Page 40 of Lady Petra and the Wolf

“You sound like my nephew, he loves a dark mystery. In fact, I found him writing notes in his book on a dark and rainy day for his…” The woman paused in her speech, glanced at her husband, then looked more closely at Petra. Just as she was about to speak, Petra’s heart stopped when she spied a familiar face in the crowd. A face whose yellow eyes had always haunted her. Horace Jaspen was a man she had only seen several times in her father’s study, as he always took the servant’s entrance. In her father’s eyes, the man was good enough to intimidate his political opponents but not good enough to enter his townhouse on the same level as a gentleman. Only too late did Petra realize that her veil was pushed back so she could speak to the couple. Only too late did she see those yellow eyes of the former mercenary turn on her as recognition and a predatory awareness pulsed within them, even at a distance.

Swallowing, Petra spoke quickly. “I do not wish to bring trouble to your door, but might I briefly join you in your carriage?” she asked, picking up her pace as they turned onto Tavistock Street and dozens of carriages came into view. I cannot go back. I cannot risk him finding the sanctuary.

“Yes, it’s just over here.” The man, Elliot, finally spoke, stepping away to go speak with the coachman. She resolved to call them Elliot and Diana in her mind, as she had not caught their surname.

“Are you in trouble, my dear?” Diana asked quietly.

“Perhaps, but I do not wish to bring that trouble to you.” Petra glanced behind her then turned back to where Elliot was thanking the coachman and signaling to his wife, her eyes dropping to the symbol embossed on the black lacquer.

“But…but that is the Wolfridge carriage,” she whispered as something seemed to dawn behind the woman’s eyes.

“It’s you!” Diana exclaimed, pulling Petra with her to the carriage door as Petra glanced back, looking for Jaspen again.

“It’s me?” Petra repeated back to the woman as her husband helped them both inside the conveyance.

“It’s her, Elliot,” Diana squeezed her husband’s forearm as she sat next to him.

Torn between her curiosity at this new mystery and her fear of Jaspen, Petra pulled back the curtain to search for him. The coast appeared to be clear.

“I’m still so sorry to ask this of you.”

The woman shook her head. “You could have asked us for the moon and we would try to give it to you. You’re the girl. The one who has Jules in a knot. A good knot that is.”

“Jules…oh, are you, you are Julian’s aunt and uncle?” Petra’s mind finally connected all of the clues that she might not have missed had she not been so distracted by Jaspen.

Diana turned to her husband and lightly nudged him in the arm. “She called him Julian, he’s still got a chance!”

Nonplussed by this behavior and still preoccupied by Jaspen’s whereabouts, Petra glanced outside again. “Yes, he gave me leave to use his Christian name.” She hoped Diana did not notice the blush she could feel starting at her chest at how he last requested she use his Christian name. “But that aside, I do not wish to put you in danger.”

“Posh,” Diana swiped the air as if swatting away the thought. “You are important to my nephew and we share the same favorite author, we are not going to leave you behind. Besides, we are hearty stock. You should have seen Elliot when one of our timber importers tried to dock a ship he had not negotiated docking rights to port, he was something fierce.”

Elliot gave an affectionate chuckle, “That was you, Di.”

Diana, who clearly already knew this, responded with a mischievous smile. “Well, together, we were a force to be reckoned with.”

Petra felt the urge to tear her eyes away, as if she were intruding on something sacred, so casual and kind was the affection between the two sitting before her. She had rarely seen such a thing in her life and the image drew to mind Julian’s confession of love. What did she know of love? Petra asked herself again. She had never seen an example such as the one before her while he had known it most of his life. Could she trust in such a thing, even after his betrayal?

“I appreciate that,” Petra tried again. She could not risk Julian’s aunt and uncle who had raised him. “But I must tell you, my father is the Earl of Kemberley. He does not take kindly to those that oppose him. I would not wish you to be caught in his line of fire.”

Diana nodded. “I understand, I do.” Peering more closely at her, she leaned forward to touch Petra’s hand, which was resting on her knee. “You are a kind soul, I can understand why he…” She trailed off when her husband coughed loudly. “But we are not afraid. We have strength that your father lacks. Besides, Kemberley has tried for many years to find inroads to Herron Shipping. He would rather have a piece of us than destroy us. It would not benefit him to harm us.”

Petra rolled this information about her head. “I see I cannot convince you, but I urge you to be wary.”

Patting her reticule, Diana grinned. “My dear, my grandfather was a dockworker. I am always wary and I am always ready.”

Petra tried to sort through the implications of her cryptic statement, but her thoughts were cut off as they pulled in front of what she believed to be Wolfridge House. Unlike her father’s dark brick townhouse with an imposing black door, there was something inviting and slightly whimsical about the light stucco exterior and deep blue door of Wolfridge House.

“Would you like us to send for your things?” Diana asked as Elliot helped the ladies down with a shaky arm, which Petra had noticed earlier.

“No, thank you, I do not wish for my father to know where I am.”

“You are welcome to borrow any of my gowns, as we are of similar height and build, if you need to stay for an extended period of time,” Diana noted as she glanced down at Petra’s gown.

“That is very kind of you, thank you.” Petra had never met people like them and she wished had more words to express her gratitude. However, the thought quickly left her head as she walked through the entrance, which again had a coziness and charm her father’s townhouse sorely lacked. As she encountered a rather recent painting on the wall of a woman in a pond, she recalled that moment in Pride and Prejudice in which Lizzy falls in love with Darcy when viewing Pemberley. Not that she loved Julian, she reminded herself quickly as Diana led her to a room to refresh herself.

After splashing some cool water on her face, Petra glanced out the sash window. Still no sign of Jaspen. Of course, this did not mean he did not know where she had gone. He could be informing her father of her whereabouts at any moment.

Reasoning with herself that there was nothing she could do in the moment, Petra went down to the sitting room to take tea with Julian’s aunt as his uncle had needed to rest for his rheumatism. Despite their earlier camaraderie, she felt rather shy under Diana’s steady gaze.