“I will not let you down.” Then Edward turned from them and ran off to Nightshade Manor.
“Can I trust him?” Bentford asked with concern.
“Yes. If it came from Madam Boswell, then Edward will take the words to heart and he will keep your secret.”
Though, she had to wonder why Bentford wasn’t at Nightshade Manor since the darkness surrounded him. Though the more pressing question on Cordelia’s mind was where was Miss Perkins?
Oh, she wanted to ask, but didn’t dare, and it wasn’t nearly as important as the danger surrounding Lord Bentford.
It was likely Bentford was only here to advise Edward of the importance of Ianthe remaining on the estate and then he’d return home and she’d go back to watching for pixies as she’d done most of her life.
It was all rather bleak and depressing.
Chapter 15
Damon hadmisgivings about telling Edward anything. He was only a boy of thirteen and Damon feared that the lad would not take the matter seriously. At least Edward seemed to understand and promised to keep the secret, but until Damon returned home, he wouldn’t know for certain.
“I promise, Edward will say nothing,” Miss Cordelia assured him.
Damon would simply have to trust her as well.
“If it is so dangerous, why have you left Nightshade Manor?” she asked with concern. “Madam Boswell said the danger surrounded you.”
“The danger is around me, but those I care about are at risk,” he explained. “So long as everyone remains at Nightshade Manor, they will be safe.”
“As you should remain,” she insisted.
“I cannot. I must go into Bocka Morrow.”
Cordelia frowned. “Why?”
“That is the reason I am here.” When it occurred to him that he wouldn’t know if danger had arrived, Damon knew that he would need Cordelia’s assistance. At least, that was the excuse he invented when his mother could easily have accomplished what he intended to do by visiting a few witches. “I do not know the residents of Bocka Morrow. You do. I had hoped you’d accompany me into the village and introduce me.”
“I don’t understand how that would be beneficial.”
“More specifically, I need to meet those who will be most aware of when strangers arrive and who I could trust to send word to Nightshade Manor.
“Ships come in and out of Bocka Morrow nearly every day,” she said.
“I do not worry about the sailors who are here for a short time, but those who disembark and do not leave. Maybe even start nosing around.”
“I understand.” She gifted him with a smile. Not simply a smile, but a brilliant smile that reached to her blue eyes. “There are those who notice everyone who arrives either by carriage, horse, or ship and it would be my pleasure to assist you, Lord Bentford.”
Miss Cordelia Vail was one of the most unusual women he’d ever met. Scolding her brother as if she were his mother, showing the patience of a governess with Ianthe, a serious and curious miss when they spoke in his mother’s garden, and now a beautiful young woman delighted to assist and accompany him into the village. How much more was there to her?
“Shall we?” she asked.
She was staring at him, and Damon realized that he had been staring at her. She must think him mad. “I will retrieve my carriage and call for you.”
This time she frowned though humor sparkled in her eyes. “The village is not so far, and I’ve walked it often, unless you do not wish to walk.”
“I did not wish to presume that you’d wish to do so.”
“It is a beautiful day, Lord Bentford and the breeze off the ocean is quite pleasant.”
“Very well, I would enjoy taking a stroll.”
Besides, he needed to know his way around the area in the event Ianthe went missing again, or heaven forbid, one of his other nieces. One cannot go as many places in a carriage, as they can on horseback.
