Page 104 of The Duke's Forbidden Bride
“Is there any news on the investigation?” Eleanor asked Spencer in his study the following day.
She was perched on the edge of his desk, assessing a jasmine she had grown for him and potted. She had once teased that he could put it in his study to think of her during long days of work.
Yet he had, and she could not stop looking at it.
“Some,” he answered. “Larkin has more information, but since he’s still involved with his clients, he will likely not speak to me openly. In the meantime, I only have moments to look through his ledgers, and that is only when I convince him that I am checking up on my bets.”
“What about the Renshaws?”
“Clean, when it comes to Belgrave,” he muttered. “Everything else is murky, of course. I have been looking into the overseer Theodore and I saw meeting with Renshaw, but he seems clean so far. Either these people are excellent at deception—it is unlikely, for there is always one person who messes up without meaning to—or they really do not realizewhothey are transporting.”
Eleanor sighed, her hopelessness growing.
“The only good thing, perhaps,” Spencer continued, still sifting through his papers, “is that no more notable ladies have disappeared from theton.And I say notable because they are the only ones I might get information on.”
“That is what scares me,” Eleanor murmured.
“I know.” Spencer nodded. “But the more notable they are, the more they will sell for. Forgive my crassness, but if they have lost you—and with Charlotte under my protection—then they are at a great loss.”
Before Eleanor could say anything, Mr. Fulton entered, carrying a note. “Your Grace, this is from Mrs. Winters regarding your new maid.”
“Thank you.” Eleanor hopped off the desk to take the note.
The butler left, and she tore it open, finding a letter—but also finding another concealed within it.
She frowned. And then her blood ran cold.
“Spencer,” she whispered, her knees trembling.
She held out the letter to him, and he took it immediately, standing to move to her side.
“The seal has been tampered with. It is very meticulous work to be noticed, but… the housekeeper’s note was intercepted.”
He read it, and she looked at the bold handwriting.
Frances, Frances,
I wonder who is next?
Her hands shook as she gripped Spencer’s desk, leaning against it for support. He stood behind her, holding her up with a mere touch.
“Who is next…” Eleanor echoed. “You do not think?—”
“No,” he said firmly. “No, I will not let anything happen to you or Charlotte.”
He thought she was worried about herself, but it was Charlotte she feared for.
She knew the men were simply lying in wait. She had been bracing herself for a while, yet it still struck her to her core. She trembled at the thought of anything happening.
“You will both be safe,” Spencer promised her. “I swear it.”
The music followed Eleanor and Spencer out of the dinner party they attended later that week.
Spencer had argued that if they went out together with Charlotte and his aunt, it would reaffirm that Charlotte was under protection. That they were not afraid of Lord Belgrave or Lord Follet.
“It could force one of them to show their hands,”he had said on the way over.“They will grow tired of waiting, especially if money is involved. Lord Follet will want to stop delaying the announcement of his engagement, but until then, Charlotte remains safer and out of his clutches.”
The garden that spread out beyond the open terrace doors welcomed them, offering them a moment of privacy.
