Page 87 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
Jo watched her, looking entirely befuddled.
“I’d like to see those pieces. The detective constable who came to take a report carried them away.”
“Well, Inspector Drake will see to that, surely.” Jo tipped her head as if to catch Allie’s gaze. “You cannot solve the case for him, Allie.”
“But perhaps I could help.”
Jo scoffed but smiled at the same time. “You would make a fine detective, actually. A lady driven by her instincts. Curious. Organized.”
“Impulsive.” Allie didn’t know if Jo was teasing her, but throwing out Dom’s most common criticism seemed apropos.
“I am serious,” Jo insisted. “Though I doubt Inspector Drake wants you involved in this at all, seeing as he’s insisted that you remain cloistered at home.”
Jo glanced down at the spot on the settee Allie had vacated. “Now, come and tell me why you think this means you’ll never see the man again.”
A knock sounded at the drawing room door, and Jo let out a little groan of frustration. “Olivia is having a fitting, but Mama promised I wasn’t needed,” she whispered.
With a little sigh of resignation, she sat up straight and turned toward the panel doors. “Come in.”
Their butler, Mr. Best, opened the door. “Gentleman to see Miss Prince, my lady.”
Allie and Jo exchanged a wide-eyed glance.
“From Scotland Yard, my lady,” Best added with his usual even-toned gravitas.
Jo bit her lower lip to stifle a smile. “Is he tall, dark, and wearing a thunderous expression, Best?”
“That is an accurate description, my lady.”
Allie didn’t know whether to hide behind the furniture or rush out the door to greet him. Her heart was thudding, and she couldn’t hold back a smile, despite knowing she was about to receive one of his signature glowers.
“Show him in,” Jo said.
Then he was there. Filling the door frame. He wasn’t wearing a glower. Exhaustion had darkened the skin beneath his eyes, and he definitely hadn’t shaved, but he still looked marvelous.
“Lady Josephine, may I speak to Miss Prince alone?”
Allie couldn’t take her eyes off Ben, but she felt Jo’s gaze on her, insistent and questioning.
“It’s all right, Jo.”
“Only a few minutes, Inspector, and you mustn’t be angry with her. She came to help me.”
“Thank you, Lady Josephine.” He flicked one glance at Jo as she departed.
“I suspect,” Allie told him, “that you are angry whether Jo wishes you to be or not.”
All the way on the carriage ride over, anger had simmered in his gut. He’d banged on the vehicle’swall, urging the cabbie to go faster. He’d argued with her in his head. Stubborn. Willful. Exasperating woman.
But now that she was in front of him, now that he could take a few steps and touch her, he let go of all of it.
She looked lovely. This room was full of light and all of it seemed drawn to her. Sunlight gilded the slope of her cheek, reddened the loose strand of hair that curled beside her ear. And her eyes were the brightest violet-blue he’d ever seen.
“You’re silent,” she said quietly. “Is that good or bad?”
Silence seemed best because what he needed to say and what he yearned to say were waging a war. A battle between his head and his heart. He was torn between a job he’d once thought meant everything to him, and a woman who had come along to prove him wrong.
Alexandra approached tentatively, but she drew close enough for him to catch her scent. A mix of flowers and beeswax and the coffee she was addicted to.
