“A hackney, mayhap?” she suggested, for the carriage had been required by her father and thus, had returned to the house once Eleanor and Catherine were at the milliner’s. “Or should you like to send for your carriage?”
“A hackney will suit very well,” Catherine replied, sounding just as tired as Eleanor herself felt. “Goodness, I did not think I would be as weary as this, but the sunshine has been very strong and I must admit to being tired from last evening also.”
Hailing one, Eleanor tilted her head and caught her cousin’s eye. “Are you sure that it is not that you have been quite unable to sleep given that your thoughts are centered only upon one gentleman?”
Catherine’s only response was to laugh and shake her head, refusing to answer but giving an answer all the same. With a smile still on her face, Eleanor gestured for her cousin to climb inside, only to pause.
“Might I ask,” she said, making her way to the driver, ‘what your name is, sir?” She offered him a light smile and handed him a coin or two, hoping that it would encourage him to answer.
The driver blinked, his cap pulled low over his eyes. “Thank you, m’lady. The name’s Matthew, and I can assure you, I will take you safely wherever you need to go.”
Excitement bubbled up within Eleanor in an instant, but she kept her expression fixed, refusing to let anything other than her small smile sit upon her face. “Excellent, I thank you. Well, Matthew, might you first take us to one townhouse and then to another? I will make sure to pay you well, I assure you, so long as you drive safely.”
“I assure you, I shall,” he answered with a nod. “That will be no trouble, my lady.”
Her heart beating quickly, Eleanor gave him where she first wished to go and, with that, climbed into the hackney and shut the door.
“Whatever is the matter?”
Eleanor leaned forward, her anticipation growing by the second as the hackney began to roll its way forward. “By chance, I thought to ask the driver his name.”
Catherine’s eyes rounded. “You do not mean to say that – ”
“Yes, yes it is!” Eleanor exclaimed, as Catherine stared at her in clear astonishment. “And I am now taking him to Lord Finchley’s townhouse. I only hope that it is therightMatthew and that he might be able to garner some answers from him.”
“If it is he, then you might very well be close to finding the perpetrator,” Catherine breathed, her face paler now. “Oh, Eleanor, let it be so!”
Eleanor could only nod, turning her face to the window and gripping her hands tightly together in her lap. Each second seemed like an eternity, the hackney moving with a good deal more slowness than she had anticipated. It did not matter, she told herself. Very soon, she would be at Lord Finchley’s townhouse and, with her, the hackney driver that could leadthem not only to the truth but also to their potential happy future together.
16
“Lord Finchley, thankgoodnessyou are home!”
Rupert nearly jumped out of his chair as the door to his drawing room was flung open and none other than Lady Eleanor threw herself into the room. “Eleanor!” Rushing to her, his heart in a panicked rhythm for fear of what her unexpected arrival meant, he caught her hands in his. “Whatever is the matter?”
She beamed at him. “I think I have found the hackney driver!”
“What?” Preston, who had been in the room with him discussing what they were to do about locating this very person, came hurrying towards her. “You say you havefoundhim? Finchley and I have been searching for hours and yet – ”
“It was quite by chance,” she told them both, squeezing Rupert’s hands and looking up at him with shining eyes. “But he is at the door still, and Catherine is waiting in the hackney. I instructed him to come here first, and then we were to go to another townhouse thereafter, but I did so only so that he might be brought into the house.”
Blood roared in Rupert’s ears as he stared back at Lady Eleanor, his breathing stalled. He could not quite take it in, realizing with great slowness that hopes of finding the truth were now beginning to be truly realized.
“Well, then?” Preston slammed Rupert on the back with one hand, jerking him forward. “Come! Let us go and get the man!”
“You… you bring him here,” Rupert said, trying to think clearly. “We do not want to overwhelm him nor make a scene. Tell him that you will pay him well or some such thing and have one of the footmen hold his horse for him. Take him to the parlor. I will be there in a moment.”
Preston, without protest, left the room at once. Rupert, unable to hold himself back, drew Lady Eleanor into his arms and closed his eyes. She sighed, long and languidly, and a fire lit itself in Rupert’s core. Keeping his eyes closed and his arms wrapped tightly around her, he chose not to lower his head and kiss her as he so desperately wanted. Hehadto hold himself back,hadto make sure that his future and hers could be safe and secure before he would allow himself to do such a thing.
“I cannot believe you found him,” he breathed into her hair, tingling going through all his limbs. “I am so grateful, Eleanor.”
“I did nothing,” she answered, lifting her head and forcing his eyes open as he looked down into her face. “It was quite by chance. Fate has brought us this, Rupert. It will bring us to the conclusion of it all too, I am sure.”
Cupping her face, Rupert set his jaw as he battled against his own burning desire. “I want that, Eleanor, truly.”
“He is here.”
The door opened again, and Rupert dropped his hands quickly, just as Preston gestured to them both.
