AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Especially when the captain was the only one who did not change his attention to Elijah.
“Now that we are all gathered here, there is some new information that has come to light I believe we should share in the interest of everyone’s safety.” Though he said ‘everyone,’ Elijah’s eyes flicked to Lily at her friends, not the men. Of course. “Nathan has reason to believe his brother was murdered because he was looking into the possibility of someone in this area smuggling spies to and from France during the war.”
Even though the women already knew, they did their best to act shocked in a believable manner. Josie gasped, putting her hand to her breast. Evie’s expression hardened, her jaw firming, and she turned to face straight again, her gaze becoming distant, similar to how it had when Lily told her. Next to Lily, Mary gasped as well, though much quieter than Josie, and reached out for Lily’s hand, which she appreciated.
Lily was experiencing conflicting emotions. Relief Nathan had told Elijah what his brother was investigating and anger he’d seen fit to tell Elijah but not her. She was also sure he had told Elijah his father had been part of it, or else Elijah would not have worded his own statement so carefully.
Not only anger. Hurt.
“We do not yet know if there is a connection to the man we have been searching for in London, but it means there is danger here. Everyone will need to be careful.” Elijah’s gaze flitted back and forth between Mary and Lily before he stepped forward to look down at his own wife. Nodding, Josie smiled up at him.
“We will keep ourselves safe,” Josie replied.
Lily had no doubt Elijah was the one who had decided the ladies should be entrusted with this information, not her own husband. Likely because he knew it would be near impossible to keep them from involving themselves in the investigations and worried keeping them in the dark would put them in greater danger.
That the ladies had all been involved in the major revelations and uncovering clues during their hunt did not seem to signify.
Men.
She sighed, then tensed when she felt Nathan’s hand come down on her shoulder. His grip was firm but not punishing, yet she knew he was trying to hold her back. Ha… as if he could.
“What would you like for us to do?” she asked Elijah, rather than turning to look up at her husband. She did not trust her expression right now.
“Keep the household running and those who come for the funeral entertained. We will be questioning some people and need to be free to do so,” Elijah said quickly. “Also, if you hear anything suspicious, let one of us know immediately.”
‘Us’ being the men.
The ladies glanced at Evie, who nodded. Yes, they would tell her as well, probably first.
* * *
Nathan
It was impossible to miss the silent conversation between his wife and the other ladies, not that he got the sense they were trying to hide it. The idea they might step back and allow others, who were better equipped to handle everything, was too much to hope for.
“This isdangerous,” he said, gripping Lily’s shoulder a little tighter to emphasize his words.
“Oh, well, certainly different from before,” Lady Stuart replied with a delicate snort. “After all, it is not as if I was attacked at a ball where I was merely minding my own business.”
“Or kidnapped by a highwayman when I was on my way home,” Lily added. Though she was not looking at him, he did not need to see her face to know she was annoyed with his assessment.
Unfortunately, the ladies’ points were unassailable. Both had been doing exactly what they should be and had been dragged into events by circumstances outside of their control.
Nathan already knew Lily was a target since the highwayman had been questioning rather than attempting to kill her. A fact he was suddenly grateful for. Out on the road, without a protector, she had made an incredibly easy target, unlike the rest of them. He had forgotten that with everything else that had occurred since then.
He exchanged a long-suffering glance with Elijah.
Why could nothing be easy? It was tempting to think keeping the ladies away from danger would mean they were out of danger entirely, but it had not kept them safe before.
“As long as you are not running headlong into danger, such as following a man onto the Dark Walk at Vauxhall Gardens,” Rex said mildly, reaching out to toy with one of his wife’s curls. She blushed deeply, though Nathan could only see one of her cheeks.
Surprisingly, the outspoken Lady Stuart did as well, lowering her gaze from the rest of them. Miss Stuart did not, of course, as she had not been present for that occurrence. Nathan wondered if his own wife was blushing as well. She had gone down that path along with her friends.
Intriguing how Rex managed to set them neatly in their place.
Nathan mentally took note. Rex’s tactic was clearly far more effective than Elijah’s talking around the subject or his own directness.
“We want to keep you safe,” Nathan said, coming around to the side of the couch so he could take Lily’s hand and see her expression. She frowned up at him, but not in a disapproving way, more like she was trying to muster an argument. Meeting her gaze, he squeezed her fingers, lowering his voice. “I have already lost enough.”
