Page 10 of The Secret of the Dashing Detective
“Which would be?” her mother said, waiting.
“I—I must visit Lady Maria!” she burst out, wondering where that had come from. She barely knew Lady Maria, the woman her mother had been hoping her brother would marry before he became interested in Emma.
Her mother was not currently convinced.
“Lady Maria Bennington?”
“Yes,” Juliana forged on, as it was too late to back away now. “We became… friendly when she and her mother visited us in the country. I told her I would call upon her today.”
Her mother considered this information for a moment before pursing her lips.
“Very well. We shall have a quick tea with Lord and Lady Hemingway and then we will go visit Lady Maria and Lady Bennington.”
“Oh, no,” Juliana said desperately. “Lady Maria’s mother is… out.”
“Out?”
“Yes, she is out for the day. That is why Lady Maria asked that I visit this afternoon. To provide her company.”
“Very well,” her mother said, waving her hand. “Please do change quickly. It would never do for Lord Hemingway to see you like that.”
Juliana began to take a step toward the staircase, forgetting Mr. Archibald’s presence until she ran into him, but he smoothly backed up.
“Juliana?” her mother said before she could leave the room.
“Yes.”
“I know Mr. Archibald is here to ensure your safety, but it would be best for the two of you not to be alone – even out of doors. Do you understand me?”
She addressed Juliana, but she saw her mother’s eyes were not on her, but on Mr. Archibald behind her, and Juliana had to swallow her embarrassment. She opened her mouth to retort, but finally decided that Mr. Archibald would be fine to manage this situation. Sometimes the best course of action was simply to run away.
CHAPTER4
Matthew heard the dowager duchess’ comments loud and clear.Stay away from my daughter.
Which was all well and good except that he had been hired to follow her around.
It did, however, diminish the slight fire that had begun to spark at their conversation. For the truth was, as much as Lady Juliana’s constant questioning slightly annoyed him, he was also intrigued by her, enjoyed her energy and spirit.
Not that it mattered.
For, as the dowager duchess had pointed out as if he couldn’t remember himself, Lady Juliana was the sister of a duke, a woman who was practically promised to marry an earl.
While he was a detective, a man of middle class who had been hired by the family, just a slight step above a servant. It was as he had originally determined – he should not be conversing with the Lady Juliana, but instead walking a step behind her to see she came to no harm, as was required of him.
Now, with this change in plans, he was going to have to sit at Warwick House for an indeterminate amount of time while she chattered on with Hemingway. At least it could provide him with the opportunity to learn more about the man and whether he might have any actual inclination to do away with the duke. He seemed harmless, but he was next in line for the title, so he had more motive than any other. Matthew hadn’t discussed this theory with the Duke of Warwick yet, for he knew he was friends with the man who was as close to a cousin as he had.
But one could often learn much more by observing then entering into the conversation.
Matthew stayed as unobtrusive as possible as Lord Hemingway and his mother arrived, greeting Lady Juliana and the dowager duchess. Lady Emma, or should he say now, the Duchess of Warwick, and Lady Prudence were, interestingly, nowhere to be found, which he supposed the dowager duchess had arranged for.
The visit, however, provided him with no additional clues as to whether Lord Hemingway was hiding anything. He was as cordial as ever, polite, said all the right things at the right time, and Matthew found himself having a difficult time picturing him killing a spider let alone taking a shot at the duke.
In fact, when the duke realized his cousin was in attendance and stopped in the entrance of the room, he seemed particularly pleased to see Hemingway. He had a nod for Matthew before he was on his way.
“Lurking, are we?”
Matthew jumped at the voice in his ear, coming from behind him. He wasn’t typically a man who was caught unaware, but it seemed a woman had gotten the best of him.
