Page 69 of The Pursuit of Mrs. Pennyworth
Yes!
“Thank you for your time, anyway, sir. I will continue to search.” Elliot left the shop lighthearted. Between the spiders, Talbot being left-handed, and now this new bit of information that Talbot had purchased the bracelet, it was plain he was their man. Why he would leave the horrible packages for her was still a puzzle. The only reason that made sense at all was his previous consideration that Talbot intended to frighten Charlotte into believing she was not safe living alone, and he would have eventually stepped in to offer his hand in marriage.
Whatever the man’s reasoning had been, Elliot intended to take care of the legal matters he needed to deal with, and then make a visit to Mr. Talbot’s home.
* * *
Charlotte spentthe first few hours of the day practically hiding in her bedchamber. After breaking her fast with the tray of toast, coddled eggs, and tea that Bridget had brought her, she had a hot bath in her newly installed bathing room.
While she soaked in the tub, easing the soreness between her legs due to the unfamiliar activity, she thought long and hard on Elliot’s proposal.
Marriage.
True, her experience with marriage had been short and sweet, but dare she take the chance to again place her heart in danger of being broken? Elliot had such a dangerous job, it frightened her.
While Gabriel had been charming and a bit of a daredevil, Elliot was more solid and steady. She doubted she would have to worry about him staying out all night playing cards, or recklessly racing around Hyde Park in a carriage. But with him, she had other worries, if she were to place her trust, her life—and most of all—her heart, into his hands.
He could be killed on one of his assignments—much like he was almost killed helping her. Another concern was her reluctance to share her problem with him on the Lord Barton matter. Would he become her champion, and confront Barton? Or would he assume she had been guilty as charged?
Feeling the beginning of a headache coming on and tying herself into knots over the issue of marriage, and, in particular, marriage to Elliot, she stepped out of the tub and rang for Bridget to assist her with dressing.
Once dried, dressed, and ready for the day, she left her room and went in search of Elliot, only to find he had left the house earlier and had still not returned.
She was just sitting down to luncheon when Elliot strode through the door, a bright smile on his face. “I believe we have our man.”
“Really?” Her heart thudded at his announcement, and she waved to the chair across from her. Thomas quickly set a place for Elliot as she regarded him with excitement. “Tell me who, and why, and…” Unable to form a coherent sentence with the idea of this all coming to an end, instead, she passed him the plate of warm bread that Thomas had just placed on the table. His words, along with the fragrance from the bread, and the lovely scent from the fish stew, brought her a sense of comfort and peace she hadn’t felt in weeks.
Elliot spread butter on his bread as he spoke. “I just happened to be passing by a jewelry store on Bond Street and saw Mr. Talbot coming out of the shop.”
“Mr. Talbot!” Her stomach knotted at hearing her old friend’s name. Even though Elliot had suspected the man, with his possessive attitude toward her, along with his collection of spiders and being left-handed, she couldn’t believe he was the person victimizing her in such a manner. He had been Gabriel’s friend and had been such a strong supporter when he’d died.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I am quite distressed.”
“On a hunch, I went into the store and spoke with the owner. I asked about purchasing a diamond bracelet and told him the gentleman who had just left his shop had showed me one. The shop owner knew Mr. Talbot by name, and said that yes, he had bought a diamond and ruby bracelet from him a few weeks ago.”
All the breath left her lungs, and she collapsed back onto her chair. “I am so surprised to hear this.” She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. Was the end of the torture worth the pain she felt at Mr. Talbot’s betrayal? “What did you do?”
“Nothing yet. I am sure Talbot is our man, but since I have no concrete evidence, I must think of a way I can get him to confess. Up until I had been attacked, and then shot at, no crime had been committed, so there had been no reason to alert the authorities. Things have changed now, so we must have absolute proof, or a confession, in order to call in Scotland Yard.”
She shook her head, still reeling with the idea of Mr. Talbot leaving such disgusting and frightening things on her doorstep. “Where do the flowers fit in?”
“I don’t know. But if his mind is so disturbed as to leave dead animals on your doorstep, then who knows how the flowers fit in?” He shrugged. “I admit I am at a loss to explain human behavior. Word at Scotland Yard is that the so-called Jack the Ripper could be a doctor or surgeon. Who would ever think someone with that sort of an education and brain would suddenly begin to attack prostitutes?”
“It is a sad world we live in.” Her appetite gone, Charlotte pushed the dish of stew away from her, pulling her cup of tea forward with shaky hands.
* * *
“Have you thought over my proposal?”In all the excitement of narrowing down the tiny list of suspects to just one and planning how to bring the matter to an end, Elliot had pushed the idea of marriage to the back of his mind. Now sitting here with Charlotte, it emerged as an important issue to be settled.
Charlotte raised her chin. “Yes, I have thought it over, and I do not see why we should marry merely because we…” She flushed.
He grinned and covered her hand with his. “Made love?”
“Yes. I am no longer a maiden. We are adults, neither of us have made a commitment to anyone else, so there is no reason to assume that we must therefore rush into marriage.”
“So then, you wish to have an affair?”
She gave him a brief nod, looking far too determined for his liking. He realized he did very much want to marry Charlotte. She was smart, beautiful, graceful, and everything he ever wanted in a wife. She would be a wonderful mother to any children they had. Which brought him to another point. “Suppose there is a child?”
