Page 27 of The Inconvenient Compromise
Monday—Morning (the wee hours)…
They were closer to dawn than to midnight by the time they returned home. In the carriage, Fiona had fallen asleep against his shoulder, snoring softly. It was a delicate sound, one that—if he mentioned it to her—would see her mortified. So he’d keep that little secret for himself and savor it as he chose.
Once they arrived home, she awakened. “I did not mean to fall asleep.”
“You looked very peaceful,” he replied. “I almost asked the driver to continue our journey—to wander aimlessly through London until you had woken.”
“I think that would not be very comfortable for either of us,” she said with a soft laugh.
Lucian pulled her closer. Sleepy-eyed and warm, pliant in his arms. He was very eager to revisit their activities from the alcove at the Westerhavens’. “Let us go upstairs to our bedchamber, remove the cursed clothes, and make love until the dawn.”
“That is hours away!”
“So it is,” he agreed. “And we will make good use of them.”
The carriage door opened then, and the footman lowered the steps, halting any further conversation. Lucian climbed out first, then offered her his hand to help her down. As they turned toward the front door of the house, some movement caught his eye. His head snapped around, and he saw the little man that Westerhaven had sent to him, the investigator.
“It appears we will have to postpone our pleasures,” he murmured softly.
“My lord,” the man said, stepping forward, “I have news about the lady.”
“The lady?” Fiona queried.
“Charlotte Farraday,” Lucian explained. “This is Mr. Bosworth. He’s an investigator that I hired to keep an eye on her. I think this is important, or he would not be here at this time of night. Go upstairs, Fiona. Go to bed and rest. I shall tell you all in the morning.”
Fiona glanced from him to the investigator and then back. “Will you be in danger?”
“No, m’lady,” the investigator, Mr. Bosworth, answered softly. “There’s no danger to him, but I must impart what I’ve seen, for it’s quite serious.”
“You will tell me everything tomorrow,” Fiona insisted to him.
Lucian nodded. “I will. There will be no secrets between us, Fiona. I promise. Go inside.”
When Fiona had climbed the steps and disappeared into the house, Lucian gestured to the coach. “We can speak privately while we are on our way to wherever it is we must go.”
“The Boar’s Flagon, my lord… then Westminster Bridge.”
“Westminster Bridge?” It was a popular site for suicides, but he’d hardly have counted Lady Bruxton as someone willing to end her own life.
“Aye, my lord. The butler drove off after midnight in a cart and dumped a trunk over the side of the bridge. I can’t say what was in it, but it looked very heavy… Too heavy for a man alone. There’s only one thing that heavy what people throw in a river under cover of darkness.”
“But not Lady Bruxton… she is still safe at home.”
“Indeed. She’s been gathering money… I’ve seen her selling off her jewels. Pawning them. I can only think she must have been blackmailed. And I think what went into the River Thames was the blackmailer.”
“Estelle Weddington,” Lucian surmised. “Since her escape from the asylum, she’s vanished entirely. It would only make sense that Lady Bruxton had been harboring her. “And The Boar’s Flagon?”
“A tavern, sir. Tis where the butler went after he had disposed of the trunk. I spoke to the tavern keeper, and the man was inquiring about hiring a person named Roger Turner. When I asked the tavern keeper what Mr. Turner’s occupation was, he informed me that Mr. Turner, for a price, would do all manner of dirty deeds.”
“And was the butler successful in hiring him?”
“No, m’lord. Mr. Turner is not in London at present, and there is another gentleman that was recommended to the butler. He was to send for the butler when the man arrives.”
“We need Westerhaven and Lord Ralston.”
Mr. Bosworth smiled. “I’ve sent word to them already, m’lord. They are already off the Westminster Bridge to retrieve the trunk.”
“What an efficient investigator you are, Mr. Bosworth,” Lucian observed. “I will keep that in mind should the need for such services ever arise in the future.”
