After the brief journey to Hawthorne where he’d pointed out scenery to Florence, they’d arrived. Wide-eyed, she’d taken in the grandeur, even commenting on it being far bigger than the London house. Toby had shown Florence and Miss Haigh to the nursery, and the child’s smile had been Toby’s reward when she entered. His staff had done an amazing job of readying it for her, and she loved the large rocking horse they’d dragged out of the attic.
He’d spent a few hours with his friends before retiring for the night. They’d pressed him about his carriage ride with Liberty, and all he’d offered was that they’d reached an understanding. Later, lying in his large bed, Toby thought of her—the woman he loved and would marry. For the first time in years, he fell asleep completely content.
The morning had not changed his mood, and after a ride around the estate, and a large lunch, Toby, Anthony, and Jamie had ridden into Bidham.
The fair was tomorrow, but they’d wanted to look around and see if they could get someone to talk to them about the threat hanging over the village. He was determined in this. If they were to help, they needed to know what they were dealing with.
“Florence is changing,” Jamie said as they walked down thecobbled street into the village.
“Yes, she’s happier,” Toby said.
“That little chuckle melts your heart,” Anthony added. “My wife informed me she wants a child just like your ward, Toby.”
“Well then, you better get busy.”
“I better had.”
A letter had arrived this morning from Mr. Scully, the private investigator. He’d visited the now empty warehouse where Toby had been assaulted, and while there, he’d come upon a man lurking around the rear of the building.
The man had said he’d come looking for more work, but the place was now empty, and he didn’t know where they’d gone. He’d been willing to talk for money, and it had been the first piece of information they’d been able to get from someone involved in the smuggling.
When pressed, he said someone brought the barrels of alcohol to London from somewhere on the coast. He didn’t know where.
“It will not be easy to get them to talk, Toby. They won’t trust you yet after what they see is your desertion of them,” Anthony said.
“I know that, thank you.”
“I am just saying, have some patience, my friend.”
“The man Mr. Scully questioned could also be lying, Toby,” Jamie said. “He could have been there simply to give that information to anyone asking about the smuggling operation.”
“Agreed, and that’s why we need to get someone in this village to talk to us,” Toby said, looking around him for Liberty even though he knew it was unlikely she’d be there.
How was she today, after they’d made love?Was she happy like him?
She’d forgiven him, and told Toby he wasn’t broken, and today he didn’t feel it. Today he felt lighter inside, even as worry for Bidham gnawed at him. He felt hope for a future he’d not once believed he deserved.
“That smile is blinding; put it away at once,” Jamie said walking beside him into the village. “The gravity of this situation should not inspire a smile like that.”
Flags fluttered in the late afternoon sun at the village’s entrance, put there in preparation for tomorrow’s fair. Trestles were also being set up, which would hold food and things for sale. He’d loved this day as a child, and spent hours here, usually going home with a sore stomach from eating too much.
“It is not blinding, and I can hardly enter the village scowling now, can I? Besides, women have told me for years my smile is my best feature,” Toby said, looking from left to right.
He’d not returned Liberty’s declaration of love yesterday, but he would soon. That she loved him, even after everything Toby had done to her, was humbling. Of course he’d known she had to care deeply. Liberty would never have given herself to him if she didn’t.
“Ah, but that smile is different,” Jamie said. “It’s an Anthony smile.”
“Is it?” Anthony, who walked beside him, said. “The smile of a man in love, do you mean?”
“That will do,” Toby said.
“First Florence is changing you, and now Liberty. You made my life hell tormenting me when I fell in love with Evie, therefore we must now do the same to you,” Anthony said, looking smug.
“I have not said I’m in—”
“I saw your face when you stepped down from that carriage, Toby. Something happened between you and your childhood friend on that journey. It was there for everyone to see on both your faces,” Jamie said.
He exhaled. “I would rather have this conversation with her than both of you.”
