Caroline carefully positioned herself between them. She had a vaguely sheepish air about her, as if she were preparing to present Liam with another unwelcome surprise.
“We—Liam, I have told Miss MacKenzie…” She gave him her most beguiling smile. “I was hoping to take her out to the shops. She cannot be expected to get by on my hand-me-downs. I think my dressmaker might do something with her.”
“She must be a miracle worker,” Liam muttered. Caroline was thrilled at the prospect of playing benefactress to a woman several years her senior—and one so pathetically in need of exposure to the essentials of life. Her eyes glowed with the fervor of a missionary bent on saving souls.
“I cannot imagine what might have become of her without our help,” Caroline went on obliviously, as if Mac were not even there. “But now there is hope. She is a little uncertain, and so inexperienced—”
Liam choked.
“—in the ways of society, but it’s only a matter of the proper instruction. She must be respectable, since she is a missionary’s daughter—”
Liam looked heavenward.
“—and I have been thinking how best to bring her out—”
“Bring her out?”
Caroline faltered. “Well, perhaps not as much as that. But surely there is no harm in taking her about and helping her get settled here. She has no connections other than Perry.”
“Quite right,” Perry said. “With our assistance she may at least find decent employment.”
Liam turned slowly to confront the Englishman, who merely arched a brow in unspoken challenge.
“There. You see?” Bolstered by Perry’s support, Caroline all but danced under her layers of expensive velvet and satin skirt. “Oh, Liam, it’s almost like being part of one of your adventures.”
Instead of rage he felt the mad desire to laugh. Saints above, did Caroline think she could transform a sow’s ear into a silk purse? Not that Mac had ever been remotely like a sow. In that dress, ill-fitting as it was, she struck him as… quite appealing. Bloody hell.
“Please… don’t be so stern, Liam,” Caroline whispered. “Rose doesn’t know you—”
“Rose?”
“Miss MacKenzie. Surely there’s nothing wrong in calling her—”
“Rose?”
“It’s a lovely name. Perhaps…” Caroline’s expression grew dreamy. “Perhaps she is a wild rose in need of cultivating.”
“We’ll talk about this later, Caroline. I have business with Perry.”
“And we women have important things to discuss.” She returned to Mac’s side, a perfect, ideal picture of budding womanhood. Everything Liam had sworn to protect.
But it was Mac’s dark head rising above Caroline’s golden curls that Liam noticed, and Mac’s gaze he met before he turned away.
Perry was leaning indolently against the wall, watching the proceedings with cool detachment.
“Well, Perry,” Liam said, moving to join him. “This is an unexpected surprise. It seems you’ve come to know Miss MacKenzie in a remarkably short time.”
“I was most impressed with her when you introduced us yesterday,” Perry said, pitching his voice for Liam’s ears alone. “She seemed a very bright girl. Not the sort you should keep prisoner, old man.”
“I won’t even ask you how you got past my guard,” Liam said, lowering his voice to match Perry’s. “I’ll get right to the point. What do you think you’re going to accomplish with this little charade? What did you do to gain Mac’s cooperation?”
“It should be obvious. I’m simply aiding an unfortunate young woman in need. You did misjudge the poor girl, assuming she was working for me in the jungle—and to kill you, no less.” He looked up, brown eyes sharp in an impassive face. “You used and abandoned her, Liam. If you don’t see fit to atone for your mistakes, it behooves me as a gentleman to make up for your lapse. Certainly Caroline would be quick to agree. And considering your behavior in the jungle—your close relationship with Miss MacKenzie…” He shrugged.
Liam came very close to grabbing Perry around his pristinely starched collar. “Is that what she told you? I didn’t abandon her. I had plans for her—”
“Can you blame her for doubting your intentions? When I offered my help in this strange city, she had no recourse but to accept. And of course I knew Caroline would be the perfect mentor to take her in hand.” He smiled a blandly infuriating smile. “Don’t worry, old man. When I asked for Caroline’s help, I didn’t reveal your previous… knowledge of Miss MacKenzie. That might be rather awkward, don’t you think?”