“It’s a long tale,” Dorian steered her to the stairs. “I’ll tell you on the way home.”
They headed to the door and donned their coats as the chilly night air swept through the foyer. The dark carriage trundled to the gate, and as a footman opened the gate, a hand landed on Ellie’s shoulder.
She almost jumped a foot in the air.
“My apologies,” Carrington said calmly. On his extended palm rested her hairpin. “We found this in the billiards room.”
Trying to brace her racing heart, Ellie accepted the pin. “Thank you. I’d hoped you’d find it.”
Carrington levelled a look to Dorian that sent shivers down her spine. “Safe journey, Your Graces.”
He stepped away, and Dorian helped her into the vehicle before he nodded curtly to Carrington and joined her inside. She slid the pin into her coiffure and whispered, “There is a safe under a portrait of himself with a hound. The portrait isn’t nailed down, and that is suspicious enough for me.”
“You did well,” Dorian nodded. “I can work with that. Masterful touch by the way, to make it look as if you were lost.”
“And you said those novels were for ninnies,” she smiled teasingly. “It is not all woe-is-me between those covers, my love. There is mysticism, mystery, and a variety of sleuths.”
Dorian sat back and drummed his fingertips on the windowsill. “That does seem like a place he would hide things he does not want found. The question is, how do I get in there and uncover it?”
“Maybe you do not have to,” she said. “I can do—”
“No,” his words brook no argument. “It is already enough that you did this for me. I will not put you in direct harm’s way this time. The man is dangerous, unpredictable, and he’s found you in his study.
“I know he’s already suspicious, and if he finds you again, he will consider punishing you to get to me. I will not allow that,” Dorian reasoned.
The shadows in the carriage made him look dangerous as he flashed in and out of the light. Even so, she felt safer here with him than she could imagine anyone else.
Despite the lazy way he slouched back into his carriage seat and the heavy-lidded stare that saw everything, she still recalled the warmth in his eyes when they had danced earlier. She recalled in vivid detail the consideration in his visage.
“I want to see Victoria,” she abruptly said.
His head snapped to her at the sudden change in topic. “Why?”
Ellie’s shoulders wilted. Her tone grew exasperated. “Because she is my bosom friend, that is why.”
“Evelina—”
“If you’d prefer, we can go to Hyde Park or a tea house,” she offered. “It will be in public, and you can send the whole cadre of the Bow Street Runners with me if you want, but I want to see my friend.”
To her amusement, his lips twitched. “Are you giving me an ultimatum, my Duchess?”
She cocked her head. “I do not recall addingor elsein that sentence.”
“You might as well have,” he chuckled. “But I understand this is you putting your foot down. I don’t think it made much sense to ask me, because if I had said no, you would have gone anyway.”
“I would have.”
“So go,” he granted. “Go to her home and spend the whole afternoon if you’d like.”
Her lips parted in shock. A moment later, she shook her head in disbelief. “And tell me why my husband is so generous of late?”
“Why would I not be?” he asked. “You did very well tonight.”
Her lips pursed. “Can you say that without making it feel as if it’s a reward?”
Chuckling, he continued, “It is not a reward. It is a virtue of me trusting you to hold your own, but I still…” He reached for a box under his seat and pulled it out. Opening it, he revealed a small pearl-pistol and handed it to her.
“Keep this on your person at all times. Even if you do not know how to shoot it, pointing it at an assailant will make them think twice,” Dorian handed her the gun.
