Page 45 of An Icy Christmas Engagement
Caroline smiled. “I would enjoy that, Lady Hutton.”
She returned her smile. “Goodbye then.”
Lord Colenhurst gave them a simple nod in farewell, but Caroline didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her. She doubted her mother missed it either, but she didn’t care at the moment. She savored the feeling, her heart still racing from what could have happened before they had been interrupted.
“Lord Sotheby will be at the gala as well,” Elizabeth said, breaking into Caroline’s thoughts.
“I’m sure he will be,” Caroline sighed.
Elizabeth harrumphed but thankfully said nothing more, entering the shop. Caroline followed suit but knew that she wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything for the duration of time there. Lord Colenhurst was the only thing on her mind.
Chapter Thirteen
Cedric looked up as Harrison walked into his office and immediately said, “I do not wish to be disturbed.”
“Marvellous,” Harrison drawled, his tone lacking much of its usual mirth. “But unfortunately, it seems a number of things will not go your way today.”
Cedric didn’t like the thought of that. He removed his spectacles and sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “What is it?”
Harrison marched up his desk and sank into the armchair across it with a heavy sigh. “We have another issue. This time, it was at our warehouse.”
Cedric’s countenance immediately darkened. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear right now. Between Ambrose’s offer, his proposal, and the fact that he hadn’t heard anything from Mr. Thatcher, Cedric was already nearing his breaking point. He didn’t want to del with another issue on top of it.
“There was a fire.”
“What?” He shot to his feet, fury taking control of every inch of his body within seconds. “Was anyone hurt? What is the damage?”
“No one was hurt,” Harrison said, far calmer than Cedric felt. But he could see the anger in his eyes. “They all got out in time. I do not know if whomever set the fire timed it well or we simply got lucky that there were no casualties. The goods, on the other hand…”
Cedric stalked over to his sideboard. He took one look at his array of spirits and wine and knew that no amount of alcohol would be able to quell the rage coursing through his body. So he stalked over to the window instead, staring out like he had done nearly every day since this damn mess began. But then his mind inevitable wandered to Lady Winterbourne and he quickly dismissed her as best as he could, not wanting to sour the thought of her with his rage.
At last, he whirled back to face Harrison, who was watching him carefully.
“Tell me if you know more than the fact that there was a fire,” Cedric demanded.
“If you think they left any clues behind, you’re out of luck,” Harrison said slowly. “They were quick and no one saw anything. As for the inventory, more than half the stock is gone. I do not think word has gotten out but it will be common knowledge by the end of his week, I’m sure. And our suppliers…well, I’m sure they will hear of this soon enough.”
Cedric could only sigh. He hated that fact. It was unending torture to know that his business was falling apart at the hands of an unknown saboteur and he could do nothing to stop it.
“At this rate, we will be out of business by the end of this month,” Harrison said.
“Those were just the words I needed to hear,” Cedric drawled.
Harrison shrugged. “We were both thinking it. And we are no closer to figuring out who is behind all of this.”
“Mr. Thatcher seems to have disappeared,” Cedric commented, crossing his arms.
“I hope that means that he is hard at work,” Harrison said. “Otherwise, we wasted far too much time already.”
That wasn’t something Cedric was willing to consider right now. He needed to cling to the smallest bit of hope that at least something was going right.
“Enough of the negative talk.” Harrison pulled himself to stand. “We should make our way to the warehouse and take stock of what has been ruined. The suppliers aren’t going to be happy.”
“We can fight that battle when I return to the office,” Cedric said. “I only hope I do not return to find Ambrose waiting for me.”
Harrison raised his brows, intrigued. “Have you heard from him since the dinner party? You still have not given him a response regarding his wish to marry his daughter after all.”
“I did not have to reach out to him because he came here.” Just thinking about the day served to upset him even further. “He told me that he’d heard of the missing shipments and came to offer two ships with a small grant to find crews for them both. Ofcourse, that is all contingent on whether I agree to marry Miss Alice.”
