Someone had stolen her jewels. Well, it certainly wasn’t Jonny. He had been rather occupied.
Although it appeared that they were both losing this current battle.
“Call the police!” Lord Harcourt shouted beyond the door, likely to the butler. “Is everyone accounted for?”
“People have been arriving and leaving all evening, my lord,” the butler said. “But I have a fair idea of who is no longer here.”
“Very good,” Lord Harcourt said. “Make a list.”
“We’d better get out there,” Jonny murmured. “Make ourselves known.”
Ada nodded but tugged on his hand before he left.
“Jonny?”
“Yes?”
“If anyone questions your whereabouts, I have no problem telling them the truth. That you were with me.”
He stared at her, blinking.
“You can’t say that. You know what that would mean. No marriage to David Carter. Or likely to anyone else.”
“I know,” she said, resolved.
“I have no wish to marry.”
“That’s fine. That’s not what this is about.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and her spine stiffened.
“You’re not using me, are you?”
Her mouth gaped open at him. “You cannot be serious. Using you for what?”
“For an excuse not to marry Carter.”
“Absolutely not,” she said, her jaw dropping. “I can deny him all on my own.”
“Just had to ask.”
“I just offered to ruin my life and any chance at marriage for you,” she bit out. “I would appreciate not being insulted in return.”
He only shrugged as he stepped into the hallway, leaving Ada to glare daggers at his back.
“Such an ass,” she muttered, hoping he heard her.
Why was it always like this with him? The moment shethought that maybe there was something between them, something more than just a desire for one another, he did or said something that told her that he could never be invested in her.
It was infuriating.
She followed him out the door, surprised when he stopped so quickly that she ran into the back of him.
“Ouch,” she said, rubbing her nose from where it hit him between the shoulder blades. “What are you doing?”
He crouched down, picking something up off the floor. He turned around and faced her, his lips pressed together in a grim line.
“What is it?” she leaned forward to look at what he held. He lifted the piece of cloth up toward her. A scarf was in his hand, navy blue with a distinct pattern over top of it.
