Page 26 of With Good Grace
‘We shall continue this conversation later,’ he said, sending her an apologetic look. ‘Come in,’ he called.
Parker walked in, followed by two footmen carrying Marcus’s boxes.
‘Thank you, Parker. Put them on the table over there.’ Jake seemed commendably in control, which was a great deal more than could be said for Olivia. Her emotions were still in a hopeless jumble following her frank exchange with Jake. ‘Mrs Grantley and I will continue going through them when we have had our tea.’
Chapter Seven
Jake and Olivia took their tea sitting opposite one another in matching chairs in front of his library fire. It felt natural to have her share his private domain; just as pulling her into his arms had been a spontaneous reaction to seeing her safe and well. Jake never behaved spontaneously as a general rule. In his line of work it would be a grave miscalculation. Spontaneity got men killed. Letting any organ other than his brain do the thinking for him could—already had—placed Olivia in danger.
‘Are we really going to go through those stuffy papers, Jake?’ she asked, her colour still high after his kiss and her gratifyingly enthusiastic response to it. ‘I very much doubt if Marcus would have left anything of value lying about in the house.’
‘I thought the boxes contained documents he had stored away in his library.’
‘Yes, I had someone pack them all up when we moved.’
‘Well, there you are then. You cannot say with certainty what the boxes contain.’
She gave a reluctant nod. ‘I suppose not.’
He smiled across at her, admiring her beauty and the touching air of vulnerability she exuded as she stirred her tea and took a dainty sip. The tight bodice and high neckline of her blue gown did little to disguise her trim waist and the enticing swell of her breasts. The visual evidence of his physical desire had still not completely subsided but he didn’t mind if she saw it. He wanted her to know just how inconvenient his passion for her could be, and how little control he had over it. He thought shedidknow, but what she seemed unwilling or unable to grasp was that his reluctance to put his own pleasures first was a direct result of the very real threat it could represent to her wellbeing.
‘Anyway, I rather hoped that you would go through the boxes on your own.’
‘Oh no!’ She fixed him with a look of firm determination. ‘I think I have earned the right to accompany you when you make your enquiries.’
‘Indeed you have,’ he replied with a smile drenched in warmth. ‘And you shall, if that is what you would prefer, but before you decide, let us take a moment to think about what we now know.’
‘By all means.’ Her own smile held a hint of mischief. ‘Are you really going to tell me everythingyouactually know or continue with the ridiculous notion that I require protecting?’
‘I will always protect you, Olivia, to the very best of my abilities. Please don’t expect me to apologise for that.’
‘I know you will.’ She placed her cup aside and leaned towards him, caressing him with her eyes so intently that Jake was obliged to suppress a groan. ‘I have total faith in your abilities. However, we were about to take stock.’
‘So we were.’ Jake took a moment to compose his thoughts, or at the very least, to drag his mind away from recollections of Olivia’s curvaceous body spread against his own. Even through all those hoops, whalebones and petticoats, he had sensed the moment when his engorged cock created a maelstrom of pleasure and torment within her that she had yet to recover from. Now she understood the frustration that he was obliged to withstand whenever in her company, or even just thinking about her. If she was uncomfortable now, she only had herself to blame for being so damned provocative that she made him forget himself. ‘Firstly, your brother-in-law has gone missing. At about the same time, someone broke into Barber’s theatrical agency office and a night watchman was killed as a direct result.’
‘You think the two events are connected?’
‘Possibly, especially since your husband was killed in a similar burglary, at a time when your house was supposed to be empty, the servants mostly in bed or below stairs. It is possible, I suppose, that Sir Hubert has simply absconded because his situation has become untenable.’
‘And left Margaret to face the bailiffs?’ Jake nodded. ‘Doubtful. He enjoys being Sir Hubert a little too much. But still…if he has debts of honour that would see him blackballed from his clubs if he does not settle them, then I suppose absconding might seem preferable to public disgrace. But where would he go if he has no money?’
‘Perhaps he has.’ Jake crossed one foot over his opposite knee and leaned back in his chair. ‘Can you remember what paintings hung in their hallway?’
Olivia blinked, clearly surprised by the question. ‘There was a Gainsborough, I do remember that.’ She plucked abstractedly at her lower lip. ‘And a couple of other valuable works, but I can’t remember who the artists were.’
‘Drop a note to Lady Grantley, if you would. Ask her which paintings have been sold and how long ago.’
‘Why? Surely you don’t think that Hubert has pocketed the proceeds and run off.’
Jake suspected exactly that, but had no proof. ‘What I think doesn’t signify,’ he said. ‘We need to deal in facts.’
‘Very well. I know the paintings were still there when I lasted visit the Hall, which is obviously over two years ago. But still, Hubert was very proud of them. He pointed them out to everyone who called at the Hall and would not have parted with them until he was desperate.’
‘Ah, but how desperate? That is what we need to establish.’
‘Very well. I will write to Margaret straight away.’
‘Thank you. Now then, I am still sure that whatever has resulted in two murders is of immense value to someone.’
