“I’ll go,” volunteered Tyler.
“Actually, I think Edwards is the right man for the job,” replied Wrexford. The head groom was the earl’s former batman from his military days and a battle-tested veteran of the Peninsular War. “I’ll have Seth accompany him.”
A spasm of disappointment passed over Tyler’s face, but he didn’t protest.
As for Charlotte, her expression had turned pensive, but Wrexford didn’t like the shadowed look that lingered beneath her lashes.
Damnation.He had an inkling of what she was thinking. “Don’t let your imagination get the better of you, Charlotte. Even if DeVere had mentioned Becton’s sketch to Daggett, we know that he never saw it. In that regard, luck and timing worked in our favor. Had Moretti arrived a half hour earlier, it would have been a different story. But even so, it’s too far-fetched to think the captain would have ever worked out where Becton had hidden the specimen.”
He paused briefly, letting her consider what he had just said before adding, “It was only because of your brother that we pieced together the connection to Professor Murray. And then it took Hawk, who has developed a trained eye for the nuances of plants, to spot it among all the other plants.”
Charlotte took her time in replying. “That makes perfect sense.” Her voice resonated with the same precise control as her pen strokes. “There’s just one thing that bothers me . . .”
Wrexford waited. He wasn’t sure what to expect. But Charlotte being Charlotte, he knew it wouldn’t be something easily dismissed.
The moonlight gave way to sudden gloom. A few fat drops of rain spattered against the window glass.
“Nothing about this mystery,” she said, “has gone according to reason.”
It was his turn to take his time in answering. “I beg to differ,” he finally said. “Logic didn’t let us down. We made earlier assumptions based on incomplete information. In my scientific experience, that leads to errors, causing one to reassess and revise. Now that we know more of the variables, I believe we’ve created a more accurate hypothesis.”
With only flickers of watery light breaking through the clouds, it was difficult to read her face. In moments like these, when decisions threatened other lives, Charlotte often retreated into herself.
“You think we have it right this time?” she asked.
“The gods punish mere mortals who have the hubris to claim such omniscience,” he responded. “But yes, I think we have it right enough. I don’t think Daggett is a danger to any of us.”
“Even to Moretti?” challenged Charlotte. “I saw him just now. He’s one of the speakers on tonight’s program.” She went on to tell him about the Royal Society’s request, and her own warning to her old friend.
“You were right to caution him, but I truly believe Moretti is in no danger. As I’ve said before, Daggett is ruthless, but he’s also pragmatic. He would be a fool to pursue his original plan, now that it’s gone awry. And my sense is, he’s no fool.”
She looked away. Only one question now lay between them, and to him it was the most important one. Again, he waited, knowing she must come to the answer herself.
The carriage picked up speed as it turned onto the main road leading into Town. The shower had passed and the swirls of vapor were dissolving into the darkness.
“I confess that my judgment in this affair hasn’t been as sharp as usual,” said Charlotte softly. “I’m grateful for your patience with my uncertainties”—her smile was fleeting, but it warmed his heart—“and will trust your wisdom in this.”
“I won’t let you regret it,” he replied.
Hawk stirred and made a small sound as he curled closer to Charlotte. He had fallen asleep, his head pillowed against her shoulder. She shifted and gently slipped her arm around him.
“Right. Let us look ahead rather than behind us.”
“Indeed.”
The earlier tension in the air gave way to the comfortable rhythms of the road—the muted creaks and jangling of the harnesses, the steadyclip-clopof hooves.
Wrexford leaned back and closed his eyes. And yet his thoughts couldn’t quite settle into silence. Nor could his heart—it ached for Charlotte. She was dealing with more worries than anyone should have to bear. Hawk and Raven were growing older, and mothering them was taking on new and more complex challenges . . . He also sensed that the new re-connections with her family, while a source of great happiness, had stirred some uncomfortable self-examination.
And then there was their impending marriage.
Any intelligent, independent woman would likely be wrestling with the ramifications of such a momentous decision. After all, it was, in effect, a surrender of self. Under the law, a woman became the property of a man when she married, with no more rights than his horse or his hound. She had no recourse if it turned out that he had an iron fist hidden beneath the velvet glove of his courtship.
So even the most sincere promises from a fiancé must carry an undertone of uncertainty.
Shifting against the squabs, Wrexford conceded the utter unfairness of it. However, he quickly reminded himself that he had already made sure that would never be an issue. Charlotte knew that the marriage articles settled enough money on her to provide financial independence. She would always have the freedom to live an independent life if she so chose.
Though I shall do my best to see it never comes to that.
