Page 9 of Beauty and the Rake (Endless Love #1)
“Yes. I was just headed to the house.”
“In such a rush?”
“Well, I…”
He did something completely unexpected. He removed his hat, leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re a terrible liar. Who is the man you’re trying to distance yourself from?” He placed her hand on the crook of his arm and placed his hat back on his head.
“He’s following me?”
“Might be. Would you like me to have a word with him?”
“No, if you could escort me, though.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Graham said.
After a few minutes of silence between them and once they were inside the park, Graham turned his head and looked around as discreetly as possible. “Where did you run into this fellow?” he asked.
“At the bookstore. He approached me at the counter,” she said. “Is he still following?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still around.”
“I swear I did nothing to encourage him. If anything, I was a bit rude.”
“I hadn’t thought of this before, but he could be someone your stepson hired. I’m sure he knows by now that you didn’t move into that house.”
Roxanne stopped. “Why could what I do now be of interest to him? Everything was settled. Or so I thought.”
“Perhaps learning you aren’t living in the house piqued his interest. Why, I don’t know. We’ll mention it to Arthur and see if he has any thoughts on the matter. In the meantime, we’re going to exit the park at a different entrance, and I’ll escort you through the kitchens.”
“That sounds amenable. However, if this man’s done his research, he’ll know where the family home is.”
Graham chuckled and patted her hand with his free one. He started to walk once again. “I imagine he does, but this way I can get you home without him seeing you return, and we can look out one of the front windows and see if he’s out there.”
“You don’t need to involve yourself in this. I’m sure Arthur can take care of the situation.”
“I’m sure he can, but I’m involved, and I’ll not see you bothered by some stranger with nefarious intentions.”
She sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to change his mind. “Then let’s go. I had other things planned for the afternoon that didn’t involve ducking around alleyways.”
He barked out a laugh and they continued at a more rapid pace.
The kitchen staff barely noticed them as they entered through the kitchen garden door.
Roxanne and her brother were regular visitors using the door as a means of escape back when it was needed.
Roxanne caught the eye of the housekeeper and asked the woman if any of the staff had noticed anyone hanging around the alley.
She said she hadn’t but would inquire with the rest of the staff and ask everyone to be vigilant.
Climbing the stairs to the main floor, Roxanne and Graham stopped in the front hall. “If you want to speak to Arthur, I’ll see if he’s returned home.”
“Not necessary. We can discuss this at dinner tonight,” he said.
“I look forward to it, and yes, we can talk about it with Arthur then.”
“I’ll take my leave and see you this evening. Don’t leave the house, just to be safe.”
“Don’t you want to see if he’s outside?” she asked.
“I doubt he’s going to be that brazen. I’ll keep a lookout for him.”
“Very well. Thank you for escorting me safely home.”
“The pleasure was mine.”
The butler had appeared out of nowhere and had the door open. From Roxanne’s viewpoint, she could see no one lurking across the street. The only people were those headed somewhere. She stood and watched Graham disappear. The butler closed the door.
“You have some letters which arrived this afternoon. I placed them on your desk in your chamber, milady.”
“Thank you.”
She turned and headed upstairs to her bedchamber.
Entering the room, she removed her shawl and placed it along with her reticule on a chair.
Nearing the desk, she noted a silver salver with several letters.
Before sitting down, Roxanne picked up each one and studied the handwriting if there wasn’t a return sender’s information.
One was an afternoon musicale with tea from Lady Winters.
She smiled at how easily the ton left in London for the summer could gossip.
That was the only way Lady Winters could know of her return.
The wagging tongues never slept, she mused.
Picking up another, she recognized the familiar script of one of her friends, Lady Pamela.
Pamela and she had become close friends as children since her family lived only two doors down.
She went on to marry the Duke of Middlesex, only to have him die a year ago in a mysterious riding accident at their Surrey estate.
He had been an expert equestrian and was said to be able to ride any horse presented to him.
He had been riding his stallion, one he’d had since birth, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the beast spooked.
Something the stallion never did. The horse had always been fearless.
Roxanne had been unable to make it to the funeral and it was a month before word reached her in France of Middlesex’s demise.
She sat down and opened the missive and began reading.
Pamela had recently arrived on Wight at Georgiana’s invitation as her period of mourning had ended and she wanted to get away from anything reminding her of her husband.
As they had only two twin daughters, the late duke’s brother had taken the title.
He’d given her the dowager house, but Pamela was quite frank in that she had trouble living there with what had happened.
Everything reminded her of him. Pamela went on to say she hoped Roxanne would consider making the journey to Wight so the three of them could catch up on their lives.
Perhaps she could talk her brother into going as well.
Finding a house to rent would be impossible, but a hotel may have rooms available.
Roxanne would broach the idea again this evening at dinner.
If her brother still didn’t want to go, she would tell him she was going.
She needed to visit both her friends. They hadn’t seen each other in at least three years. There was much to catch up on.
She picked up the invitation one more time before deciding to accept. It would be a good way to dip her toe back into London society. Her reply to Pamela would wait until morning. She wanted to be sure of her plans before writing her friend.