Page 33 of Her Heart's Rightful Earl
Thomas looked at Alexander dubiously.
“Is that wise?”
“I promised to meet with her to update her on our plan. She will want to know if there is any way she can be of help.”
Thomas nodded curtly once. “She can. Tell her to keep herself safe. We don’t need another murder.”
***
Alexander had skirted the Wellwood estate for an hour before heading to the folly. The worst thing he could do was lead the perpetrator straight to Arabella, and so he needed to be extremely cautious.
Once he felt satisfied nobody had followed him, he entered through a broken hedgerow and approached the folly from a different side than where he had emerged before.
As he approached, he saw her standing there, with her back to him. Naturally, she was facing the direction he had originally appeared, but it struck him as he made his way deftly across the lawn that if he could sneak up on her so quietly, so could any person with malicious intent. The idea of it sent a hot, protective anger surging through his body.
“Arabella!” he whispered so as not to startle her.
She turned with a gasp.
“Alexander!” She threw a hand to her chest. “I did not hear you approach.”
“I am aware and relieved it was me accessing the passage and not some contemptible fellow.”
Arabella seemed affronted by this, and so Alexander felt the need to elaborate.
“I apologize for my ferocity. We have experienced a development that must provoke vigilance in us all.”
Alexander thought how pretty Arabella’s face was when she frowned. Her delicate nose was sprinkled with light freckles, and she crinkled it in response to his warning.
“Do tell me, Alexander,” she appealed.
“Thomas has employed a captain to investigate our case. He found a journal that was written by–” Alexander paused and realized that he must convey the message with sensitivity. He had to remind himself that Arabella had complex emotions associated with the tragic happenings that perhaps he was less able to relate to.
“Perhaps we should sit …” Alexander gestured towards the stone seat that Arabella refused to sit at the last time they met. He wondered if she, like him, associated it with the night that he had proposed and concluded that was probably the exact reason she declined.
“I would prefer we walk,” Arabella suggested.
“Very well, only I must warn you that the information I have to disclose may be upsetting for you,” Alexander countered.
Arabella tilted her chin haughtily. “I am aware that Edmund kept a journal, if this is what you are alluding to.”
Alexander was surprised. “You are? Pray, tell me, do you have an idea of what detail Edmund recorded in his journal?”
“He was rather precious about it. He would lock it and hide it away. I never asked about it since we respected each other’s privacy and lived quite separate lives during our marriage.”
Alexander nodded, understanding. “It is Edmund’s journal that has become the lifeblood of this case.”
Arabella’s brow furrowed. “How so?”
“Firstly, tell me, Arabella. How do you believe Edmund died?”
“It was heart failure.”
“He was very young for heart failure …”
“Sometimes that happens. Do you doubt me?”
Alexander felt such sympathy for her and did not wish to tell her the truth, but could not leave her naïve, as this increased her vulnerability.
