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Orris pulled away and rounded him, heading to the other side of the room. “My virtue is not what is in danger. And I intend to help you so the sooner we get started, the sooner I may leave and return to my bedchambers.”

“Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are? I have never encountered someone so entirely headstrong in my life,” Abram said, shaking his head.

“Good to know what you think of me. Now, let’s get started. We only have a few hours before the servants rise to prepare for the day.”

Abram let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. He paced for a moment, hands on his hips and periodically glancing back at her, as if aghast. Orris was utterly unmoved by his display.

Instead of waiting for him to give her permission, she walked over to the desk, where she saw the bundles of letters, and grabbed a stack off the top. Taking a seat on the settee near the window, she set the letters on her lap and began to read them in the moonlight. Opening the first, she placed the envelope beside her and settled in.

“If you insist on being here, at least use the lamplight to read. I’ll not be responsible for your eyes going bad.”

“I have very good eyesight, thank you very much.”

“I wish you had good common sense instead,” he chided.

Orris could not help the smirk. While she was focused on the letters, she still felt the weight of him, his presence, with her in the room. There was something about him. His demeanor and his strength of conviction… Why did all men not possess such virility and passion?

If everyone were like him, she would not be so resistant to the marriage market.

Every once in a while, she would glance up and catch him staring. Their eyes would meet, followed by a crackle of energy between them. The sensation would run the length of her spine and back again.

She knew it was bad for her to be in his presence alone. And she had not intended to be in any way untoward. However, she did not regret her actions.

Of course, the priority was to help him, yet there was something more. An undeniable energy she felt from just being around him. She pushed those thoughts aside and struggled to keep her attention where it should be: on the letters.

The correspondence was from a host of people, some family and some friends, until one letter was very worn, as if Rowan had taken it out again and again. There, directly in the middle of the pile, was where she found it. A young woman by the name of Leandra spoke to him at great length regarding the outcome of a pregnancy. An illegitimate one.

She sought his assistance in getting the child’s father to claim him. And the last line of the letter she read: My child deserves the last name McQueen.

“Abram, you must read this.” Orris was not sure exactly what she had found. She knew that Abram had a brother from their conversation before, but this woman had not shared which brother or even if it was the father who had sired her child.

A knot formed in the pit of her belly. She wanted to ask him outright what she feared. Instead, she passed over the letter and waited for him to finish reading it.

“This cannot be,” he said. “Neither my father nor my brother would sire a child and not claim them. They may be merciless, but they are both honorable. There must be someone else.”

“What will you do? Will you ask your family? Perhaps there is a cousin…”

“This is a sensitive matter. I wonder if that was what my father was referring to in his letters to me? He mentioned something delicate and that I should return home so that he may tell me about it. This Leandra does not mention how old the child is. And I have not been home in some time. I have no knowledge of this woman. Never met her, nor even heard of her before now.”

A wave of relief swept over Orris. She was not sure why, especially since Abram had no relationship with her. He was not promised to her, yet to find out that the child was not his lifted weight from her shoulders. While it answered no questions about who could have been the father, she believed what he’d said.

“Abram, how will you know what this is about if you do not write to them? Will you return home to Ireland to ask these questions in person?

“I do not know. It is such an endeavor to travel home when Rowan’s killer may still be on English shores. I believe I should continue to try to find out what happened. To determine whether anyone else is aware of who may have taken Rowan and ultimately killed him.”

“Whom would you ask? I thought no one you’ve spoken to has seen him.”

“There was one man. The landlord in the apartments that we stayed in. He said that he had spoken to me, but he had not. I assumed he had confused me with Rowan. There was a question of outstanding fees for our room and board. At least, that’s what I took from our discussion.”

“Did he seem as if he was leaving something out? Was he reluctant to answer your questions? Myrtle reads mystery novels all the time. She says that whenever someone is exceptionally reticent to answer or respond to questions, they should be looked at twice.”

“Now that you mention it, there was a pile of papers on his desk in his office when I went to pay him. They certainly were not in any particular order, but on the top of the stack, there was a sheet with Rowan’s name written on it. I did not think much of it at the time, as we did have an outstanding balance with the man. But what if it was related to something else?”

“You should come up with a way to ask him about the paper. I wouldn’t just come out with it, as he may not be open to discussing it if it is related to the disappearance or murder. Instead, perhaps you could go back there and take it? If his office is unkempt, he may think he merely misplaced it.”

“That would feel too much like stealing. And I am no thief, Orris Gray.”

Orris considered this statement. He was relatively unknown to her. It was not so long ago he’d lied about his identity. To steal to clear one’s name was at least justified in the pursuit. “I did not accuse you of such, but it seems that is the only piece of information we have to go on. It may lead to the next clue. If you like, my sisters and I could provide a diversion outside while you break in and find the information.”