She put out her hands and the Marquis took them in his.
The strength and pressure of his fingers was comforting.
“Suppose you start from the beginning,” he said quietly, “and tell me your secret and what all this is about.”
She would have moved away, but he held her hands and she put her head down against his knee.
“My – stepmother,” she murmured, “is – wicked – evil – and she – wants my money – the money my mother left me – when she d-died.”
“But your father is alive?”
“My father is – Lord Sedgewyn.”
“I have heard of him,” the Marquis remarked. “I believe he has some racehorses.”
“A few,” Norina admitted, “but he prefers hunters, and was – very happy in the – country when – my mother was alive. Then – he married – again.”
“And you say your stepmother wants to kill you?”
“She tho
