She didn’t believe that for a moment, but she laughed. “At least you don’t have to do it on horseback. But what will you do with the curricle and the horses?”
“A groom will be waiting for us at Holyhead.”
“You knew all along…” She fixed him with an incensed stare. “You wanted me to suffer.”
“No, I hoped you’d change your mind and allow me to take you home.”
Erina didn’t know whether to slap him or hug him. He was taking her all the way to Cathleen’s. The relief was so palpable, she couldn’t resist a grin. “Thank you, Harry,” she said softly.
A smile lurked in his eyes. “No need to thank me, Erina.” He turned to look at the door. “Where is our meal? The service here has been better.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“Yes. Once or twice.”
“Then… the proprietor knows you?”
“I suppose he might have recognized me. A good innkeeper remembers faces, if not names.”
She released a breath. She’d been lucky so far not to have come across anyone who knew her or her father, or the whole of London would learn about this before long. And then she and Harry would have to marry. Which neither of them wanted. Obviously.
Chapter Eleven
The following morning,Jack walked through Grosvenor Square, where the tree branches hung over the ornate, green iron railing. The leaves dripped from a recent rain shower, and the smell of wet earth permeated the air. He paused for a carriage to pass, then crossed to Butterstone’s home, one of the most impressive in the square, with six monolithic columns decorating the façade.
He climbed the few steps and knocked on the front door. The footman who answered informed him that the butler had been taken ill. “It was the news of the master’s death,” he said. “We are all shocked, sir.”
Jack nodded in commiseration and handed him his card. “Would you inform Mr. Thacker that I am here to see him on a matter concerning his lordship?”
A short time later, the majordomo responded to the footman’s summons. A stocky man, his brown hair arranged in an artful Brutus, he took his time crossing the marble floor, as if filled with a keen sense of his own importance, plus a devout need to be elsewhere. Jack could see how he would annoy other members of the staff, especially the butler, who was generally the top of the tree among household servants.
He offered Jack a frozen smile. “I hardly see how I can be of help, Captain Ryder, when his lordship died in the country.”
“Nevertheless, I should like to ask you a few questions.”
“Very well. Please come this way,” Thacker said curtly.
It appeared that Thacker’s charm was reserved for titled gentlemen. Jack considered it an advantage, for it allowed him the same latitude. When shown into the majordomo’s small office, he took the chair offered and put his first question to the servant in a faintly accusatory manner, which he hoped might rattle the man and make him more forthcoming. “I have reason to believe his lordship’s luggage was permitted to be searched before it left this house, Mr. Thacker.” Were they looking for incriminating evidence Lord Butterstone had brought back with him from Paris?
“Permitted by whom?” Thacker sat back in his chair and stroked a hand over his hair. “His lordship’s baggage is always attended to by his valet. No one else.”
“His valet examined Lord Butterstone’s luggage when it reached Ivywood Hall. He is quite certain it had been searched after he’d packed it. Who else had access to it if not you?”
“Me?” Thacker rubbed the back of his neck, looking faintly alarmed. “I hope you don’t believe that I…”
“It’s not a matter of what Ibelieve, Mr. Thacker. It’s a fact that his lordship’s baggage was searched. You must know who has access to his rooms apart from the housekeeper and the upstairs maids.”
“Only the footmen who brought the luggage down. His lordship’s secretary was not here.”
“What happens to the luggage after it leaves the suite?”
“It’s left in the entry hall at the front door before being placed in the carriage.”
“Do two footmen work together?”
“As always, yes. There were five pieces of luggage and her ladyship’s trunk.”
“Have both footmen been long in the marquess’s employ?”
