Page 75 of My Gentleman Spy
“No and that is the problem. You don't think through these things enough Hattie before you undertake them. I spent a whole day with the Thames River police searching for your body. All the while I was trying to think of what to say to your uncle. How to explain to him how I had failed to bring you safelyhome.”
He rubbed his hands over his face. When he took them away, she saw the lines of fatigue etched on hisfeatures.
The lightness she had felt only a moment or two ago disappeared under the weight of Will's revelations. After searching in vain for her, he had thought her dead. She had been the cause of hispain.
“Then I discover that your uncle left for the United States of America over four years ago. I tell you it took all my strength not to march up to you and wring your bloody neck when I finally saw you at St.Paul’s.”
“Oh,” was all she could manage inreply.
“Yes oh. You have no idea what your lies have done. Doyou?”
Fear began to burn in the pit of her stomach. If Will had seen her at St. Paul’s cathedral what else had he seen? She silently berated herself for having made such an open appearance in public so soon after returning toLondon.
“One of the things which we will need to discuss is the matter of your brother Edgar. I spoke to him after theservice.”
“What did you say?” shestammered.
“Not a lot. I did not know who he was at first. I just noticed that you appeared more than a little interested in him and his wife. To be honest I suspected he might be a secret paramour. Someone who had been the real reason why you jumped ship. After all the lies you had told me, how was I to know that he was not another of your lovers. For all I knew you could have fled England, only to have changed your mind and tried to return tohim.”
“But you discovered the trueconnection?”
“Yes, I used my uncle's name as Bishop of London to make my introductions. It didn’t take long for my connections to uncover the rest of your family history. My cousin the Earl of Shale found out about this house being available for lease. I broke in through a rear door the night before I signed the lease. I even stood outside your bedroom. And yes, once I moved in I went to your room and read all yourletters.”
The coincidence of Will taking the lease on the house was as Hattie suspected, no coincidence at all. She stood silent for a littlewhile.
All the time she had thought her careful movements about town had gone undetected she had been under Will's secret gaze. She had never truly escapedhim.
“Does Edgar know I am in London?” she finallyasked.
Now that Will had enlightened her as to the truth of her situation, there was little point in dancing around the issue of herbrother.
“Not at this particular juncture. Or if he does, he did not hear it from me. After watching you at St. Paul’s and then putting two and two together, I guessed that there were serious difficulties between the pair of you. I determined to find out more about the both of you before confronting him. The last thing I would ever want to do would be to help save you from one heartless family member, to then place you under the protection of another who did not have your best interests at heart. Until I can be certain of Edgar and his motives toward you, your secret will remainsafe.”
And to hear your side of the story. He did not need to give voice to the notion. Hattie understood the inference. She would have to furnish Will with some very good reasons as to why he should not be putting her into the care of her olderbrother.
Most other men would have done soalready.
He is not like othermen.
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Mrs. Little appeared carrying a tray with two cups of hot chocolate upon it. She set it down on a small table to one side of thedoor.
“I brought up some ginger biscuits as well. I thought you might like them,” shesaid.
She stood back, hands clasped gently together and fell silent. How much Mrs. Little had overhead upon her arrival Hattie was not certain, but it was apparent she was in no hurry to leave Hattie and Will aloneagain.
“Thank you, Mrs. Little. Miss Wright and I were just catching up on developments since last, we were together. It appears she has quite a few things to tell,” hesaid.
Hattie and Mrs. Little looked at one another. As Will held all the cards, there was little they could do other than wait for him to decide how the rest of the evening would playout.
He picked up one of the cups of hot chocolate and handed it toHattie.
“Please go and check that all is in order in Miss Wright's room. I am sure by the time you return, she will have finished her drink. Thank you, Mrs.Little.”
After Mrs. Little took her leave, Will ushered Hattie to a chair by the fireside. Taking a seat in one of Will’s new arm chairs, she felt ill at ease. She had spent many happy afternoons in this room standing beside her father's chair as she read passages of her favorite books to him. Much of her education had taken place in this veryroom.
Will took the chair opposite. Not only had he taken possession of the house, but now he was inexorably moving the memory of Aldred Wright to the background. Her family home was undergoing a metamorphosis she had notanticipated.
The day before she had left the house with her parents and Peter, she had walked into every room and tried to paint a mental picture of what it looked like. She had not thought to be present in the house when the new tenant began to makechanges.
