“What, you don’t trust me?” The words were teasing without a hint of rancor.
“No, not in this.” He spanned his fingers on her lower back, the smell of lavender invading his senses. “Now, will you promise me?”
Heaving a sigh, she nodded. “On my word of honor, I promise not to do anything the least bit endangering until your visit.”
“Thank you.” Langdon opened the gate with a flourish and quickly escorted her to the back of the house. Elizabeth had left from a side door, and she paused before it. She turned to face him, and he locked eyes with her. Despite his good intentions, he leaned in. The air between them became palatable and Elizabeth wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. The temptation proved too much. Mouth a mere breath from hers, someone opened the door.
Elizabeth stumbled backward and was caught by her cousin. Langdon just barely managed to catch himself on the doorframe.
“Cousin, I am pleased you could find your way home,” Farnsworth said, a decided snap to his question. “Langdon, what is happening here?”
“We went on an errand,” Elizabeth stammered, a trait unlike her. “Have your father and Lady Nora returned?”
Her cousin’s expression remained staid, which did not bode well for either of them. “No, your secret is safe. For now.”
Her shoulders tensed at the veiled threat. Langdon cut off the harsh words he suspected she was about to utter. “I will explain all if you care to accompany me to my carriage.”
Farnsworth looked from his cousin to Langdon and nodded curtly. Because of her status as a widow, there was little he could do about the situation. She was a woman in charge of her own destiny.
Langdon offered Elizabeth a small smile as Farnsworth joined him on the walkway. “I bid you goodnight, Mrs. Adare.”
“I will bid yougoodnight only if you promise not to agree to some supposed slight on my person. I have no wish to marry Langdon or any other man, nor will I tolerate some nonsense like pistols at dawn. I am a woman of a certain age and I don’t need anyone fighting my battles, no matter how chivalrous the gesture. Do you understand me, cousin?” Chin raised, she stared down her nose at them.
“I understand you perfectly.” It was dark, but the exasperation in Farnsworth’s voice was evident.
“Good night.” Mrs. Adare disappeared inside.
Langdon turned on his heel and Farnsworth fell into step beside him. Frogs chirped in the night air and the sounds of the street echoed in the far distance. The night had taken many turns and he needed time to process all that had transpired. The man walking next to him would wish for answers first. “We went to visit Pike’s office. Someone had been there before us and ransacked the place. Whoever it was either took everything they needed, or were trying to create chaos amongst the papers in the office. Either way, I never got the opportunity to look any further,” Langdon said.
Farnsworth nodded and opened the gate. “That is unfortunate but not unexpected when dealing with unsavory sorts.”
“I wish I had better news.” Langdon kept what happened in the carriage afterward tucked close to his chest. Farnsworth wouldn’t appreciate hearing how he bedded his cousin in a carriage with the servants privy to the seduction. A flush burned a path up his neck and he exhaled. It was not his finest moment, but she had a way of pushing past his common sense. He approached the carriage and the groom opened the door
“Langdon, are pistols at dawn necessary?” Farnsworth asked, a wry touch of amusement in the query.
The question hit close to home and he shook his head. “Not tonight.”
Elizabeth had flat out said she was not interested in marriage. If that were true, and from the definitive way she stated it, it was, where did that leave him?
Chapter Twenty-One
Langdon followed the butler down the hallway to Stanton’s office. The last time he had been at the residence was the morning he had met Elizabeth. A grin formed at the thought of the lady and the way she’d melted into his arms. In a fortnight, he would be in the country and back in her company. He had promised her cousin that he had no designs on her. A laugh considering he couldn’t keep his mind on any task save the memory of her on his lap in the carriage.
The butler opened the door to reveal Idle in conversation with a stocky man in rough garb, a gape in his front tooth.
