“What did you do? That isn’t like Esther!” She strode into her home without waiting for an answer and breathed in the scent of the place, expecting its familiar sensation of safety to wrap around her. At least she did until she saw her loyal Esther, white-faced and shaking in her dressing gown, Maddy’s old pistol in her right hand, pointed at the floor.
“Let me take that, Miss Gilley,” Morgan spoke gently, took the pistol, and urged the woman to a seat. “I’m so sorry I frightened you.”
Esther started to obey, glanced at Maddy, and wrung her hands. Maddy sat on the chair next to her so that the housekeeper would not feel obliged to stand. “Please sit, Esther.” Morgan disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.Running, the wretch. “I’m sorry that man distressed you.”
“Not he, Your Grace, though I expect he frightened me at first, as if he were that Jessop come back.”
Maddy felt the blood drain from her face. “He came here?”
“Aye, Your Grace. Three days ago.”
Morgan reappeared in moments, went down on one knee in front of Esther, and presented a glass of what smelled suspiciously like spirits. “Take a sip of this, ma’am. I have water heating for tea. Just a sip or two of this for your nerves.”
Esther obeyed, grimaced, and waved the glass away. “Tea will serve.”
Maddy refused to meet Morgan’s eyes, lest he urge spirits on her as well, and clutched her hands together to keep them from shaking. She felt rather than saw Morgan’s intense presence. He stood but remained so close she could feel his heat. “Tell me, Esther. Did Jessop threaten you?”
“N-No—well, maybe some. He had a fierce look about him, dressed all rough, and leaned so close I could smell his dinner. Shouted some. Didn’t like it when I said you weren’t here. Said he knew you planned to come back. Looked over my shoulder like we were hiding something, but he didn’t make threats. That’s what made me wonder. He asked about someone named Gideon. Told him I never heard of him. Asked if Glenmoor were here. I laughed in his face and told him they never come here. Then he left.”
“But something about him frightened you,” Maddy said.
“He were…” Esther groped for a word. “Determined,” she said at last. “Thinks we have something or someone and he’s bound to wring it from us, and nothing would stop him. Emma Corbin told me he asked questions at the Willow too. Folks think he’s a queer duck.”
“That’s one word for it,” Morgan muttered. “Your Grace—”
“Whatever it is, Colonel Morgan, I will manage it. Your services and Corporal Goodfellow’s are not needed.”
“Goodfellow will stay on for the foreseeable future. I’m to recruit a groom or two from Willowbrook to assist him.”
Maddy rolled her eyes. “Jessop may be persistent and rude, but I still don’t believe he’s a threat. I plan to speak to him.” When Morgan would have objected, she raised a hand to wave him off. “I must pay a visit to the hall tomorrow to check on something. And then I will approach Jessop at The Willow and the Rose. Old Mr. Benson will see that he behaves.”
“He isn’t there.” Esther’s words drew their attention. “Emma Corbin sent word this morning. He disappeared. Never paid his shot at the Willow. I thought… I thought he had circled back, but that were foolishness.”
Morgan’s bafflement matched Maddy’s. They peered at each other as though their thoughts might find an answer to the questions they shared. Who was Jessop, really, and where had he gone?
“I’ll accompany you tomorrow,” Morgan said. “Perhaps Eli Benson knows something.”
Maddy started to object but stopped.Don’t be a fool, Madelyn. Stop waving off well-intended assistance. Two heads truly are better than one. Yet some of what she sought wasn’t hers to reveal. She let it go, a conundrum for tomorrow.
Tonight she had lesser problems to solve. She would offer him a room for the night, though even Esther’s and the corporal’s presences would not wipe out the scandalous taint of a man in her little house from people’s minds if they knew about it. “We have no stables, Colonel Morgan. I’m afraid—”
The wretch cocked an ironic eyebrow. “Goodfellow and I will follow the Clarion carriage up to the hall and then take turns patrolling. Tomorrow I’ll carry out my errand to Willowbrook, arrange rooms at the Willow, and meet you at the hall.”
Maddy’s breath caught when the ferocity in his eyes softened as it had the night of the Danbury musicale. She swallowed the lump in her throat when he reached out to tuck an errant curl behind her ear and slid a gentle finger down her cheek before continuing. “We’ll solve the Jessop mystery. Your instinct is correct. The sooner you resolve whatever it is that troubles you, the sooner you can go back to your peaceful life.”
A quick smile flashed across his normally stoic visage, and he was gone, leaving Maddy in the doorway to watch him ride away.Back to your peaceful life… That is all you want. Isn’t it, Madelyn?She no longer knew. For now, she had a task to complete. What harm in also enjoying the company of a lovely man? She stared after him, letting warmth pool inside, allowing herself the joy of it.
Chapter Fourteen
At Clarion Hall,Eli Benson’s easy manner and pleasant face soothed Maddy’s nerves. “Jessop asked only for you, Your Grace. He had no other questions for me, although my sister, Emma, came all abuzz about the man the next day. She said he asked Da questions about Glenmoor six ways to Sunday.”
Maddy chewed her lower lip. “People assume an innkeeper knows everything that happens in a community. I hope he took Mr. Benson’s word.”
She followed him down the long corridor, past the kitchen and scullery, to the office that had become his domain. He was, after all, as much steward as solicitor at this point and had taken up the small apartment above the cellars as his own premises. At Eli’s whispered word to the butler, one of the maids scurried after them.Yes, we must protect Mr. Benson’s reputation, she thought wryly.
The estate office had changed in the time since it had become Eli’s. Neat stacks of paper covered a narrow table along one wall where once tools and seed had been stacked. Pens, a blotter, and ink—the tools of Eli’s trade—had been left in disarray when he’d been called to greet her.
“The strong room is—But you know this place better than I do, Your Grace! Would you like to open it?” Eli held up the key. She waved a hand to indicate he should proceed.
