A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem - Manda Collins Page 0,76
he’d had a long, frustrating day. Even so, his eyes met hers for the barest moment and seemed to tell her wordlessly that he’d not forgotten what had happened between them last night.
He lowered his tall frame into an armchair and gladly accepted a cup of tea from Kate.
“I hope you were able to make progress in the village today,” Kate said once they’d exchanged greetings, grateful she was able to maintain some semblance of calm. She’d have liked to give him a more effusive welcome, but Caro’s presence, and her own misgivings about the nature of their relationship, had made the decision for her.
“Not as much as I’d have liked. There was no sign of any more of Philbrick’s letters among Green’s belongings.” He accepted the cup of tea she offered, their fingers brushing for the space of a moment.
“Kate’s had an eventful enough day to put that to shame.” Caro bit into a macaroon. Then looking abashed, she added, “But of course, I’ll let her tell you.”
Caro very often had enthusiasm enough for the both of them. But in this instance, Kate was bursting to tell Eversham her news.
Quickly, she informed him of Miss Green’s visit that morning and the mysterious woman in black who had been riffling through Green’s study.
“And she has no notion of who the woman was?” he asked, his earlier fatigue replaced with alertness.
“No, aside from mistaking her for her brother’s mistress at first,” Kate said, “she didn’t recognize her or know of anyone who would have had permission to enter the house unannounced.”
A line appeared between Eversham’s brows. “Why didn’t Miss Green tell me this when I saw her in Lewiston this morning? I saw her when I was at the Green cottage and she said nothing.”
Kate, who had never had any trouble with diplomacy, found herself reluctant to tell him the older woman had found him intimidating. She knew, of course, that he was much warmer than he at first seemed. But he did have a certain aura of seriousness that could be off-putting for those who didn’t know him.
Caro, however, had no such reticence. “You’re not precisely as cuddly as a stuffed toy, are you, Eversham?”
“I’m not as bad as all that,” he said defensively. “I’m very good with witnesses. They call for me when there’s a particularly reluctant child we need to get information from.”
“Are you sure it’s not because you put the fear of God in them?” Caro asked baldly.
Taking pity on him, Kate interjected, “I’m sure you’re very good with witnesses, Andrew. Miss Green, however, seems a bit uncomfortable around men.”
Which wasn’t a lie. The other lady had seemed relaxed among the village women who were in Green’s parlor. And from what she’d said about her father, and her brother, she hadn’t had very good relationships with the men in her life. It would be difficult for her to trust a man with the knowledge that she’d mistaken the situation with the mystery woman.
That seemed to mollify Eversham somewhat. “I suppose that’s possible.”
Kate gave Caro a speaking look, and her friend made a face, but admitted, “I may have been overly harsh when I said you aren’t cuddly.”
This seemed to alarm Eversham even more. “Thank you?”
Brushing biscuit crumbs from her skirt, Caro stood. “Now, I shall leave the two of you to discuss the case. I’ve promised Ludwig a turn around the gardens.”
Once the door shut behind her, Kate gave Eversham a glance from beneath her lashes. “Oh, look,” she said in feigned innocence, “this seat beside me on the settee is empty.” She didn’t have to say it twice.
Chapter Eighteen
Eversham gathered her against him and kissed her tenderly, reveling in the now-familiar scent of lilac and Kate.
After a few moments, he reluctantly pulled away and leaned his forehead down to meet hers. “That was a very nice greeting,” he said in a low voice. “I missed you this morning.”
He hadn’t realized how much he’d been looking forward to waking up with her in his arms until she hadn’t been there.
“I couldn’t risk being caught out.” She sighed, then lay her head against his shoulder. “I’ve already done enough to damage your reputation.”
“You let me worry about my reputation.” Which reminded him. Pulling back a little, he moved the shawl she’d wrapped around her neck, so that he could find the mark he’d left.
There, just below her left ear, he saw it. A rosy patch of skin that he remembered paying particular attention to, since it had elicited