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“It has to be Richmond.”
“Leave it to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s go.” Isaac dragged her out of the barn and busied himself with locking the doors. When he had finished, he ushered her back to the farmhouse with hurried strides.
Tuppence didn’t bother to press him for an answer. She would get that once they were in the carriage and there was nowhere for him to go to avoid answering her. Besides, she wanted to leave too, so she gathered her belongings and clambered into the carriage.
“You should sit in the back,” Isaac warned when she settled beside him.
With her thoughts on the killer, Tuppence opened her mouth to argue. It took a moment to realise that the grimness on his face was because he didn’t want to be seen riding high atop the carriage with her, a killer who was considerably beneath his status in life. Battling tears, Tuppence silently climbed down and reboarded the carriage, this time taking a seat in the back.
“Slouch down a bit,” Isaac ordered gently.
“Pardon?”
“You are too visible.”
Tuppence blinked at him.
“You have to stay in the back so you aren’t visible to anybody hiding in the woods we will pass. Slouch down in the seat so the sides of the carriage protect you,” Isaac murmured softly.
Tuppence, feeling a fool for having misjudged him so completely, immediately slouched in the seat. Her knees pressed into the seat opposite, leaving her with no choice but to twist around until she was lying across the length of the seat.
“Stay like that until we get home.” Satisfied that she was as safe as she could be, Isaac drove them home. When he pulled up to the back of the house, he jumped down and hurried to the door before Tuppence could disembark. He held a gentlemanly hand out to help her climb down.
Tuppence saw his hand and hesitated. Nobody had ever offered her such a gentlemanly gesture before. Her cheeks flooded with colour, but she accepted his hand with a soft smile. When she was beside him, Isaac didn’t release her. Instead, he pressed a gentlemanly kiss to the back of her chilled fingers while his gaze remained locked on hers. He didn’t linger outside, though, because Tuppence was frozen and vulnerable outside.
“Come on, let’s go and get inside where it is warm.” Isaac tucked her hand against the warmth of his jacket and pressed his considerably warmer fingers over hers almost protectively trying to warm her up while he escorted her into the house. “I will get Harman to empty the carriage for us.”
“Thank you,” Tuppence murmured. “For this. For everything.”
“Ah, there you are, my dear,” Sir Reginald called before Isaac could reply.
Tuppence realised then that she was standing in the study at the back of the house, where Sir Reginald had been taking a nap. He dropped his newspaper onto his lap with a muttered snort and blinked sleepily at them both.
“I am sorry. I didn’t realise you were there. I apologise for disturbing you.” She looked hesitantly at Isaac.
“No. No. I was just taking a nap,” Sir Reginald blustered around a smothered yawn.
Having spoken to the butler, Isaac stepped into the study. “Harman is going to take your things up to your room.”
Tuppence murmured her thanks only to realise that Isaac wasn’t paying her the slightest bit of attention. His gaze was locked on Sir Reginald.
“That’s wonderful news,” Sir Reginald enthused, smiling proudly. “I take it everything was in order.”
“Almost.” Tuppence told him about the barn.”
“Well, if nothing was taken, the intruder might have used it for somewhere to stay,” Sir Reginald mused.
Isaac was astonished. He had never seen Sir Reginald beam so proudly at anybody the way he was smiling at Tuppence.
“Well, I will go and unpack the rest of my things,” she announced when she struggled to find something else to say, and Sir Reginald merely sat staring at her as if he was expecting her to say something more.
Deciding that the men probably had something they needed to discuss without her, Tuppence quietly backed out of the room and headed upstairs. A part of her wanted to linger in the hallway to listen to what they were saying, but that would be incredibly rude, and leave her in an awkward position if Gertrude or one of the staff caught her so, reluctantly, Tuppence left them to talk in private.
Isaac spent a few minutes with Sir Reginald, but when the elderly man yawned for the third time in as many minutes, decided to leave him to more napping. With no interest in the state of his own farm, Isaac wandered almost absently into his study – and promptly slammed to a halt. At first, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The small hairs stood up on the back of his neck. A heavy frown marred his face as he edged closer. His gaze remained locked on the object he knew hadn’t been on his desk when he had left. Without touching it, he bent down to peer at it, but it wasn’t one he recognised. He was sure it wasn’t his. He had his own handgun on him, and had taken it to Hilltop Farm with him, just in case. As far as he was aware, Reginald didn’t even own a handgun, and the rest of the guns on the estate were locked away either in the gun cabinet beside the library or in the Estate Manager’s office behind the stables. Besides, none of the estate’s guns were handguns. They were all hunting rifles used for game.
