AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When Charles arrived at his office that morning, there was something off. He had a creeping feeling as he entered. It was as though the air had been disturbed.
He walked past Arthur’s office, stopping to check if the door was locked. It was. His friend was running late. Charles found that his own office door was ajar. His heartrate rose as he slowly pushed the door open. He didn’t know what to expect on the other side.
It swung open, to reveal that his desk had been gone through. It wasn’t quite a mess, but everything had certainly been disturbed. Someone had broken in, during the night. Charles felt dismayed.
He began to go through his office, looking for what had been taken. He opened his desk drawer, to find that his date book was gone.
“Charles?” Arthur called out from the back door.
“Yes, Arthur?”
“The lock on the back door has been forced open. Was that you?” he asked.
“No, I came through the front door,” he replied, turning to look at Arthur. “Someone’s broken in, and taken my date book.”
Arthur frowned. “I’m going to fetch the constable,” he said.
“What for?” Charles asked.
“They need to make note of what’s been taken,” Arthur said. “Or else whoever has done this is going to use it against you.”
Charles sighed. “Let me come with you,” he said. They both locked the office, and then left. Charles was terrified. The murderer knew who he was, and that he was a suitable person to blame. For the first time, he recalled the Duke of Longmire’s suspicion of him, the night before.
What if the Duke of Longmire is the one behind this? He’s decided that I am to take the fall.
Charles needed to warn Arabella. He just didn’t know how.
* * *
It wasn’t long after the Duke of Longmire’s exit that both of her parents entered the room. Her mother was beaming.
“Well?” her father asked.
“He asked me to marry him,” she said. “But you knew he was going to do that. Just as you knew what my answer to him would be.”
“You said no.” Her father scowled.
“Oh, Arabella,” her mother said, dismayed. “You didn’t.”
“Of course, I did,” she replied. The Duke had insulted the man that she was in love with. Not to mention, the Duke was not the man that she was in love with. How could she have ever said yes?
“He says that he’ll return in a week, my refusal forgotten entirely. I am to consider it, and give him my answer yet again,” she said.
“You’ll say yes,” her father ordered. He was pacing the room, his hands clasped behind his back.
She looked at him. He was like a caged tiger. After what Annette had told her, she found that she was frightened of him.
“You’ll say yes,” he repeated, pausing to look at her. “You won’t ever get a better offer, my dear.”
“I—" She closed her mouth, swallowing nervously.
“There is no way in Hell that you will marry Mr. Conolly. If he truly cares about you, then he will respect that this is the way that your life must go, and he will say nothing of it.”
Arabella’s throat was tight. She refused to cry in front of her father. She clenched her teeth, steeling herself.
“There is no way in Hell that I will marry the Duke of Longmire,” she replied. When she looked at her father, he was grinning at her coldly.
“Is that so?” he asked, his eyes dangerous.
