She left him, oddly touched, but paused at the door. “My lord…”
He glanced up at her.
“Forgive me if I’m being impertinent, but you’ve been so kind. Do you think you might call me Fanny as the others do?” She hadn’t realized it mattered, but this dignified and distinguished man was as much her sibling as Rob and Maddy—as Wil and Amy, come to that. She didn’t want to be Miss Hancock, an outsider here.
His startled expression softened into something else and finally into his sad smile. “Madelyn would have corrected me before now, Fanny,” he said. He sighed. “I believe, that being the case, that you might call me David in private. Clarion in public, as Madelyn does.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, wiping moisture from her eyes as she made her way through the house. It took her two wrong turns and a helpful footman to find the corridor that led past the kitchens to the storerooms and the estate office. The door was firmly shut.
At her knock, a voice—his voice—called, “Enter.”
Eli sat behind a massive desk, piles of papers in front of him, pen in hand. He rose when she entered. “Miss Hancock! Good morning. I wasn’t expecting you.”
Miss Hancock? Not you!He held himself rigid, with the desk like a shield between them.
“I—” She swallowed, coming to a halt. A niggle of suspicion grew. The earl was his employer, after all.Has Clarion—David—expressed disapproval of our—what is our relationship? Friendship? What utter nonsense. It is for us to sort and none of his concern.
“Please, sit. Do you need my assistance?” Eli asked. The efficient steward had returned, all business.
She sat, tamping down hurt. “I believe I need your opinion. My brother has suggested—more or less ordered—that I stay at Clarion Hall for safety and that we postpone the search for a cottage of my own. Do you agree with this dictate?”
Eli made a show of straightening the papers in front of him. “It is sound advice, Miss Hancock. You know Rob, Sir Robert”—he stumbled over the uncomfortable (and in Fanny’s opinion, ludicrous) return to formality—“and his organization are investigating the string of abductions. As long as an obsessive madman wishes to add you to his victims, you are safest here.”
Fanny’s heart sank, but he looked directly at her and spoke more gently, “I do have some news. We have word from both courts. Chancery has agreed to forestall foreclosure on the shop pending the outcome of the petition regarding the personal estate of Horace Rundle. The ecclesiastical court received the earl’s request that you be named administrator of Wil’s inheritance. Unfortunately, they either misunderstood or ignored his preference and wished to name the earl himself as administrator. Clarion’s note in the margin to me is, ‘Kindly address this in Manchester.’”
“I can be ready to travel in the morning,” Fanny responded, excitement growing.
“No.” He glared at her.
“What do you mean, ‘no’? It is my business to conduct,Mr.Benson.” She glared right back. “I’m going with you or without you.”
He surged to his feet. “Damn it, Fanny, I’m not having you on the road. We would need to take half the king’s army to keep you safe. Have you learned nothing?”
She rose as well and leaned as far across his desk as she could. “‘Fanny,’ is it? Make up your mind!” she shouted. “And when were you put in charge of my safety?”
Anger. Frustration. Hurt. She saw them all cross his face. His features settled into a troubled mix, his aspect begging. “Fanny, I can’t bear to go through it again. My heart almost died when they held up the coach. You cannot go to Manchester.”
She stood up, her hands clenched in front of her. “Very well, Mr. Benson, solicitor and steward extraordinaire. Take yourself off to court on the earl’s behalf. Correct their misunderstanding if you can. But know this—” She leaned both hands on his desk and pinned him with a look. “—what is between us is not finished. We will address it when you return.”
They glared at each other across the expanse of his desk, but Eli couldn’t sustain it. His eyes softened, and Fanny felt certain she could see his pulse pounding in his throat above the informal cravat he wore. It gave her hope.
