Page 35

Her hand went to her temple and came away with a slight trace of blood on her glove.

Panicking, Andrew pushed her hood off and cradled her chin with his thumb and forefinger, gently turning her head from side to side. “You have a scrape on your temple. It’s not deep, but it will need to be cleaned and the small pieces of gravel removed. What else hurts?”

“My right hip and elbow. I hit the ground with them before I ended up on my stomach.” She swatted his hand away from her face.

“What were you doing there?” As she admonished him, he pulled up her skirts and pulled down her pantaloons, ignoring her loud gasp.

He inspected her hip, which was scraped and red.

Then the elbow, as well. She was lucky, and he shivered at what could have happened if he hadn’t been there at precisely the right moment.

“I have been accompanying you nearly every time you do this foolish thing of traveling into unsafe areas of London ever since I found out about your endeavors.”

“What?” she said, looking confused.

“How hard did you hit your head?”

“Stop it. I heard what you said. You just shocked me, that’s all. How did I not know?”

“I kept hidden. Mitchel and the other man knew I did. What do you know about them? Mitchel seems familiar to me, although I can’t quite place him. I haven’t gotten close to the other man to see if he also appears familiar.”

“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered about them myself a time or two. But if they work for the Duchess of Greenville, they can be trusted.”

“Yes. I gathered that. She is quite a lady, Her Grace,” Andrew said.

“She kindly sends me messages with your schedule.” He glanced out the window.

“I had to make a substantial donation to Amelia House so she would send me the notes. What a shrewd businesswoman. We have arrived at your home. I’ll see you in.

There is something else I wish to discuss. ”

Once inside the drawing room, Emmeline rang for tea, and he hoped it would help settle her nerves and his.

She was silent when she sat down beside him, and he took that time to face his fear of almost losing her today.

Instead of taking his carriage or horse when he followed her into the slums that day, he’d hired a hack to hide his identity more easily.

Following her at night on horseback was easy, but he’d feared she might spot him in broad daylight, and he knew she would not take kindly to him following her.

She would think he didn’t trust her. He did trust her—it was others he didn’t trust. Today’s incident proved how untrustworthy others could be.

The beat of his heart was still elevated.

When he’d caught sight of the carriage barreling down the street toward Emmeline, something inside him had snapped.

With speed he didn’t know he possessed, he had run toward her, diving into her and knocking them both off to the side of the road, where he’d covered her body with his and prayed for the best.

He hadn’t expected either of them to survive as they flew through the air and landed on the ground.

As he lay over her, holding his breath and waiting for the inevitable pain and death of being trampled by horses and coach, his life with Emmeline flashed before his eyes.

Never in all his life had he been so frightened or felt so helpless.

When the horses’ hooves and carriage wheels never made contact, he’d struggled on unsteady legs and helped Emmeline to stand.

It had taken until now for him to realize his body ached all over.

Every muscle had tightened up when he’d crashed into Emmeline, and now that he was relaxed or trying to be, his muscles screamed in protest. The first thing he would do when he arrived home was take a warm bath, which made him remember Emmeline’s injuries.

“You need to soak in hot water and clean your scrapes.”

Her hand flitted to her temple, and she winced. “Yes. I will get Mother to help. She was always good at patching me up when I was little.”

Just then, a footman arrived with a tray. Emmeline prepared two teas, Andrew’s just as he liked it. “There are biscuits as well if you are hungry.”

“Thank you,” he said as he accepted his cup of tea.

She sat and sipped hers, then turned to him, her eyes sad. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Today was no accident.”

She blew on her tea to cool it off. “I know. But who would want to hurt me? Or interfere with the duchess’s charity?”

“Perhaps a family didn’t receive enough food or medicine and took it out on the next person who made a delivery, which happened to be you.

” His hands shook, clanking the cup and saucer together, so he placed them on the tray resting on the table.

“Someone wanted you dead. Or at least injured. I need to find that street urchin, and bribe him with a coin. Secrets can be bought for a price and I believe he is the key to solving this mystery. And I promise you, someone will pay for what they did to you.” His eyes met hers while he waited for those words to sink in.

“If you mean to frighten me, you have succeeded.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just worried for your safety.

There’s a slim chance the whole thing was a case of a runaway carriage.

Yet... the carriage headed right for you.

There is another possibility, actually many possibilities, but another that’s worrying around in my mind is Countess Hartford.

” He combed his hands through his hair. “I have half a mind to visit Lord Hartford when I leave here and confront him. The man is weak and allows his wife to rule their castle.” He exhaled loudly.

“I’m expected there later today. I hope I can keep my accusations to myself for now.

Meanwhile, I don’t want you to leave the house. ”

“Hmmm.”

He raised a brow to her non-committal noise. “Would you rather get run over by a carriage?”

