“Would ye now? No regrets?”
It was too tempting. And perhaps a little levity was called for.
“You do have a habit of leaving your clothes strewn about. And there is the matter of the toothpowder spilled all over the place.”
“And ye have no odd habits?” he commented.
“Of course not,” I replied somewhat cheekily. “But then, you knew that when you proposed to me.”
There was a faint smile.
“A moment of insanity to be certain.”
There was more silence and other thoughts.
“Will she be all right?” I inquired.
“Aye, in time, and with answers. It willna change any of it, but it will bring her some comfort.”
“I was thinking…” I replied. “I would like very much to assist with the inquiries. It isn’t as if I haven’t in the past, and it’s important… Food is one thing,” I continued. “Perhaps assistance with the rents until she is able to decide what she will do next.” I looked up and discovered him watching me.
“What is it?” I inquired.
He reached across the aisle of the coach and took my hand.
“Who could imagine a fine lady capable of shooting a criminal or runnin’ ’em through with a sword having care for a constable’s widow?”
“Do you know such a person?” I replied. His warm hand continued to hold mine.
“Or care for a man from the streets? And join yer life to his with a few words?” His fingers stroked the ring on my hand.
I could have told him that it was his heart that drew me to him. Or it might be his loyalty to a friend such as Constable Martin. And above all, there was the trust I had discovered when I had learned not to trust anyone.
“It was something Aunt Antonia recommended quite highly, as a matter of fact,” I replied.
“What might that be?”
He could be such a devil. He knew perfectly well what I was speaking of, admittedly not quite the same as those other qualities, but equally impressive.
However, I was not about to give him the satisfaction of telling him. At least not specifically. I smiled to myself.
“It’s your ability to build the ‘perfect fire’ in the coal stove on a cold winter’s night,” I replied.
He released my hand and sat back in the seat of the coach. A bit of the devil had returned to that dark gaze that watched me.
“Ye are indecent, Mikaela Forsythe. Speaking of such things in the middle of the day.”
“I have no idea what you are speaking of.”
He was thoughtful.
“Wot of yer meeting with Lady Ambersley earlier this morning?”
I had met with Kitty Ambersley at the request of Sir Laughton, my great-aunt’s lawyer, in the matter of a missingnecklace that had apparently disappeared from her London residence after a supper party.
The necklace was quite valuable, handed down through the Ambersley ancestors, and Kitty, as she was known to society friends, was quite beside herself at the loss of it.
She had reached out to my great-aunt with the hope that we might be able to assist in the recovery of the necklace that was said to be worth more than a half million pounds. The detachable brooch, with a diamond cluster surrounding a large blue diamond, was said to be extremely rare.
