Page 38 of My Kind of Scoundel
Mr Chance took that as his cue to leave. “I’ll wait downstairs. During the journey to Hart Street, I shall explain all that’s occurred since your accident.”
Was it an accident?
Had she imagined seeing a shadow?
Had she felt the spectre’s hands on her back?
“Is Jules well? Did he offer any useful information?”
“He’s well but refuses to speak to anyone but you. I’ll take you to see him once we’ve finished with Pickering.” And with that, he closed the door, leaving her alone with Mrs Maloney.
There was something comforting about having an older woman brush her hair. Mrs Maloney’s soothing strokes were enough to lull Eleanor back to sleep.
“I know Theo is partly to blame for your troubles, but he’s a good man at heart.” She took a pin and pushed it gently into Eleanor’s hair. “I know he plays the fool but he would die for his family.”
Eleanor smiled. “You love him a great deal.”
“What’s not to love?”
His pranks, for one thing. Yet with a power akin to gravity, he drew Eleanor into his orbit, the invisible tug impossible to ignore.
“There have been times lately when I could have whacked him with a skillet.” There were times when she could have locked lips with him until dawn. “But you’re right. There’s something endearing about him.”
Mrs Maloney patted Eleanor’s chignon. “He’ll light up your life if you let him, though his battle with his conscience will be his downfall. He’s chained to this place and will never leave Aaron here alone.”
Eleanor remembered him confessing his greatest fear. He didn’t worry about his own future. He would happily push his dreams aside out of love for his eldest brother.
Mrs Maloney gave a weary sigh. “Do you know my firstthought when I saw those poor mites on my doorstep, faces dirty, eyes sad with lost dreams?”
“That you were desperate to take care of them?”
“I thought, Maura, it will take a strong woman to fix this family. I was the first to help set them on the right path, but I’ll not be the last.”
Mrs Maloney did not elaborate but helped Eleanor into the bottle-green dress and matching pelisse she had shoved into her valise three days ago.
“Thank you for your help, Mrs Maloney, for pressing my clothes and caring for me these last three days.” If Eleanor’s mother had lived, would she have been someone Eleanor could depend upon? “I’m unused to such kindness.”
“Then guard your heart, dear,” Mrs Maloney said with a chuckle. “When you see what my boy has done with your shop, it will be like a hit from Cupid’s arrow.”
One question burned in Eleanor’s mind as she sat opposite Mr Chance in his family’s elegant equipage. Well, maybe more than one. But she did not want to know how long he’d sat watching her sleep. She would rather not think about him stripping to his shirtsleeves and padding about barefooted.
“Mrs Maloney said you spent time at my modiste shop.”
Mr Chance relaxed back against the squab. His confident grin could move mountains, yet she sensed his unease. “I wasn’t sure you would recover from your fall and feared?—”
“I didn’t take you for a pessimist.”
He held her gaze. “I prayed I wouldn’t lose a worthyopponent, not halfway through the game. And something told me it wasn’t the end of our friendship. I only wish I had been there to prevent the accident.”
Her shoulders tensed. “It wasn’t an accident.”
He paused, tilting his head. “Not an accident?”
“Someone or something pushed me.”
Mr Chance sat bolt upright. “Are you certain? The door was locked. We were the only people on the premises.”
She had replayed the chilling moment in her mind a thousand times. Those few seconds were still a blur. “No, I’m not certain. I saw a shadow before someone shoved me in the back.”
