“Is it not the oddest thing?” she whispered brokenly.
“What is, Gory?”
“How well you know me, almost better than I know myself. This is why it had to be you I turned to in my darkest hour.”
He closed his eyes and shuddered.
Was her admission not a good thing?
She trusted him more than she trusted anyone else in her life, even her own betrothed.
“Knowing me as well as you do,” she continued, her voice still shaky as she struggled not to cry, “you understand why I cannot sit back and do nothing while there is a killer on the loose.”
He gave her cheek another light caress. “I’ll strike a bargain with you. Rest in my bed for the remainder of the day. My staff will see to your every comfort. However, let me investigate on my own for today. We’ll see how you are feeling tomorrow. But you cannot leave the house just yet. I’ll report everything I find out. I’ll even get you in to see your uncle’s body within the next day or two, assuming you are fit enough to get out of bed.”
In all his days, he had never expected to woo a young lady by offering to show her a cadaver. But Gory was like no one else. By her hopeful look, he could see that she was considering his offer.
And why not?
It was a generous offer and a great compliment to her. He was treating her as an equal, promising to include her in every facet of the investigation.
Her eyes now sparkled. “Truly, Julius?”
He nodded. “I’ll make it clear to the magistrate that you are to be given full access. I’ll come with you, of course.”
She cast him a fragile smile. “Why? Because you are worried I might have an attack of the vapors and will need to be caught in your manly arms when I faint?”
“First of all, I am the one more likely to faint,” he said with a rumbling chuckle. “But on a more practical note, I know we will need your insights if we ever hope to solve the murder. I mean it, Gory. You are the smartest person I know.”
She sighed as she patted her hand over her spectacular bosom and teasingly said, “Be still my heart. Careful, or you will have me in a swoon.”
Then she paled and actually did swoon.
“Right, enough of you being out of bed.” He scooped her into his arms. “It’s that nasty lump poking out of your skull. It must hurt something fierce. You look ashen, love. You really should not be walking around.”
“I am a little dizzy,” she admitted, resting her head against his shoulder as he carried her out of Adela’s dressing chamber. “I’ll do as you ask, but you must promise to let me see my uncle’s body tomorrow, whether or not I am fit. It is too important, Julius. I’ll know what to look for and will be as quick as can be.”
Gory had lectured him often enough about the decomposition of bodies, going into unnecessary detail about which type of insects crawled out first. She and her bluestocking friends, Adela, Syd, and Marigold, had discussed this once over a family dinner. He and his brothers, as well as Marigold’s husband, Leo, had been too queasy to continue eating afterward. Not so the ladies. They’d dug into their syllabub with unbridled enthusiasm.
Who ever claimed women were the more delicate creatures?
Julius understood why it was so important for her to inspect the body as soon as possible. But he was going to stay close to her at every step. The morgue. The solicitor’s office. A visit to her aunt. “Agreed, but I am not leaving your side until we find the killer. If he thinks to harm you, he’ll have to go through me first.”
“Allendale might have a thing or two to say about that,” she muttered, reminding him that Gory was not his to claim…not yet, anyway.
Was it too much to ask for Allendale to beg out of the betrothal?
Julius would be there to mend Gory’s broken heart if it happened.
Well, he did not want her to be heartbroken.
He wanted her to be happy and ready to fall in love with him.
Were she in love with Allendale, Julius would have done the honorable thing and backed off. But Gory did not display any telling signs of a woman enraptured. In truth, all she was doing was trying to force herself to fall in love with that oaf.
Julius could have told her it would never happen.
Love could not be forced.
