He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, uttering a string of curses under his breath.
He couldn’t do this. Not again. Couldn’t risk the lives of the ones he held dear for a woman. There were answers that he must have, and he wouldn’t allow her to distract him this time.
“Percy!” Leo called, his voice sharp and abrupt against the silence. He strode toward the library’s door, and pulled it open. “Per—”
“Oh!” Miss Smith jumped, her hand poised as if to knock.
Leo’s shout died on his lips and his lungs deflated. Despite himself, something warm prickled just behind his ribs, and it made him want to snarl. This woman had indeed begun to crawl under his skin. And he didn’t like it.
“I apologize for the interruption, Mr. Notley. I came to invite you on a walk out of doors with—”
With a grunt, he clasped her arm and guided her quickly inside, closing the door behind her. “We must speak.”
She worried her bottom lip. “If this is about what occurred in the conservatory, I assure you—”
“Who are you?” he growled.
She blanched. “Wh-what?”
“All this time, and I’ve not learned a thing about you. What are you plotting? Do you aim to soften me up by forcing me together with my niece? Because it will not work.” Her eyebrows snapped together, and he continued. “Who is your family? Where were you educated? How is it that you have not contacted a single soul since I found you? Who knows where you are, Miss Smith?”
Fear flashed in her eyes before she glanced away, and her pale skin grew increasingly ashen. Several long moments passed between them in silence, and Leonard grew increasingly agitated with each one.
“It is true, Mr. Notley; you know naught about me, and I’ve no intention of enlightening you. But understand this.” She met his gaze once more, steely and determined. “Miss Notley is incredibly bright. She is observant and sensitive, and before I arrived, whenever you chose to dine, walk, or ride alone, that little girl was left alone, as well, craving your attention and affection.”
Despite his best effort to stop it, a sickening, hollow feeling began in his chest and spread out his arms to tingle in his fingers. He irrationally blamed her for the pain, and absurdly wished to strike back. He fisted his hands, leaned a hip against the back of an armchair, and waited through a moment of heavy silence before he spoke. “Percy tells me that another search has begun, and as of yet your carriage has not been found.”
Her cheeks paled further. “Wh-what?” Her voice came out a harsh whisper, and Leo knew that he’d hit his mark.
She ought never to have avoided my questions.“While you were recovering,” he drawled, “an initial search of the surrounding roads was conducted, but after you mentioned driving into the forest, the search expanded further onto my land.” He paused, holding her wide, frightened gaze. “I’ve been informed that as of yet, the search has not yielded any evidence of an accident. It has made me wonder if you spoke the truth.”
“I-I did, but…” She wrung her hands, her gaze sliding sideways toward a window, and the darkness beyond.
“I’ve begun to wonder,” he continued, wanting to provoke her further, “if there is a carriage to find at all. Mayhap you’ve fabricated the entire tale just to garner a position in my home.”
She shook her head, her cheeks pale and her neck growing red. “How dare you accuse me of falsehoods, sir!” The pucker between her eyebrows deepened. “Iwasin an accident. The carriage rolled somewhere in the forest, and I was trapped. I did everything I could to get out!” Her eyes began to swim, and she rubbed at the back of her neck with trembling fingers.
Leo wanted to know more, to push her further. Even though he hadn’t a doubt that her experience had been harrowing and disturbing, there was one large part of her tale that he knew she’d omitted. Something wasn’t quite right. When he’d found her, she was covered in blood, but she’d not been the one to cause the stains. To whom did the blood belong?
“How did you escape the carriage, Miss Smith?” Leo asked bluntly.
Her eyes were like two-toned saucers glinting in the candlelight, with horror lurking in the corners. Part of him wanted to rescind the question and relieve her of the pain he knew she felt, but this mystery ate at him. He wanted to believe her innocent—refused to lay any blame at her feet without proof—but at the moment all he felt was suspicion.
Back stiff and her lips pursed, Miss Smith closed her eyes on a sigh. “Please accept my immediate resignation, Mr. Notley.”
Alarm jolted through him, and he caught her arm as she began to turn away. “Miss Smith!”
“I didn’t!” She whirled on him, pulling her arm from his slack grip. “I didn’t escape that carriage!”
With a swish of her skirts, she marched from the room, his traitorous greyhound Kitty in her wake, and Leonard in a state of utter perplexity. “What in the bloody hell doesthatmean?”
CHAPTER9
“Sir,” Percy implored, holding Leo’s robe out to him.
Leonard continued to pace, unable to quell the anxious energy that ricocheted inside him. A soft yawn came from behind him, and he was once more silently grateful for the dog’s company. Boots, the inaptly named black greyhound that sported a white patch of fur on his chest, was the only of the sibling beasties that had remained faithful.
An errant drop of residual bath water trickled over the hair on his chest, and he scratched it idly. He caught sight of himself in his bedchamber’s mirror, and grimaced at the black tail of ink that curled over his shoulder and morphed into a dark, elaborately patterned sleeve that ended just above his elbow. Bloody insolent thing.
