Eleanor felt her stomach drop. “What part?”
James’s expression softened slightly, as if he disliked the answer. “The bait.”
Arabella’s eyes flashed. “Absolutely not.”
Eleanor’s heart pounded, but her voice stayed steady. “Explain.”
James looked toward Arabella. “She will not be alone.”
Arabella’s jaw clenched. “She should not be bait at all.”
Eleanor’s hand tightened around Arabella’s. “I will do it.”
Arabella stared at her. “Eleanor.”
Eleanor met her gaze. “She hurt you. She threatened me. She turned my home into a place I cannot sleep. I will not hide.”
Arabella’s eyes softened, then sharpened again with stubborn loyalty. “Then I am involved too.”
“No,” Eleanor said at once.
Arabella’s mouth tightened. “Why not?”
“Because you are injured,” Eleanor replied. “Because I cannot bear the thought of you being struck again.”
Arabella looked as though she might argue, then winced as she shifted her head. “Fine,” she muttered. “But I will not be shut out entirely.”
James’s voice cut in, decisive. “You will rest. That is nonnegotiable.”
Arabella scowled. “Your Grace.”
James ignored it.
Eleanor felt a sharp, unexpected ache in her chest then.
Relief that Arabella was awake. Determination now that James had agreed. And beneath it, heartbreak.
Because she could see the line forming already.
Once this was over, the urgency would fade. The danger would pass. And James would remember all the reasons he had built walls between them.
They would live separately, as he had promised so coldly. As she had thrown back at him in anger.
She swallowed hard.
James was still speaking, outlining steps, timing, names. Eleanor nodded when appropriate, forced herself to focus.
“After we catch her,” James said, voice low, “I will ensure you are safe.”
Eleanor’s stomach tightened. Safe. Alone.
She glanced toward Arabella, who had begun to sink back into the pillows, fatigue finally pulling her down again.
Eleanor rose slowly, smoothing her skirts with hands that were not quite steady.
“Very well,” she said calmly, as Roderick walked into the room.
James nodded to his friend, but still turned to her and said, “I will speak with Mr. Pritchard and Mrs. Hargreaves.”
