Page 38 of His Improper Lady

“Who are you? Why the hell are you following us?” Tom pressed his full weight into the man. “Answer me!”

“I’m not following you! I’m not! I swear. I was just walking along and you jumped me.”

“Maybe you ought to call for the police, then. You can tell them your story. Who do you think they’ll believe?”

The man just grunted.

“Tell me what you’re after. Did someone hire you?” Tom twisted his arm higher.

The man made a pained noise, but said nothing.

“Listen to me,” Tom growled, leaning into him harder. “If I see you following me or this lady again, if you lurk outside her house, I will take you apart limb by limb,” Tom growled. “Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Tom released him and stepped back. The man took off, shoving past Desiree. Desiree swung on Tom. “What are you doing? Why did you let him go? You barely asked him any questions.”

“He wasn’t going to tell me anything.” Tom took her hand and pulled her out onto the street with him. “And I want to follow him.”

Their former pursuer had broken into a run, and they hurried after him, keeping a good distance behind him. The man soon slowed down and stopped to catch his breath, then started walking again.

After a few minutes of trailing him, Desiree said, “He’s going back toward my house. Why? Do you think he’s going to take up watching the house again?”

“He’s not too bright if he does. But then, he wasn’t very bright about following us, either.”

Their quarry reached Desiree’s house, but he walked past it and turned at the next street. Tom and Desiree continued to follow him.

As they rounded the corner, they saw their target stop beside a carriage. Bending down, he unhooked the weight that keep the horses in place.

“That’s the carriage!” Desiree broke into a run, Tom beside her.

The man whirled and saw them. He jumped up into the driver’s seat and took off, leaving Tom and Desiree standing in the street, staring after him.

Tom cursed and Desiree let out a long sigh, sagging. She’d left this morning with such high hopes, but after all they’d done, here they were at the same place.

“Come.” She touched Tom’s arm. “Let’s sit down and take stock. It’s teatime, and I, for one, am starving.”

They returned to her house, and after consuming a few little cakes and dainty sandwiches and a great deal of tea, Desiree’s spirits began to pick up. “At least we found out that the man following us was the one spying on the house last night. I’m certain that was the same carriage.”

“We’ve got a bit more than that.” Tom seemed surprisingly cheerful. With a grin, he stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a jumble of objects, which he dumped on the low table before him.

Desiree’s eyes widened. “You picked his pocket!”

“I haven’t lost all my skills.”

She laughed. “No wonder you didn’t try to question him more.”

“I thought it was easier than beating him to a pulp in front of a church. And I doubt I would have learned anything anyway.” Tom spread out the objects. “Let’s see—a used ticket from Stepney.”

“Perhaps he lives there. But that doesn’t seem likely when he’s got a carriage.” Desiree moved over to sit beside Tom and examine the contents of the other man’s pockets. Her arm brushed against his, and even though the material of his jacket lay between his flesh and hers, her skin tingled with awareness. She thought of that moment when they were hiding behind the wall and Tom’s arms had been around her, his body close to hers.

“I suppose he could have hired the carriage,” Tom said. “Or maybe he’s working for someone.”

“Like Falk, you mean,” Desiree said.

Tom nodded. “I must say, though, one would think Falk would have sent someone better at the job.”

“He was very clumsy about it,” Desiree agreed. “That’s not like Falk. I didn’t recognize him as one of Falk’s men, but that doesn’t mean much. I haven’t been around them for over a decade.”