Page 19 of An Icy Christmas Engagement
Cedric sighed, reaching for his spectacles. As he put them on, he asked, “Are you terrified of me, Linton?”
His response was not as quick this time. After a brief moment, he murmured, “No, my lord.”
Cedric reached for his quill pen. “There you have it.”
He didn’t have to look up to know that Harrison was shaking his head. Cedric ignored him.
“Is that all, Linton?” he asked.
“N-no, my lord,” his secretary stammered. “You have a visitor, my lord.”
Cedric paused, his hand hovering over his paper. He looked at Linton and then at Harrison who sported a broad grin.
“Your doing, I assume?” he asked.
Harrison nodded slowly.
Cedric was almost certain he was going to regret saying this but, “Show him in then.”
Linton was all too happy to leave. He scampered out the room, Cedric and Harrison staring after him.
“You frightful, frightful man,” Harrison lamented with a shake of his head.
“They do not call me the Ice Earl for no reason,” Cedric drawled. “Who am I expecting?”
“Worry not, my friend. He may be the answer to our problems.”
That only intrigued Cedric further and since this visitor couldn’t be more than a few feet away from the door, he didn’t bother questioning any further.
Soon enough, Linton reentered, showing a tall, bespectacled man inside. He had a nondescript appearance, so average looking that Cedric would not have spared him a single glance in any other setting. Now, however, he watched as the man silently made his way to the desk and stuck his hand out.
“Mr. Thornton Thatcher,” the man greeted in a gruff voice.
Cedric stood, clasping his hand. “The Earl of Colenhurst,” he said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“It is no pleasure, my lord,” Mr. Thatcher said solemnly as he released Cedric’s hand and took two steps back. “While I do value my work and treat it with the utmost seriousness, I am saddened by situations that make my work necessary.”
Dumbfounded, Cedric could only look at Harrison—who wore the biggest grin known to man.
“Mr. Thatcher is a private investigator,” Harrison provided, clapping Mr. Thatcher on the shoulder. The private investigator made no attempt to hide his disinterest in being touched as he took one large step away from Harrison and his apparently offending hand.
Harrison didn’t seem bothered by it, however. If anything, he seemed perpetually amused by it all.
“A private investigator, you say,” Cedric murmured. He studied Mr. Thatcher openly and the other man stared back unabashedly. “Smart of you, Harrison. This clearly is not something we have the capability or the time to get to the bottom of ourselves.”
Harrison beamed, clearly pleased with himself. “That is why I am here, Cedric, my friend. To provide solutions to otherwise bleak situations.”
“Perhaps we should end this small talk,” Mr. Thatcher spoke up. “So that I may be informed of the incident.”
“Incidences,” Harrison corrected with ease. He clearly didn’t mind Mr. Thatcher’s pragmatic demeanor. “It began when Cedric here went to the countryside and left his steward in charge in London, only for him to ruin his ledgers. By the time Cedric returned to London and realised what had happened, his steward was long gone.”
Mr. Thatcher reached into his coat and pulled out a pocketbook and pencil. He licked the tip and began writing. “I assume this is deemed unusual behaviour for him?”
“Correct,” Cedric answered, leaning against the wall behind his desk with his arms crossed. It was the only way he could hold in the underlying anger that was steadily returning to the fore. “He was a keen man, or else I would not have hired him in the firstplace. And I have had no issue with him until now. It only leads me to assume that he was convinced to doublecross me.”
“Has there been any altercation between this steward and you that may cause him to have ill feelings towards you?”
Cedric had to think about it. He knew he wasn’t the kindest to the servants, but he didn’t go around barking at them either. For the most part, he left them in the care of his butler and housekeeper, paying scant attention to what was being done around him. He treated James a little differently, of course, since he had become his right-hand man over the course of the two years he’d been employed. And during those two years, Cedric couldn’t recall ever having an issue with him.
