Page 53 of Married to the Earl

There’s no ‘maybe’ about it. I’m definitely falling in love with her.

After admiring her from afar for so long, it felt like a miracle. He had never dreamed that their marriage would fall together this neatly, that everything would work out so well.

Everything in his life seemed perfect in that moment, sitting with the woman he loved in front of the fire.

It was hard to imagine that anything could go wrong now.

Chapter 21

Conor kissed his wife in the doorway. “I really don’t have to go,” he told her.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You promised Mr. Wilson you’d come back to work. You don’t want him coming here to roust you out again, do you?”

“No,” Conor said. “But it’s my club, not Henry’s, and if I say we can go another few days without both of us at the helm, then we can. I don’t want to abandon you here.”

“You’re being silly, Conor.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him again. “I’m perfectly fine. I have Betsy here, and DuBois if I need him for anything, and you’ll be back in just a few hours.”

“I know.”

“Besides, I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll explore the library,” she told him. “I haven’t come close to exhausting your collection of books yet. You have enough up there that I could spend the rest of my life reading and never run out of new material.”

He smiled. He liked that she was a reader. “All right,” he said. “But if anything does come up, if you need me for any reason, don’t hesitate to send DuBois out for me. Promise?”

“I promise,” she said. “Now will you get going please? I don’t want Mr. Wilson to think I’m a bad influence on you!”

“All right.” He kissed her one last time, grabbed his hat from the hat stand by the door, and departed.

Walking down the street felt strange after so long spent on his own property, and Conor was keenly aware of just how thoroughly he had isolated himself since his marriage.Maybe Henry’s right, he thought begrudgingly.Maybe I haven’t been making myself as available as I should have.

He would make an effort to sit down with Henry today, he decided. He would have a conversation with his friend about what Henry needed to best take care of The Arc, and how Conor could be contributing to set the business up for success. He didn’t want Henry to feel as though Conor was nothing more than a silent partner. He wanted to be involved.

But I should also tell him what I’ve been thinking, about giving him a larger stake in the business,he decided.I shouldn’t have kept that idea from him as long as I have. He’ll be gratified to know that it’s something I’m thinking about.

At least, he hoped that was how Henry would feel. He hoped his friend wouldn’t simply think it was about time he was given more of a hand in the running of the club.

And more of a financial stake in it, too.

Henry wouldn’t be able to shake a stick atthat, Conor thought. He would be nothing but happy with the news that Conor wanted to help him increase his personal wealth.

He turned the corner onto The Arc’s street, already excited for the conversation he would have with his friend today. Their lives would be changed forever by this, he knew. It was going to be a great day.

Suddenly, Henry burst through the door of the club and came tearing up the street as if his hair was on fire. “Conor!”

Conor took in the expression of alarm on Henry’s face. “What’s going on?” he asked. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

“Something terrible has happened,” Henry said. “Thank God you’re here.”

“What happened?” Conor’s heart sank. “We weren’t robbed again, were we?”

“No, it’s…” Henry shook his head. “You’d better come. The constables are here. They’re going to want to speak with you.”

“The constables?” Conor said. “Did you summon them?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Henry said.

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