“G-George wanted to m-make Benjamin presentable, so m-my parents accepted him,” she whispered.
“And then he was murdered, and now you don’t know what to do because you’ve lost two men you loved?”
She nodded, the tears falling faster. “When you saw me with Benjamin, I was saying goodbye. I h-had slipped out of the house without my parents realizing it. I could not do this to them. Tell them I wanted to marry a man they did not see as suitable when they were grieving for George.”
“If I may offer some advice to you, Miss Nicholson?”
Her eyes looked at him. Tired and infinitely sad.
“You must tell your parents the truth. Dress your Benjamin well and bring him for tea. Your parents loved your brother, and I’m sure respected him. If he liked Benjamin, then that is in his favor. Do this for George and for yourself.”
“D-Do you think so?”
“I’m sure of it,” Gray said. “The bookshop is still there. Perhaps one day you could run it on your brother’s behalf with your future husband?”
They left after that, and Gray was unsure if she would heed his words or if the Nicholsons would allow her to be with her Benjamin, but he hoped it all worked out for Olivia Nicholson.
“Well?” Ramsey asked as they rolled away from the house.
“She’s in no way involved in her brother’s death.”
“Good and bad news, then. Where are we going now?”
“I’m going to speak with Mr. Brownly again. Something does not sit well with that man. I’ve heard stories where his name came up alongside some seedy characters and yet nothing has ever stuck. I’m going to see if I can’t get something out of him.”
He dropped Ramsey at his home and then directed the carriage to the Brownly residence. As he arrived in the street, he watched a carriage roll by and inside was Mr. Brownly.
“Follow that carriage,” Gray said on impulse to the driver of the hackney. He then sat back and contemplated how he was going to approach Ellen and tell her he’d been a fool and wanted them to have a future together. Ramsey had said be honest and tell her he was scared. Which, of course, he’d denied, but it was the truth.
He’d loved and lost his aunt and uncle and his brothers. While they still lived, they were no longer who they’d once been. If he gave himself to Ellen, she could hurt him too.
But to not have her in his life would be worse.
He put Ellen from his head as the hackney rolled to a stop in Whitechapel. He needed to concentrate because they were now in the heart of where the Baddon Boys gang carried out their criminal enterprises. Gray’s suspicion was strengthening.
He’d felt something was off with Brownly, and this might just prove it.
Climbing from the hackney, Gray followed from a distance after Brownly had left his carriage. The man walked toward two brick buildings. He then waited for a large iron gate to open, and entered. It swung shut with a loud clang behind him.
Gray had done a lot of research on the Baddon Boys, and he knew this was their headquarters. He’d even driven past here to see what it looked like and survey the surrounding area.
Moving closer, he could see no one around, so he pushed the gate to check it was indeed locked. It didn’t move. The place would be hard to penetrate, he thought, as he walked around the perimeter to the side of the building. There was a door, and he tested the handle.
“Unless you’ve a right to be here, you better have a good reason.”
Gray turned and found the two men before him. One, he noted, had scratches down his cheek.
“I see Miss Nightingale left her mark.”
The man’s eyes widened, telling him what he needed to know.
Gray swung a fist and connected with his jaw. He didn’t see the one coming from his right and dropped like a stone into darkness.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
Ellen and her brothers had not found Gray at his home. He’d left for work several hours earlier, the butler said. They’d traveled to Scotland Yard next.
Alex had gone inside while she and Leo waited in the carriage to see if he was there. Twenty minutes later, he’d returned.
