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“Manning? Are you all right?”
“I don’t know if this is relevant, my lord.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Abigail told me something that she found out when she went with Lady Blackmore to Middlesbrough. I would have brought it up, but there wasn’t really a moment to do so, especially with you recovering….”
“Stop stalling, Manning. What’s going on?”
Manning started to get a jacket and breeches out of the wardrobe, bringing them over to the bed.
“Abigail bumped into an old friend. Her parents own a public house. Apparently, Mr Hayward has been staying there since before your wedding.”
“What?” Rafe frowned. “He said he was away. Nowhere near us.”
“He’s been there the whole time. And he leaves every day as soon as breakfast is over and is back late for dinner. The rest of the time, he’s either drinking himself into a stupor or locked away in his room.”
Rafe took this in. What was he supposed to do with this information? It didn’t make any sense. Why would Hayward say he was in another part of the country, and yet he was only an hour away? Surely, he would have said if his plans had changed.
“I’m sure he had a good reason for it, Manning. But I’ll ask him about it.”
“I hope it’s innocent.”
“I’m sure it is. He probably has someone he’s sweet on and wanted to spend time with them but didn’t want anyone to know.” Rafe chuckled. “I certainly did that when I was a younger man.”
“With Mr Hayward’s attention on Lady Blackmore, I don’t believe that’s the case.”
“What do you mean?”
Manning grimaced. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with this.
“Abigail also told me that Mr Hayward…he propositioned Lady Blackmore.”
Rafe stiffened.
“I beg your pardon?”
“The day you had your accident on Paco, Mr Hayward was here. He actually tried to suggest that he and Lady Blackmore should embark in an affair.”
Rafe was struggling to take this in. Hayward had actually gone as far as to say that to a married woman? And his cousin, as well? Rafe was glad he hadn’t heard this when Hayward had been there the day before. He would really have been guilty of murder, then. No one touched his wife like that.
“What did Lady Blackmore say?”
“She scolded him for it.”
“And he still came back the next day?”
Rafe couldn’t believe the gall of the man. Did he seriously think if he persisted, then she would be worn down to agree to his proposition? Rafe needed to talk to Victoria about that.
But that would have to happen later. He didn’t think he would be able to keep his temper if he spoke to her about it. Rafe didn’t want to go into it when he was so upset about it.
“Will you tell Lady Blackmore that I’ve gone out? I’ll return in a while, hopefully in time to meet Lord and Lady Selkirk.”
“Yes, my lord.” Manning glanced up at his master as he laid out the clothes. “Are you sure you should be going out with Mr Hayward alone after that?”
“I’m sure we can come to a gentleman’s agreement while we’re out there. I’m not the impulsive, hot-headed fool I was when I was a young man. We can sort this out between us.”
Manning didn’t look convinced. If he was being honest, neither was Rafe. His first impulse was to punch the man for suggesting such a thing to his wife. But while that would make him feel better for a short time, it wasn’t going to help the situation. Hayward would be able to turn it around and show that Rafe was still a violent man.