“Of course not.”

“If you do go out and someone is trying to hurt you, next time, it might be something even more devious and nefarious, and they may succeed in eliminating you.”

“Stop trying to scare me!” she exclaimed.

“Is it working?” He hoped to God it was. Her life was in danger, and he needed to convince her to take it seriously. If anything happened to her...

“Yes,” she said, as she picked up a biscuit and nibbled on it. “Now go and find who did this.”

Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her head to his chest and inhaled her unique fragrance of wildflowers.

Their bodies trembled. He honestly didn’t know if he could extricate himself from her.

Taking several deep breaths, he put some distance between them.

Just enough so he could kiss her. Her lips tasted like sweet tea.

“I’m going to hire Bow Street Runners to watch over you to ease both our worries,” he said as he forced himself to let her go. He was terrified that if something happened to her he would never get the chance to hold her again.

After he took his leave, he went to Brooks’s, hoping Caldwell and Langford would be there, taking an afternoon libation as they used to when all three of them lived in London.

Four before Aiden married Emmeline. It had been a daily tradition back then.

Sweeping inside the door, he handed off his hat and overcoat to the doorman.

He focused on the room and found them at their favorite place in the back.

A grouping of four wingback chairs gathered around a low table in front of the large hearth. Three were occupied.

Along with Caldwell and Langford, Hollingsworth took up the third chair. Before Lilly became involved with Redford, and Langford and Lilly became betrothed, Hollingsworth had proposed to Lilly. It was a wonder Langford and he were still civil to each other.

“Gentlemen,” Andrew said as he sat in the vacant chair and signaled a waiter. “Whisky, please.”

“What happened to you?” Caldwell asked as he sipped from the drink in his hand. “You are disheveled, and you have holes in your breeches.” His eyes widened. “Is that blood?”

So intent had he been on Emmeline, he hadn’t noticed his breeches. “Bloody hell, so it is.” Knowing he could trust all the men present, he explained that day’s events.

“Lilly is never going into the slums again,” Langford said firmly.

“Emmeline was targeted. And I think I know by who,” Andrew said as he downed the contents of his glass and signaled for a refill. “May as well leave the bottle,” he grumbled to the server. He proceeded to explain his theory about the accident to his friends.

“You believe Lady Hartford is conniving enough to plan such a thing?” Hollingsworth asked.

“Who else could it be?” As far as Andrew knew, Emmeline didn’t have any enemies.

Caldwell stared into his glass. “Perhaps they target the Ladies’ Society of Mayfair and want an end to the charity.”

“I can’t see a reason for it. The charity does good work. People rely on their donations,” Langford said.

“Yes, well,” Hollingsworth spoke up, “someone always takes offense at what others do. But I’m with Blackstone. Emmeline has been doing this charity work safely for years. Why would they target the charity now? It’s most likely Lady Hartford. On the other hand, murder? That does seem extreme.”

“I know,” Andrew grumbled. “But there is something not quite right with her.”

“What about Lady Bea—” Langford began.

“No,” Caldwell interjected. “She is innocent in all of this and doesn’t have a cruel bone in her body.”

Everyone stared at Caldwell. “You should marry her,” Andrew said with renewed hope for his future.

“I can’t. I don’t possess a title.”

“You will soon if your brother doesn’t stop living so recklessly,” Andrew said.

Caldwell looked inside his glass, lost in thought.

“I paid off his creditors and gambling debts again. I swore to him that after this time he was on his own. I can’t continue to bail him out.

It’s not about the money. It’s that he’ll never learn.

Unless someone else beats me to it, I need to beat some sense into him. ”

“How did he take it?” asked Langford.

“Humorously. He laughed in my face.”

“Christ,” Andrew groaned. “Do you want me to speak to him? He may listen since I spent nearly three years doing what he is.”

“Shit, no.” Caldwell leaned forward and rested his empty glass on the table. “I’m off. If you need help, Blackstone, let me know. I’ll see you both in the office.”

“What are you going to do about Emmeline?” Langford asked. “You can’t very well arrive at Lord Hartford’s house and accuse his wife of attempted murder.”

“Indeed. But don’t think I didn’t consider it.

We need to keep our cards hidden for now.

I’ve already sent word to our Bow Street Runner acquaintance.

I want Emmeline guarded, and both Lord and Lady Hartford watched.

And with any luck, I can convince Caldwell to marry Lady Beatrice.

So what if he doesn’t possess a title? Lord Hartford doesn’t care.

At least he said he didn’t. He was, in fact, the one who mentioned Caldwell as a possible husband.

” He finished his drink and stood. “Give Lilly my best. Langford, Hollingsworth.” He nodded and left, retrieving his coat and hat from the doorman.