Page 115 of A Single Obsession

“I am delighted to learn that…um…Miss Merry is here, though I didn’t expect her so soon. She has…um…come to look at her future home and give me her…opinions on some alterations I am considering, but it is a pity my mother could not accompany her. My betrothed can’t stay in the house without a chaperon, and will have to return to London tonight. Please prepare my mother’s carriage for the journey.”

“Very good, my lord.”

“And Jensen? Who drove here today?”

“I don’t rightly know, your lordship. It weren’t the normal coachman.”

“Oh? And where is he now? Has he been given the afternoon off, too?”

“Nah. He’s up at the house kissing her ladyship’s maid. I saw them when I slipped into the kitchen to see if I could find something to eat.”

“I hope Mrs Allett fed you.”

“Weren’t nobody there. Think they must all have the day off.”

“Ah well. Harris probably thought they weren’t needed. My plans changed at the last minute. How inconvenient. Could you fetch him if I told you where he lived?” Beau asked, holding out a coin.

Jensen required no more encouragement and sped off toward his steward’s cottage.

Now for the troublesome duo up at the house.

For a moment he considered confronting them alone, but then he thought of his plucky bride and a lopsided grin crept onto his face.

His Eliza was equal to anything.

They would deal with this together.

Chapter 50

Eliza plucked another leaf off the tree and pulled it to pieces. Why was Beau taking so long? Had someone else hit him over the head?

At last, she saw him coming out of the stable yard and had difficulty restraining herself from running to meet him.

He relayed the conversation he’d had with Jensen. “The only people in the house are Reed and the coachman.”

“So no one was there to rescue us if we hollered?”

Beau tilted her chin up toward him and gazed down into her eyes. “No, my naïve little puss. To rescue you. No one would think twice about rescuing a gentleman from a compromising situation.”

“Oh, I see. What are we going to do?”

“Get you out of here. I’ve ordered Jensen to prepare the carriage for the return journey, but first, let’s find out what this pair of miscreants is up to.”

They entered the house at the rear, crept along the passage past the housekeeper’s room and kitchen, and up the back stairs. The building was swathed in eery silence.

“Quietly, now,” Beau said. “I don’t want them to come upon us unawares. Though I doubt they’d risk a direct attack, we must remember it’s likely this man hit me over the head.”

He pushed open a semi-hidden entrance in the wall in front of him and disappeared inside. Eliza followed him into a starkly decorated hallway.

“I’m surprised you found time to investigate the servants’ passages when you’ve only been back for a few days,” she whispered, closing the door behind her.

“I told you Harris was thorough.”

They moved down the passage in silence, listening for any noise that might help locate Reed and the coachman. When they were level with the drawing room, Eliza heard voices.

Beau motioned to her to retrace her steps part way along the corridor. “If I’ve judged correctly, we should be outside the tapestry chamber.”

They stood at the door and listened for the sound of any movement within.