Page 26 of The Countess Caper

“And now she’s all alone, though it was terribly kind of her cousin Tessa to take her in, wouldn’t you say?”

“Oh,” Mrs. Harris said again.

“Wouldn’t you say, Mrs. Harris?” Summer pressed, steel flashing under lace.

“Yes, yes, of course.”

“She’s with the midwife for a few more days. I’m sure you’d like to bring her a basket. It’s the kind thing to do. Especially with the village’s reputation to consider.”

Mrs. Harris’s face turned red. Tessa enjoyed the spectacle far more than she should. Mrs. Harris curtsied stiffly, Miss Tottenham curtsied too deeply and wobbled, and then they hurried away, whispering.

“Well done, you.”

Summer slipped her arm through Tessa’s. “She’s going to be a problem.”

Tessa sighed. “I know.”

They turned to head back home and found themselves across from the pub. Roarke’s carriage sat in the courtyard, finer than anything the village had seen in weeks. Possibly months. Some of the children sat in a row on a wall, swinging their feet and shouting out all of the places they would visit in such a carriage. London, India, the moon.

The door opened, and Roarke’s silhouette filled the space. Huge, handsome, imposing. He turned his head slightly. He should not have noticed her there, staring like a pewit. But he did, and she was caught, just for a moment. Their eyes clashed. The noise of carts and people buying turnips and flour and horses and dogs washed away. The sun went brighter, the shadows deeper. His gaze found her, held her, if just for that moment.

And then Tessa turned on her heel and fled.

Chapter Nine

Regrettably, cowardice had consequences.

And it wasn’t just having Summer poke fun at her all through the fields and up the drive. Or having to wonder at the warmth in her cheeks and behind her knees. It wasn’t a decision hurtling straight for her.

It was finding Rue, Holly, and Daphne standing in the yellow parlor with the half-ripped wallpaper. Bryony was already in hiding, tucked comfortably in some nook or cranny. She never minded the dust or the spiders or the cramped quarters, as long as she was hidden. She never complained. Rue, on the other hand…

“The storm broke another window,” she said.

Tessa approached, frowning. “Well, that’s hardly unusual.”

“But these are.”

They moved out of the way to let her in. The glass pane was indeed cracked, but not entirely broken. The latch to lock it was loose. And worse was on the floor in front of it.

Footprints.

Large, slightly muddy footprints.

“None of ours,” Rue said, confirming Tessa’s instinct. “Too big. We checked.”

Trepidation shuddered through Tessa. “Everyone is accounted for?” she asked. Rue nodded. Tessa nodded back. They’d get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

Tessa looked at the footprints again. She would not have noticed them last night. But the mud seemed fresh—surely it would have dried since the storm. She peered outside, into the messy, weedy garden patch along the side of the house. The dirt there was still wet enough to track.

Whoever it was could be in the house right now. Someone sent to drag Holly home. Whoever Bryony was hiding from that she was too afraid to even mention.

“Right,” Tessa said when Holly began to shiver. Daphne put an arm around her. “Rue, Daphne, and I will sweep the house, search every room. I’ll start in the attic, you two start in the cellars, and we’ll meet in the middle. Holly, hide yourself away.”

Holly nodded and fled.

“I’ll help,” Summer said.

Tessa shook her head. “You’ve helped enough already. I can’t ask you to do that.”