Page 30 of One Wicked Secret
She descended slowly, her stomach flipping when Daniel set his hands on her hips to guide her descent. Dressed as servants, the heat from his palms seeped through the scant layers of her maid’s garb, a barrier to fool outsiders but no protection from the warmth he stirred inside her.
They hadn’t kissed since their waltz on the terrace. Despite sleeping in adjoining rooms, the door remained locked. They were striving to rebuild their friendship, yet with each passing day, the desire to be close to him deepened.
Daniel took her lamp and placed it on the desk. Having spent an hour searching every drawer and hunting for a secret compartment, they’d had no luck there, either.
“We are going round in circles.” Brushing dust from her hands and grey skirts, she sat in her father’s worn leather chair. “No wonder Magnus left for Geneva. He must have driven himself mad. Whenever we finish searching a room, I feel like we’ve overlooked a vital clue.”
He perched on the desk, his quiet dominance unsettling and intriguing her in equal measure. “What are we missing?”
They sat in companionable silence, racking their brains. No one had wound the clocks for months and the house was deathly still.
“Your father must have known his enemies would come looking for the journal. What’s baffling is why he would knowingly place you in danger.”
She had asked herself the same question countless times these last few nights. “My father made foolish mistakes andtook reckless risks. But he loved us in his own way. He wouldn’t have placed us in a precarious position on purpose.”
Daniel’s raised brow said he doubted that was true. “As his man of business, surely Carver knew about your father’s shady investments. The killer may have assumed he had the journal. It would explain why Carver was desperate to elope.”
She gave an exaggerated scoff. “Perhaps he was secretly in love with me.” She didn’t believe it, but she had been so wrong about Daniel and was hardly a good judge of a man’s wants and desires.
“If he loved you, he wouldn’t have given you laudanum and left you in a compromising position.”
“You assume Mr Carver was a willing participant in my shame. What if he’d acted under duress?” She didn’t want to think about that night but lock the memory away, bury it deep. Yet they had to consider every possibility, no matter how painful.
Daniel folded his arms across his chest and thought for a moment. “Is there a chance you didn’t fall in the woods? Could someone have crept up behind you and hit you with a blunt instrument?”
“No, I caught my foot on a protruding root and gave a startled cry before tumbling forward.” She touched the spot on her head where the lump had been, her fingers pressing against smooth skin. “I recall nothing after that.”
“Then we will assume Carver found you. You were gone for four hours before the staff at Edenberry raised the alarm.”
“I used to spend countless hours roaming the woods bordering our estates.” That day, she’d heard Daniel was home from London and planned to wander as far as Thorncroft, hoping their paths would cross. “What time did Magnus send for you and demand you bring your two shillings?”
“Six o’clock.”
“I left the house around noon.” What had happened to her during those missing hours? One thing was certain. Someone killed Mr Carver while she slept beside him. “Did Magnus not check Mr Carver’s cottage before summoning you?”
“Magnus was a nervous wreck when I arrived. He was pacing and mumbling like a bedlamite. I was the one who suggested we do a thorough search of the grounds while he wept and blamed himself.”
She imagined Daniel bursting into Mr Carver’s bedchamber and seeing her sprawled naked like a gin-swigging harlot. If he hadn’t made the pact with Magnus, would he have left and never looked back?
“Thank heavens you were visiting Thorncroft for a few days. You’ve hardly spent any time there since your father died.” She’d felt like she’d lost a friend long before they married.
A shadow crossed his face as he wrestled with the answer. “It’s a critical time for trading companies. My presence was required in town.”
“Imperial Shipping has the monopoly on spices sourced from the East Indies. Lord Rothley said you’ve been involved in government, debating the new Charter Act.”
The marquess had spent an hour extolling Daniel’s fine virtues.
“Once the act goes through, it will end the East India Company’s dominance in the tea and opium trade. We’ve been increasing our fleet and preparing to compete in the open market.”
The fire of ambition in his intelligent eyes made her shiver. He never looked more irresistible than when fighting for a cause. Daniel Dalton could control a room with a singleglance. She imagined him arguing fiercely in parliament, leaving lesser men mute.
“You deserve every success and shouldn’t have borne this burden. The last thing you need is a wife complicating matters.”
He approached but didn’t tower over her. He crouched beside her, the breadth of his thighs a pleasing distraction. “Elsa, nothing is more important to me than ensuring you’re safe.”
And loved, she imagined him saying.
Could you ever learn to love me, Daniel?
