Page 36 of An Enchantress for an Earl

She might frequently disconcert him, but he had come to know the pattern of her inconsistencies – and this did not fit.

He looked back to the front of the room. His father and Mr Ibbetson appeared to have everything well in hand with the sample notes, so Arryn spun and, without a word to anyone, hurried to the door, determined to follow Lady Violet, that sense of wrongness nagging at him, filling him with fear for her, however little rational reason there might be for him to feel so.

The outer hall was crowded with Lords standing about discussing the demonstration, and Arryn bit back his frustration as he wove through them, wanting to simply shove them aside, and knowing that he could not allow himself to do so. He scanned the space as he went, desperately trying to discover Lady Violet’s whereabouts, and was rewarded with the slightest glimpse of her as she whisked out through the street door, nearly colliding with the footman as she did so.

The man had barely regained his balance when Arryn reached him, and was quick to sidestep when he realised the speed at which Arryn was moving. The street outside was also somewhat crowded, with a line of carriages waiting for those Lords who obviously did not intend to go back in when the session resumed. Arryn waved for his own coachman, and as he reached the carriage, he saw, beyond it, a hackney go past, heading away from the city, and moments later, a carriage following it. A carriage in which he saw, for the tiniest moment, Lady Violet – her face barely visible through a crack in the blind.

He flung himself into his own carriage, and ordered his coachman to follow Lady Violet’s carriage. Something was, most definitely, wrong – for no lady, alone, should be travelling in that direction from here. That way lay only narrower streets, and the warehouses surrounding the stone wharves.

It was a rough district, even though it lay so close to Westminster, having grown over the years as the continual building and rebuilding in Westminster drove a never-ending need for building materials to be shipped to the area. His coachman finally managed to manoeuvre out of the tangle of waiting vehicles, and Arryn forced himself to be still, to simply look out of the window, and trust that Bill would manage to follow the other carriage successfully.

He had no idea what he would do when Lady Violet reached wherever she was going – he might well come out of this escapade looking a complete fool – but still, that nagging sense of wrongness drove him, increased by the direction they were traveling.

>>>

Just outside the room where the demonstration had taken place, Lord Setford stood with Trent, watching the milling crowd. A moment before, Lady Violet had hurried past them, startling Trent, but before he had a chance to comment, or move, a footman came to them, and spoke to Lord Setford, so quietly that it was barely audible to Trent.

“My Lord, Villeham just left – he’s taken a hackney. Fred’s following him – they seemed to be heading down along the river road, away from the city.”

“Thank you.”

As the footman turned away, Trent was startled to see Lord Merryfield also rush across the space beside them, as if he were a man pursued.

“Setford…”

“Yes, I saw – both of them. You don’t suppose?”

“I do. If Violet is anything like her sister, then she will not hold back if she believes that something needs to be done. But Merryfield… that surprises me a little.”

Setford laughed softly.

“Really? I think that one may be obvious. Merryfield is observant, and he has also, of late, shown every indication of being somewhat smitten with Lady Violet. If he saw her rush off like that, I suspect that he would feel compelled to follow – if for no other reason than to discover what caused her precipitous flight.”

Trent nodded – he could imagine his own response if it had been Lily rushing off to follow a criminal…

“Then we had best follow them, with alacrity. It is not that I don’t trust your men – for I do – but my wife would never forgive me if I allowed harm to come to her sister.”

Even as he spoke, he started towards the door, Lord Setford beside him.

Soon, they stepped out into the cold afternoon, to be greeted by another footman, who indicated across the street.

“I took the liberty of asking your coachman to bring the carriage up, my Lord.”

“Thank you.”

They stepped onto the cobbles of the street, and Trent once again marvelled at how efficient everything about Lord Setford was. The carriage they approached was plain, unremarkable, unadorned by any crest, yet of the highest quality.

It was a carriage which no one would take any note of – which was exactly what Lord Setford wanted.

In front of them, barely avoiding collision, a carriage went by, away from the city – a carriage containing Lord Merryfield, with his family’s crest clearly visible on the door. They quickly stepped up into Lord Setford’s carriage, and Setford instructed his coachman to follow Merryfield.

Wherever they ended up, Trent thought with wry amusement, there was going to be a queue of carriages by the time they were finished….

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Lord Villeham stared out of the window of the hackney, watching the buildings they passed go from imposing stone facades to houses of moderate quality, to warehouses and rundown tenements, all in a matter of a mile. The street narrowed, and the rumble of the cab’s wheels on the cobbles echoed back to him.

He frowned. The echoes seemed oddly wrong.

He pushed the window open, and peered out, attempting to see both in front and behind them. It was difficult, but as they turned into the even narrower lane which held his destination, he managed to see behind him – and what he saw left him filled with a combination of anger, fear, and dark amusement.

The echoes had seemed wrong, because another carriage followed him. Another carriage which was even now taking the turn to continue following him. A carriage which most definitely did not belong here.

It was understated, as the carriages of the highest nobility went, but it still bore a crest. The Elbury crest. It seemed that Lady Violet Gardenbrook, for whatever reason, had chosen to follow him here.

That rather removed the question of whether they would act against her, to bring leverage on Westerhazy and Merryfield. If she had so foolishly put herself in his reach, then he would take the opportunity offered, and make sure that he secured her – assuming, of course, that she was not accompanied by anyone else. He suspected that she wasn’t, for he had seen no one with her in the demonstration room, and her father had still been in that room when he had left, very much occupied in conversation.

When they drew up in front of the narrow building, where it stood between the two old warehouses, he stepped down, and asked the jarvey to wait for him, suggesting that he take the cab down to the wharf where there was room to easily turn around, and wait there for half an hour before coming back. The man took the coin he was offered, and the promise of more later, and made no argument – it was far more than the fare should normally cost.

Villeham went to the door, and let himself in after tapping to warn his man, all the while pretending not to notice the carriage which had stopped some buildings away. Let her think he hadn’t noticed her – let her curiosity bring her to him.