She swallowed. “You cannot make me do what you wish.”
A low laugh rumbled out of him. “I can make you do whatever I wish Elizabeth. And if you don’t know that by now, then you are a fool of a girl.”
“I am a girl,” she agreed. “But I am not a fool.”
With that, she stood, crossed to her small desk, grabbed a letter opener from it, and brandished it.
Her father cocked his head to the side and laughed again. “You would attack your own father.”
“If you come at me, Papa, I will. Because I will not be shut away in some castle where no one can reach me. I will not be hidden away. I will have my freedom and no one and nothing will stop me.”
“Put it down,” he insisted.
“No,” she gritted, “You said that I am not to be trusted. Well, perhaps I should act like it. Perhaps I should show you how dangerous I actually am.”
“Elizabeth, no.” He went towards her then just as she had hoped.
Clearly, believing her to be weaker than him, he tried to grab the letter opener from her.
She twisted quickly and much to her relief she was able to dart away from him, but he grabbed hold of her night rail.
“You are not going anywhere,” he roared.
And then without thinking she twisted and drove the letter opener into his thigh.
He let out a bellow of shock. His hands released her gown and she raced forward. She raced without thinking. She raced without looking back, and she raced with every ounce of fiber she had inside her.
She raced out the door through the hall on her bare feet and in her night rail. She sped through the corridors, to the foyer, and out onto the street.
She did not care who stared. She did not care if all of London was watching and if all of society would declare her mad after this.
There was only one thing she needed. One thing above all. And that was to find Tom. Because he was the answer to all of this.
He could stop her father.
Chapter 14
The club was closed after four in the morning.
Everyone spilled out into the night, returning home for better or worse. He always liked to think for the better though.
Tom sat in his office, making plans, trying to decide exactly how the wedding would take place. He had just come home before dawn, leaving Elizabeth only long enough to set things in place.
As soon as he had the coach ordered and a letter to Blackwood, he would collect her.
Almost certainly, he was going to have to take her to Scotland. No doubt, Elizabeth’s father was going to cause quite a deal of trouble about this. He was not a man to take a difficult situation like this lying down and no doubt he was going to have to call upon the Duke of Blackwood to be his man.
He and Elizabeth would have to race north, get married without hesitation, and then proclaim themselves as a couple to be reckoned with.
The pounding on the door on the street shocked him.
It sent waves through the club.
There was a general disruption downstairs as he heard his servants beginning to rouse themselves from the long night, having already put everything away for the next day.
He pushed back his chair, bolted up, and rushed out of his office and down the stairs.
Anything this early in the morning could only be classified as an emergency, and he dealt with emergencies personally. He pummeled down the stairs, through the foyer, and before his man of the house could get to the door, he grabbed the handle and pulled it open, ready to deal with whatever situation was there… except he was not prepared for the sight that met his eyes.