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“Weak? If I were that man, I would run so hard and fast that mother would never catch up. He just doesn’t seem able to break free of the nursery reins.” He shook his head. “No, I cannot see him doing something as outlandish as racing a carriage through the park like that. It takes skill, and a recklessness that Sinnerton just couldn’t be capable of.”
“Well, it cannot be Brampton or Barbarella because they were with me.”
“Yes, but Barbarella has money. She could send flowers to you on Brampton’s behalf in an attempt to get people to connect you with him.”
“It would give him credibility if he wanted to borrow money off people,” she mused with a scowl. It was difficult to like anybody who could be that mercenary.
“Adelaide is a long-standing member of the ton. She has connections in high places. People like her. She is a good character. She is wealthy but not too arrogant about it. Brampton would take advantage of gossips spreading rumours that he was connected to you; if only to ease his financial crisis.”
“What has Barbarella got to do with this though?” She scowled out of the window, oblivious to the rain that trickled slowly down the pane as she thought about the woman’s apparent scheming.
“She hates me,” Trenton declared bluntly. “She was quite vexed when I refused to be lulled into her schemes and is spiteful enough that she would want to exact revenge. I am not saying that she is behind your flowers, but she has more than enough wealth to cover the cost of them.”
“But what would she have to gain from sending me flowers?” She dropped her head back onto his chest. “I cannot help feeling that we are missing something,” she mused.
“I know,” he mused. “I think we are.”
“Like what?”
Trenton explained about the third party in the conservatory who he suspected had been hidden in the foliage.
“You didn’t see anyone?”
Trenton shook his head. “It was too dark, and I was too busy thinking about you.”
She smiled at that and looked up at him a little ruefully. “So, a secret admirer arranged an assignation in the conservatory but then for some reason hid. Why?” She frowned blankly out of the window as one particular thought rose to the forefront of her mind, and refused to be ignored. “They mean to hurt me, don’t they?”
Trenton mentally cursed. He wasn’t suggesting that for a moment, even though he suspected that was the case. The fear in her eyes brought forth a blistering curse, and he sought to find a way to ease the worry. “I am not saying that is the case.”
“It’s what is happening though, isn’t it?” she replied. “I mean, I get a mysterious note asking me to meet with someone in the conservatory, only nobody turns up. You, however, realise there is someone hidden in the foliage waiting for me.”
“He may have been waiting to speak with you but didn’t want to come forward because I was there,” Trenton suggested, but she appeared to be too intent on following her train of thought to listen.
“Later that very same night, someone breaks into my room. They didn’t want to talk to me Trenton. They just grabbed me and tried to drag me out of the window.”
“Were they dragging you to the window?” He demanded. “Did you manage to see if they were carrying a weapon?”
“No, I don’t think so. They were trying to stop me from leaving the room,” she replied. “But I screamed, and the staff arrived before he could make me move.”
He conceded she had a point. “It might have just been a burglar who happened to choose the one night you received the note at the ball. You cannot lose sight of the fact that the people who attend these social engagements live in the upper echelons of society. They are highly unlikely to be climbing through windows in the dead of night to burgle houses.” He snorted. “I certainly can’t see Brampton or Barbarella going to such lengths. Neither of them could be bothered to put that much effort in. Sending flowers? Yes, most definitely. Breaking into houses? No, definitely not.”
She had to concede that he had a point, but refused to relinquish the subject just yet. Not until she had worked out some answers in her own mind. Being able to talk to him about this helped her enormously to be able to think about the possibilities.
“What about the attack on the embankment then?” she challenged somewhat triumphantly. “Are you suggesting that was a figment of my imagination?”
“No, I am not suggesting that for one minute.” His eyes wandered down her splendidly naked form now that she had sat up to face him. Her fury made her oblivious to the fact she was displaying what God had given her without even realising it, but he wasn’t going to mention the delightful view to her. He eyed her hungrily when desire began to build again.
“Trenton?”
He jerked out of his wayward thoughts and looked up at her. It took him a moment to realise what she had said. “Maybe it was a feeble attempt to steal your reticule? There were boat-people around, and street urchins and the like. They are renowned for pick-pocketing.”
“So, you are effectively saying that I am seeing shadows where there aren’t any,” she snapped, somewhat affronted that he didn’t support her theory that someone might want to do her harm.
“No, I am just saying that there is a reasonable explanation for everything that has happened to you. You shouldn’t feel worried or persecuted in any way. The circumstances that have befallen you could happen to anyone in London. It is just unfortunate that so much has happened in such a short space of time, and around the same time as you started to receive the flowers.” He looked at her. “I mean, somebody has sent you flowers. What harm has come to you by receiving them?”
She stared at him and had to concede he had a point. Still, she didn’t want to let the matter drop just yet. Was everything that had happened to her down to mere circumstance? Was she jumping at her own shadow?
“What about the carriage? You said yourself that the driver looked familiar. What if he is the man who attacked me on the embankment? What if this person, whoever he is, gets desperate and decides to be more forceful?” She couldn’t stop her fear from building.
