“Good,” he replied, already moving. “She has a sharp mind. We’ll need all the clarity we can gather.”
Together, they crossed the threshold into the drawing room, their shared purpose trailing like the echo of a vow. Mrs. Bainbridge rose from the seat near the window, her gaze bright with expectation, her posture as commanding as any general’s.
“Lord Hawkesbury,” she greeted, her tone crisp. “I assume you’ve read the letter?”
“I have,” he confirmed. “There’s more in what it doesn’t say than what it does. They are moving coal, likely through the older passages near the Ravenstock seam. And they’re hurrying their work.”
Georgina’s pulse quickened. “Before we see it.”
“Exactly.”
“Then what must we do?” she asked, keeping her voice level.
His gaze lingered on her, not just for her question, but the calmness with which she asked it. “We move quickly. Tonight, if we must.”
His eyes darkened, colder than fear. “If Archer is rattled, there’s a reason. Either the collapse was no accident, or someone means for us to think it was.”
Georgina’s fingers tightened on the folds of her gown. “Everly’s caution feels too precise. He is covering his steps, too neatly.”
“He wants to appear cautious,” Alex replied. “But his timing is too perfect. He’s watching to see what we’ll do.”
“Then we must not act too quickly,” she said, her determination settling deeper. “Not yet.”
Approval flickered in his gaze, a spark against the gathering storm. “Agreed.”
Outside the window, clouds pressed lower over the hills, shadows creeping across the land like a second skin. The air in the room was charged, drawn tight as a bowstring.
Georgina drew a breath, steady and sure. “They will not find meso easily moved. Whatever game they play, I will not be their pawn.”
“You are no one’s pawn,” Alex said quietly, with the force of iron beneath velvet.
The words settle not as flattery, but as fact. He saw her clearly now. She was no longer a grieving widow or burdened title, but a woman worthy of standing beside him.
Honoria’s gaze, keen and steady, swept over them. “I will make inquiries in the town,” she declared, gathering her gloves from the arm of the chair. “If coal is being carted away, someone will have seen it. There are too many loose tongues in Sommer-by-the-Sea to keep it quiet.”
Alex inclined his head. “Good. Any information will give us the advantage.”
“And I will speak with Barrington,” Honoria added, smoothing the fingers of her gloves with quiet precision. Her tone left no room for debate. “He’ll want to be informed. I trust his judgement in such matters implicitly.” A softer note entered her voice at the mention of his name, but it did not blunt her resolve.
A spark of approval lit in Alex’s eyes. “Barrington has already voiced his concerns to me. He’ll move swiftly if he knows the urgency.”
Georgina felt then a subtle yet certain shift. The lines of defense were drawing together. “Then we will not be alone in this.” She didn’t say it with hope. She said it with certainty.
“No,” Honoria replied, her gaze sharpening. “We will not.”
Georgina turned and faced Alex. “And what of you?” Georgina asked, not as an afterthought, but with intent.
His answer came without hesitation. “I’ll go back to the mine. Quietly, this time. I want to see for myself what Archer has not yet confessed.”
Georgina’s pulse thudded low and certain. “I’m coming with you.”
His brows lifted, but there was no protest in his gaze. Only amoment’s pause and then, quiet agreement. “You’ve already walked beneath those timbers once today,” he said, “I cannot deny you a second time.”
Mrs. Bainbridge, gloves in hand, regarded them both with a mixture of admiration and quiet determination. “If you’re both going back into that mine,” she said firmly, “then you will not go alone.”
“I will have Lock, my mine foreman, accompany us,” Alex confirmed. “And two men I trust without question.”
Georgina straightened, a thread of steel woven through her spine. “Good.”
