Page 105 of The Earl She Once Saved

Her aunt placed a hand at her elbow. Verity stiffened at first. Then, after the smallest hesitation, she permitted herself to be led from the room. The brush of her skirt whispered across the floor and faded along the passage. Rafe remained until the sound disappeared.

In the yard, the solicitor’s carriage rolled beneath the arch. Gravel cracked beneath the wheels. The air that entered through the open door smelled of damp earth and evening smoke. Rafe watched the carriage go until it vanished beyond the gates.

He crossed the hall and went in search of Ezra. He found him upon the terrace, standing with one hand braced against the stone balustrade. A folded newspaper lay abandoned upon a chair behind him.

Ezra looked at him once. “She knows.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

Rafe’s fingers tightened upon the stone. Ezra waited. He possessed an infuriating talent for silence when he wished another man to fill it.

“I did not tell her before I went,” Rafe said at last.

“I knew you meant to delay telling her. I had hoped sense might overtake you upon the road.”

“It did not.”

“So I gather.”

Rafe turned. “If you intend to tell me I was wrong, do it plainly.”

“You were wrong.” The answer came without hesitation.

Irritation rose, sharp enough to be a relief. “I meant to keep him away from her.”

“And instead?”

“Instead, Ellison arrived.”

“Then your plan suffered from the unfortunate possibility of other people possessing information.”

“I had little time.”

“You had enough to ride to Ripon.”

Rafe looked away again. Below the terrace, a gardener dragged a barrow along the gravel. One wheel squeaked at every turn.

“He said he means to return,” Rafe told him.

“To Edgeworth?”

“To his wife.”

Ezra’s expression hardened. “Find a means of making him leave. This time permanently.”

“It is not so simple.”

“It is remarkably simple,” Ezra shrugged. “Your brother arrives. You remove him.”

“He is still the Earl of Edgeworth. Whatever he has done, the title belongs to him.”

“No title deserves a man like that.”

Rafe said nothing.

“Nor does such a wife,” Ezra added.