Juliana’s fingers tightened on his elbow, and he felt her fear just as much as he saw Coningburgh’s as Ellis mentionedLordWinston.
“I would not be able to speak for my son, sir. You would have to arrange a meeting with him yourself.”
“That would be jolly good,” Ellis said. “Perhaps I could press you to help me with the introductions.”
“I think it would be best if you sent a card around,” Coningburgh muttered. “I could…I don’t really know where he is at present, but mayhap he could be found. Now my daughter and I have another appointment. Good day.”
He caught Lady Lydia’s arm and dragged her away. As they exited the park on the opposite side, Juliana let out a long sigh. “I’m afraid that wasn’t very fruitful. Do you fear you pushed too hard?”
Ellis chuckled. “Not at all. I obtained a great deal of information from that encounter. Let’s go to my carriage and we shall discuss it.”
He led her out the way they’d come and up the street a little where his carriage was waiting. He helped Juliana into the rig, gave the direction to his driver and off they clattered.
She stared at him. “What in the world could you have gotten from that conversation? Coningburgh only looked annoyed.”
“No, he looked afraid, just as you said he did. I saw it in his eyes, around his lips. The same was true with your friend, Lady Lydia. Both of them are wound tight as a children’s toy, ready to pop. And it only got worse when I made reference to his youngest son.”
“His shoulders did tense,” Juliana conceded. “But we already knew that he is afraid of Leonard. Everyone knows that.”
“When I asked if he might know how to reach him, his hand clenched, he glanced at his daughter ever so slightly. He said no, but there was a slight nod he gave. Do you know how people win at gambling, Juliana?”
She shrugged. “Luck?”
“No.” He smiled. “They learn what we call tells. Little actions people make when they’re lying. And Coningburgh has a great many. He knows where Leonard is. I’d go so far as to guess he’s hiding his son.”
They rounded the corner onto Ellis’s street, quick and efficient thanks to his driver’s knowledge of back roads. “Do you really think we’ll be able to find him then?” Juliana asked, her gaze lighting with both excitement and fear. A reflection of his own heart, truth be told.
He nodded. “I do. And once that is done, then everyone in my life will be safe again. This will be taken care of, once and for all, and you’ll never need to fear Winston Leonard again.”
Chapter 19
Juliana watched as Ellis paced the narrow parlor, his minions circled around him, waiting on his every word. “The Duke of Coningburgh has had mistresses, of that I am certain. Find all their hideaways. Find every nook and cranny that fop has created in this world and search them all.That’swhere we’ll find Leonard, I would almost guarantee it.”
“He’ll have some places not on the books,” said his right-hand man, who had been briefly introduced to her as Golden. “All the toffs have them.”
“Good, use your ways and my money as best you see fit. No stone unturned, do you understand?” Ellis said, and there was a crack of desperation to his tone that made Juliana’s eyes go wide. “No expense is too high.”
Golden held his stare a moment, then glanced at Juliana. He nodded, then ushered the group out of the parlor, giving orders in the distance until the door closed and she and Ellis were once again alone. Ellis paced to the sideboard and poured himself a drink. After he’d downed half of it, he eyed her furtively. “I don’t suppose you want whisky.”
She wrinkled her brow. “It’s a bit early for whisky for me.” She drew in a deep breath and took a step closer. His pupils dilated as she did so, and that gave her a bit more courage. She edged nearer, wishing her hands didn’t shake as she lifted them to take the glass from his hand. “But then again…”
She took a sip from his tumbler, and immediately the alcohol burned her throat. She coughed, staring up at him with a red face and tears in her eyes.
“That…” she said through coughs. “…seemed far more…confident in my head.”
He laughed as he took the glass and set it behind him on the sideboard. His arms came around her, and he leaned in until his lips were just a hair from her own. “It was fantastic,” he reassured her before his mouth found hers.
She tasted the whisky again, this time on his tongue, but it didn’t choke her now. Not when it was tempered by his flavor. One she wanted to drown in forever. She wound her arms around his neck with a muffled sigh and lifted herself tighter against him.
He whispered something against her lips, but she was too foggy to understand the meaning. Too lost to focus. And wasn’t that what she needed to do? To talk to him about his plan?
She pulled back a fraction. “Ellis—”
He cut her off with another kiss. “Not yet,” he murmured against her mouth.
Perhaps she should have pushed the issue. Perhaps she should have demanded they speak further about what drove him so hard to catch Leonard. Why he looked so…lost…when he told her that everything would be over once he did.
But she couldn’t demand. Not when he tilted his head and the kiss deepened. Not when his fingers bunched in the silky fabric of her dress and lit her on fire.
