Page 61 of Fatal By Design

“We’ve been apart before,” she reminded him, releasing her disappointment. “For months at a time, if memory serves.”

“I’m ready for that pattern to end,” he grumbled.

She bit her lip and grinned. “As am I.”

He squared his shoulders, which had started to slump in a boyish pout. Now, however, he appeared his usual, unassailable self. “How will I find you?”

“I will write and keep you updated on where I am,” she promised.

“Good. And take care—you have a tendency to find trouble.”

She gaped at him in an imitation of shock. “On the contrary, Lord Neatham, I think it is trouble that tends to find me.”

“I’m not convinced that is any better.”

Just then, Carrigan and Greer parted ways and her driver stepped forward. “Are you ready to depart, Your Grace? We should leave soon if we’re to make it to Town before nightfall.”

“Just a moment,” she replied.

Cassie, too, was giving her goodbyes to her brothers and Genie. She and her maid would be going to Grosvenor Square to pack her things for their trip. Audrey would send notice to the hotel in Paris where she and Philip stayed on their wedding trip, to reserve accommodations. And then, they would all set out for Dover the following week before crossing the Channel to Calais.

It would be months before Audrey set eyes on Hugh again. Though she knew this trip was warranted and would make the next months pass by much more swiftly, she hesitated.

“I would kiss you if it weren’t for all the eyes on us,” she whispered.

Hugh arched a brow and took her gloved hand in his. Ignoring the others, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles, encased in black silk, and kept his eyes hinged on hers. “Soon that won’t matter. And I warn you—it will be a very long time before I can keep my mouth off yours, whether people are looking or not."

Audrey felt as if she might incinerate on the spot. Nearby, Michael cleared his throat, and when Hugh handed Audrey up into her carriage, even Carrigan was smothering a grin.

“Dead bodies,” Hugh said. “Steer clear of them, will you?”

“I shall certainly try.”

Hugh shut the door and mouthed“I love you”before stepping back to join the others.

Audrey kept her tears at bay as Carrigan got into the driver’s box, and as she waved to Genie, Michael, Tobias, and their staff that had come out to see them off. As the carriage pulled away, and when she could no longer see Hugh, she sat back and closed her eyes, finally allowing them to slip down her hot cheeks.

“Nothing will change while we are gone, Your Grace,” Greer said after a few moments of quiet. Audrey peered at her maid, who wore a knowing look. It wasn’t quite a smile, as she had given Carrigan, but close. “We will be back in England before you know it.”

“Yes, Greer, you are right,” she said, wiping her cheeks.

Hugh would be there when she returned. She would be in half-mourning then, and able to be a bit more social. If Sir Gabriel were to give him a case, she would not have to bow out and sit at home twiddling her thumbs. She was eager for it.

But until then, she would enjoy her trip with Cassie. And with any hope, the trouble Hugh teased her about would stay far, far away.

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