Page 58 of Finding Hope
“Devilish bad luck someone shooting so close to the hunt. I trust your head is mending well?” Max heard his father ask Hope.
“Yes, your Grace. Dr. Cafferty even thinks I will not have much of a scar.”
The Duke waved his hand in the air. “Your beauty could withstand many such marks and not be tarnished.”
Hope blushed charmingly. “You flatter me, your Grace.”
Max realized he was ignoring his dinner partner and forced his eyes from Hope. Thankfully, with the addition of the soldiers, conversation was more animated than it had been the previous nights.
He noticed that Colonel Renforth, one of the visiting officers, was a handsome, jovial fellow who was doing a surprising job of charming the Duchess. Anything to keep her mind away from Max and Hope, her undutiful son mused thankfully.
“It was good of you to invite the soldiers here, my lord,” Miss Patience said when it was her turn to speak with him.
“I must confess, it was not my idea. Major Stuart hinted they would be in the neighbourhood. He knows he always has an open invitation.”
“Then I must thank you for that,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Was the party so very dull without them?” he teased.
“Only for those with a partiality for a gentleman in uniform.”
“In my experience, that includes most females,” he said, with a wry twist of his lips.
“Guilty as charged,” she said, with an unrepentant smile.
They ceased talking while the next course was placed before them.
“Thank you for finding Hope,” she said quietly once their plates were full again. “She was rather shaken by the incident.”
He nodded. “I am thankful you knew where to look.”
“We have to discover who is doing this to her. Otherwise, I fear we may soon have to leave.”
“Do you fear for her safety?” Max was appalled at the thought, even though it was well justified, he realized.
“Frankly, I do. The notes appear to be more…” she searched for the right word, “…aggressive each time, and it seems to me that there are too many accidents occurring to be coincidence.”
“The only accident was the shooting,” he said thoughtfully.
She leaned closer and kept her voice low. “What about the chocolate that made Joy ill? Perhaps it was adulterated and intended for Hope. Then someone locking her in the bath house for a time? Perhaps they did not intend her harm, but it certainly shook her spirits. Then the notes…” She gestured with her hands. “It seems too coincidental to me.”
Max frowned. “I hope you are wrong, but we must keep her in sight at all times. Hopefully, you and your sisters can convince her not to wander off again.”
“I do not think it will take any convincing after today.”
Max took a bite of a lobster patty and chewed thoughtfully. If Patience was right, then it was worse than he’d imagined. What would they try to do to Hope next? And why?
CHAPTER 15
Faith would not let Hope out of her sight unless she was with someone else. In most ways it was comforting, but knowing that someone was still watching her every move was enough to have her running mad. Perhaps that was the intention.
The house had been a hive of activity as they made ready for the ball that night. The aromas of baking bread and roasting meat wafted through the mansion as the kitchens prepared for both dinner and supper. The arrangement of flowers, placing of fresh candles in the fixtures, and the setting out of chairs was attended to by dozens of servants, while the musicians arrived and saw to tuning their instruments.
The ladies hummed with anticipation and retired early to their chambers to prepare their toilettes for the evening.
Hope should have been excited, but most of her day had been spent observing everyone of the party, and wondering who wished her harm. After the particular attention she’d been paid the night before, she expected a fresh, scathing note to be awaiting her that morning. None had yet come. The waiting for it was almost worse. She could not imagine they would simply stop.
Jenkins took care in curling her hair and covering up the bandage from her healing gunshot wound. It still seemed fantastical to think she’d been shot at. In continuing with the tradition of each sister wearing certain colours, Jenkins had selected a jonquil silk with a darker bodice and golden lace over-slip and had set out gold earrings and a necklace to match.
