion because the new earl hadn't sold out yet of the army. Thus, everyone believes that Kimberly belongs to the family—your older brother—not you, to be exact."
"By God," Ryder said, staring at her.
"Are you not rather rich for a second son?"
"Yes."
"Well, now you are even richer for this plantation is yours."
"I begin to see why Oliver Susson was one of your lovers."