Thick as Thieves by Catherine Gayle

held her tongue.
    “I don’t—Freddie?” The marquess blinked as Goddard used his candle to light a few others, illuminating the room more fully. The expression on his face changed within the span of a half-second. “She’s not even dressed! Get your hands off my sister, you dishonorable scoundrel!” He lunged towards Preston, but his feet got caught in the bedding on the floor.
    Before he could untangle himself, Goddard had reached him and was effectively restraining him.
    “The only scoundrel I see here is you, Stalbridge. Because of your worthlessness, your sister was just upstairs in Upton Grey’s abandoned library hoping to steal something she could use to help your mother and youngest sister, since they no longer have a home.”
    With each word that he said, Lady Frederica hid herself further in his arms, as though she couldn’t bear for anyone to see her. It irked Preston to no end that she still felt such loyalty to someone so undeserving. At the same time, he admired her all the more for it.
    “I already had a sense of disgust when I saw you just from the little I knew of you through society. Now I never want to see you again, or we’ll be using something other than words to discuss honor .”
    Upton Grey , cool and collected as ever, inclined his head towards his butler. “Goddard, see to it that Lord Stalbridge is shown to the door and has his horse returned to him.”
    The butler shoved Stalbridge into motion, but the marquess stopped, his mouth agape. “ Goddard? ” He inspected the butler closer. “But you’re—”
    “My brother married your sister, Lady Matilda, to save her from yet another of your many mistakes,” Goddard bit off. “As soon as you arrived, I told Lord Upton Grey everything I knew of your character and took it upon myself to watch you. I don’t trust you, my lord. Not a bit. Now kindly move your feet. Your horse is waiting.”
    The pair of them left the room.
    After several moments with no sounds in the room other than Lady Frederica’s soft sniffles and the beating of Preston’s heart, Rachel sighed.
    “Well, that quite put a damper on the holiday spirit, didn’t it? ” she said. “Preston, I’m sure you can put Lady Frederica down now.”
    He couldn’t put her down, though, because he couldn’t bear the thought of no longer holding her. Instead, he sat in an armchair and pulled her onto his lap. “She hurt her ankle in the dark,” he said by way of thoroughly inadequate explanation.
    His sister knelt to the floor and started tending to Lady Frederica’s injury, but it was Upton Grey who spoke next.
    “So what do you propose to do with Lady Stalbridge, Lady Frederica, and Lady Edwina? They can stay here through the holiday, of course. And longer if necessary. But you told Stalbridge they would be in your care.”
    She tensed in his arms.
    Christ, how he hated seeing her so distraught. “They can come to Darlingshire House, if that’s what they wish. You’d be safe there,” he said more specifically to her. “It’s a home I set up to care for ladies—really any women—in need of protection. I’d say you and your mother and sister all qualify.”
    Her eyes shot up to meet his. He tipped her chin up, so she couldn’t look away. Confusion and hope filled her eyes in equal measure.
    “Or, if Lady Frederica will agree to marry me, they can all come back to Preston Hill with me after the wedding. I trust we could all stay on here long enough for that. Can’t we?”
    A fresh wave of tears filled her eyes , making any answer Upton Grey could give him a moot point.
    “But how could you possibly want to marry me after what I’ve done? You couldn’t possibly trust me enough to marry me.”
    “On the contrary,” Preston said, finding it impossible to stop himself from smiling. “It’s because I know the lengths you’ll go to in order to protect those you love that I admire you. And you even love Stalbridge, who is wholly undeserving of your love. It was