Page 26 of An Earl's Scandalous Return
He was stalking angrily away from the pub, and she shook her head. “No, it is no matter. Not something you need to cause trouble about. Besides, we cannot let word spread of our being here and together. Imagine the stories the papers would tell—English toff found beating villagers to a pulp.”
He laughed a little at her rather bad attempt at a cockney accent. “Yet again, very sensible.” He breathed out, trying not to enjoy how skilled she was at soothing his ruffled feathers.
Whether it was her smile, her words, or her kiss, Arabella could keep him from getting too out of control. Every time.
And yet she did not run away with me, as she could have done. Does she have the words to soothe my anger about that?
“Thank you,” she said softly, and then he helped her into the carriage.
“Off to Boxley, then,” he said, feeling less angry but instead a little morose.
“Hopefully, it will be better luck at the next town.”
“Agreed.” He was not in the mood for talking just then, but he threw her a quick smile and then looked out the window as the carriage left East Farleigh and a ridiculous pair of lecherous cousins behind.
Chapter 28
Hours later, Arabella was exhausted, having scoured the remaining villages on the list for Gregorys. They had not had much better luck. They ended up finding five in total the whole day, but all of them had denied sending a letter or travelling to Hamfield.
Finally, after Bearsted, they both agreed they should return home. It had not been fruitful, and Arabella was certain that both Edward and she were ready to tear their hair out in their bad luck.
They both looked frustrated and angry on their way home, starving as she had predicted. Edward was pinching the bridge of his nose, and she was trying not to sigh too loudly.
“You know what I have just realised?” she said with tired frustration. “It is not as if we have any way to prove to any Gregory that he was the one who sent the letter. We cannot demand that he write something to show us he can write or that he has the same handwriting. We will have the papers on our backs or perhaps even the constables.”
She leaned back in the carriage and blew a loose strand of hair from her face.
“In these small towns, I am not certain they even have constables, but you’re right. They may consider us to be stirring up trouble and come to make the peace themselves.” He crossed his arms, watching her closely from across the way.
He had been different that day: just as efficient and intelligent as always, but there was a little something about him that had changed. He was not as hard and frozen as he had been upon their first seeing one another again. It was almost as if he’d silently agreed to act as friends in their search for Gregory together.
It made a little hope flutter inside her that she didn’t allow herself to fan into flame just yet. Perhaps her plan was working even if she felt she was hardly doing anything. But the realisation of his changed behaviour was dimmed by her frustration at being unable to find exactly the right Gregory.
She tapped a knuckle onto the leather seat of the carriage. “I’m not sure I understand why I agreed to do this for Alvin. He is my brother, yes, and I love him. But I must have been mad when I thought I could handle this, finding the person out of all of England that was conspiring against him, against our family. It seems wild that I told him I could do it.”
“You agreed because you want him to be happy, Arabella. You have always been that way, wanting people to be happy,” Edward said, and she looked up at him to see that he was watching her closely.
A muscle ticked in his jaw as if he was uncomfortable with the words that had just left his mouth. He turned away to look out the window.
He continued, “But you’re right. We can’t prove it. Or we will have to think of a way we can. However, I feel as though I have a good sense of when people are lying or trying to cover something up. It is a useful skill after living abroad. Even if it is rather simple for a duke’s son to travel from place to place, there are always those who try to take advantage of it. I have had to get myself out of a few sticky situations.”
Something about that made her smile; she could just imagine him using his wit to get out of tricks and cons in various countries.
“That sounds rather … interesting. Or perhaps it was dangerous.” She was glad to think of something else for a little while.
He shrugged. “Sometimes, but it was more people trying to get me to buy a fake relic or join them in a false investment venture. They were taking advantage of me being on my own, assuming the amount of my free income to spend. There were pickpockets, too, of course, but that was a different beast to attempt to tame.”
Arabella swallowed, not wanting to touch to close to the past, afraid that his current openness would shutter again, but she wanted him to see that they could talk, they could be friendly, and she was very curious to know what his past held.
“Did England feel rather gray when you returned after all your sunlit adventures?”
She blinked a few times, her hands holding tightly to her reticule as she waited for his reply. Again, he shrugged.
“England is always rather gray, I think, but it is part of its charm. Regardless of the weather, it felt very good to return home. My father was overjoyed, and when we return from this trip, I will be certain to spend as much time with him as possible. As you know, I’m sure, one can never predict their last moment.”
Arabella’s breath caught. It was the first time since her father passed that Edward mentioned it. She hadn’t expected to receive a letter from him, of course, but she knew that Alvin had written to him about their father’s death.
“Ah, yes, you are quite right. Life can change in a moment and can end in a moment as well.”
