Regina Scott by An Honorable Gentleman

Author:An Honorable Gentleman [Gentleman, An Honorable]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Trevor watched Gwen walk out the door. Her shoulders were slumped, her head turned away from him. He felt as if he’d snuffed out the last candle in the house. He tried to tell himself it was better this way—she should know the truth, and sooner rather than later. But the truth did not seem so noble when it brought her such pain.

As for John Cord, Trevor could not help but wonder whether he had been the shadow disappearing down the stairs the night Trevor had tripped. Yet how could the valet get into the house unseen? And that cough would surely give him away.

No, someone else must wish for Trevor to leave Blackcliff. Even though Trevor knew he was about to make that wish come true, he could not rest until he’d uncovered the mystery. Doing otherwise felt too much like leaving Gwen in danger.

True to her word, she brought Dolly back with her a short time later. The mastiff seemed to have caught her mistress’s melancholy, for she whined and tugged at her leash as Gwen led her into the withdrawing room. He thought surely she’d knock Gwen off her feet, but Gwen ordered the dog down and Dolly lay obediently, if with accusing eyes, on the floor next to Trevor’s chair.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Gwen told him, taking a seat next to him. Her hand reached out and stroked Dolly’s massive head. “Everyone in the village will be heartbroken you’re leaving.”

That he very much doubted. At the very least David Newton would heave a sigh of relief that Trevor no longer plagued him with odd questions. “I think you give Blackcliff Hall too much importance,” he replied as gently as he could.

Her hand stayed a moment, then continued its rhythmic motion. Dolly’s head slowly drooped to the carpet and out of Gwen’s reach.

“And you make too little of it,” Gwen said in as kind a tone. “Is there nothing I can do to encourage you to stay?”

She could not know she was the one reason he hesitated. What man would be immune to her beauty, her energy, her compassion? Yet he could not offer her a place in his life. He could not afford to marry Gwen Allbridge any more than he could afford to keep Blackcliff. “There’s nothing to be done, not unless you have a few hundred pounds of sterling stashed away.”

He meant it as a joke, but her head came up as if she’d caught the scent. “But you’re a baronet. Surely you have funds at your disposal.”

He should lie. He’d always lied, evaded or otherwise turned the conversation when it came to money. “Oddly enough, the Crown does not see fit to pass out guineas with titles,” he joked, and he was rather pleased by the lack of bitterness in the statement.

“But Icarus, your belongings,” she protested. She cocked her head and eyed him. “You do not look impoverished, Trevor.”

And that was to his credit. She had no idea how hard it was to maintain the facade some days.

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