Page 86 of One Wicked Secret
The landlord glanced heavenward and huffed in surrender. “Grafton paid me to take a letter to the magistrate down at Wapping. Something about fixing a mistake. Except he was killed before he wrote it. As for the rest, I’d rather save my neck if it’s all the same.”
Had Grafton planned to make a full confession? The letter found hidden in his coat lining was an admission of guilt. Perhaps he was going to name an accomplice.
Daniel scanned the taproom. There was only one door leading to the pokey rooms upstairs. “Someone passed through here the night Grafton was murdered. I’d wager you know every face in here, even those sailors who return to shore after months on the high seas.”
“One weathered face looks like another.”
A sudden commotion stole the landlord’s attention.
At a dimly lit table, two men were haggling with the seller of an unusual trinket, their voices low but urgent, each trying to outbid the other with a mix of coin and sly promises.
“You should leave. The men are growing restless,” the landlord warned, lowering his voice. “Grafton went out one night and came racing in here like he’d seen a ghost. HappenI seen two men hanging about. One with a scar on his cheek. The other a handsome gent with golden hair and a swagger in his step.”
It had to be Charmers.
“Did Grafton mention the gent’s name?”
The landlord shrugged nonchalantly. “He mumbled something about Charmers not being charming. Said there’s a devil behind that smile.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Lord Rothley seemed eager to ride to Kingston with Mr Daventry,” Elsa said, pulling the blanket across her lap and pushing her fingers firmly into her gloves. “Did you tell him we wished to travel alone?”
“Not in so many words.”
Rothley wanted to hire Daventry to investigate the death of their friend Justin: a crime that had occurred a decade ago. It was a last-ditch effort to uncover the truth because Rothley could no longer live with the constant suspicion.
“Don’t you want to be alone with me, Elsa?” Daniel said in a teasing voice that failed to reveal how badly he needed her.
Although she was wrapped for an arctic expedition, the chill in the air hadn’t dampened his ardour. Still, any attempt to remove her clothing would be a selfish act on his part.
“Do you need to ask?” Her words were a sultry murmur, yet her gaze seemed distant, unreadable, bringing her earlier comment to the forefront of his mind.
Rejection is closer to hell than anything I’ve known.
“It’s hard to know how you feel unless we’re kissing.” There! He’d addressed the problem neither was keen to mention. “When you’re not swept away on a tide of passion, there’s a sadness in your eyes … like you’re grieving a loss you know you’ll never reclaim.”
She glanced at her lap, hiding her silent struggle. “It is that obvious?”
“It is to me.”
“I’m not sure you want to hear my emotional ramblings.”
“You know you can tell me anything.”
She met his gaze with some hesitance before confessing, “I hate that the villain robbed us of our wedding night. I’m afraid he’ll succeed in separating us for good. I’m hurt you didn’t trust me … so grateful you fought to protect me. I’m a maelstrom of emotions, Daniel. But they all disappear when we kiss.”
Something magical happened when they indulged their desires, but lust alone could not forge a bond that could last a lifetime.
“I feel those emotions, too.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “I can’t change the fact I left you at The Grange. I can’t take away the pain of rejection, but I can ask for your forgiveness.”
“You don’t need my forgiveness. Your reason for leaving makes perfect sense now.”
He reached for her hand and held it tightly. “I’m asking you to forgive me. I want to hear you say the words. I need to know you mean them. Whatever hell you visited in my absence, you’ll never grace its halls again.”
Her gaze wavered as if caught between the weight of her emotions and the need for a resolution. She exhaled slowly, her lips trembling slightly. “I forgive you. I forgive you forleaving me at The Grange and for anything else you felt compelled to do to save me.”
The tension he’d been holding left his body.
