Chapter Five
Elizabeth stared into his earnest eyes and his sincerity struck a chord. For the first time in a long time, she felt a stirring of hope. She could trust him with her life and not be the fool for it. “Before I agree to this, answer me one question. You showed up to my rescue. Were you following me since I left Stanton’s house?”
He shook his head, a sheepish smile forming. “No, not since Stanton’s house.”
“But you were following me. For how long?” She’d had a sense earlier that she was being watched but hadn’t seen him. His ability to dodge her was impressive.
“About three blocks from where I met you again. I told you I was competent.” He turned a corner, and she followed. The residential area was less populated than the thoroughfare. Trees in the bloom of spring lined the street, their newly furled leaves swaying gently in the wind.
The tension she carried with her since leaving Waverly Park faded. She dropped her arms to her side, stretching out her fingers beneath the worn kid gloves, another hand-me-down from her mother. “Very well, I will accept your offer to assist, and I will offer an apology of my own for doubting your skills.”
“Thank you,” he said, bowing his head in acknowledgement of her concession, a dimple creasing his cheek. It gave him a roguish air and sent her heart racing. Years had passed since a man had flirted with her. Most avoided her company, sad but true.
Elizabeth gave herself a mental shake and tried to put her thoughts back on track. Best to focus on the investigation and not on how it would feel to kiss him. She fought the blush that flushed her chest. “I have much to show you once we return to Upper Waverley. I have watched the operations for the past four months and although I have not explored the cave where they are hiding the contraband, I have pinpointed the entrance.”
“Mrs. Adare, don’t tell me you have been spying on those dangerous men?”
She rolled her eyes and ran a finger along the iron fence that skirted their route. “Of course I have. I had to make sure I could identify the perpetrators when Lord Randell is arrested.”
The road forked, and he placed a hand on her elbow to guide her in the right direction. Her foot slipped on a patch of mud and she winced as the shoe rubbed against her blister. He looped her arm through his to steady her and the warmth of his fingers seeped into her thin farthingale. “That was most foolhardy. What were you thinking, putting yourself in danger like that? They could have caught you, and if they are as dangerous as you claim, assaulted, or worse, murdered you for what you have seen.”
“I was never in any real danger.” She waved away his argument but made no move to withdraw her arm from his grasp. Pathetic, yes, but she rather like his solicitous nature. He was verbally berating her, which was in direct contrast to his actions. He was a very contrary man, to be sure.
He looked far from convinced, however. “From this moment on I must insist that you stop all this nonsense and let me and my men handle the situation.”
“You have no right to tell me what to do.” She intended to pull her hand from the crook of his arm, but he simply flexed a well-muscled bicep to hold her captive.
While of average height, his shoulders were broad, outlined to perfection by the cut of his greatcoat. Earlier she had guessed the breath to be padding made popular by the dandy set, but there was nothing artificial about the hardness beneath her palm. Instinct told her the rest of him was as well defined as the arm under her hand and a tiny thrill went through her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, feeling suddenly shy and heated by her brazen thoughts.
“If you want my help, you will heed me in this,” he said.
“Then I don’t want your help,” she shot back. It was a foolish claim to utter since she had laid out her reasons for needing Stanton’s assistance in the first place. There was also an unforeseen danger in his involvement. She had found mention of the Zander Trading Company in Randell’s effects. If Langdon unraveled that string, it would be easy for him to follow the path of her larceny.
Flashing a devilish smile, he shook his head. “Too late, you’re stuck with me, Mrs. Adare.”
The fear of discovery came secondary to the heat burning a path into her cheeks, along with another emotion she didn’t wish to put too fine of a head on. Where she’d found him appealing before, the grin enhanced his bold nose, adding to his growing masculine appeal. “Then we’re surely at an impasse.”
“I will make you a deal.” He rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand, the material of his greatcoat tugging at his arms. “You will show me those places you spoke of, but it is all you will do. Agreed?”
Elizabeth had no intention of agreeing to any such thing. It was imperative that she keep him on Randell’s trail and not allow him to veer off course. A simple inquiry about Mr. Zander to any of the locals, and her secret could unravel. “When will you come to Upper Waverley?”
The frown between his eyebrows returned. He was clearly struggling with some internal demon. It wasn’t her place to pry, however, thus she remained silent. After a long pause, he slowed his steps. He dropped his hand from behind his neck and glanced at her. “I have to clear up some affairs in town, and then I will contact you. In the meantime, you will do nothing. Do you understand?”
“I will return home within the week.”
“Do you have to leave so quickly?”
Was it her imagination or had he sounded disappointed by the news? Her pulse quickened at the thought before she squashed it. He had no interest in her save the task at hand, to apprehend the smugglers. “My father is ill, and I came to London on the pretext of procuring an herb to aid in his healing.” It was not a complete lie.
“Nothing a paid courier couldn’t do.”
Elizabeth’s funds were nonexistent and she could little afford such a luxury. Gellman’s earlier comment whispered across her mind. It would be easy to give into the temptation to use the funds generated by the Zander Trading Company, except the circumstances could turn deadly. It had required detailed planning and much subterfuge to hide the old family retainer Zander’s death from the world. By arranging to bury him in a cemetery in the next county she’d managed to hide his death from her father, assume his identity to start the trading business, and fund it with the monthly stipend the dead man continued to receive from her father in order to start several very lucrative business ventures. No matter how good her intentions, she had stolen from her father and committed a crime with the secret burial. It was better to stick with her plan than to chance exposure. “I have no other reason to stay in London.”
“Yes, you do. As a matter of fact, I foresee you have a burning desire to attend some of the early season events.” The fist he had formed relaxed once more. The struggle he had been warring with must have resolved itself.
“Then you had better get some spectacles.” From a young age, she had read people well. Subtle nuances of expression and the unspoken language of the body could reveal a lot about a person. She would use the ability to her advantage.
“It is not what I need to see, but the gossips. Since we will be seen in each other’s company often in the country, I feel it would behoove us to establish an association in London.”
