Chapter 18
The grounds stretched peacefully beneath the summer sun. Birds sang from the trees, and the gardens looked exactly as they had every other day.
The calm only made Gabriel’s dread worse. He scanned the lawns frantically, looking for the men.
“There!”
One of the gardeners pointed toward the yew walk, and Gabriel broke into a run.
The world narrowed to the stretch of grass ahead of him.
His boots pounded against the gravel before giving way to the softer ground beneath the trees.
Branches caught at his sleeves as he pushed through them, his eyes searching desperately for the small figure he feared he would not find.
Then he saw her.
Sophie stood beneath an oak tree with a little basket resting beside her feet. The new governess had turned away only for a moment, speaking anxiously with one of the gardeners, both of them looking toward the lane beyond the estate wall.
“Sophie!”
The child looked up at once.
“Hello, Gabriel!” She smiled, unaware of the terror that had seized him.
He reached her in seconds, dropping to one knee before pulling her tightly into his arms.
Sophie gave a small laugh of surprise. “What is it?”
Gabriel could not answer immediately. He held her so tightly that she wriggled in mild protest.
“I cannot breathe, Gabriel.”
He loosened his embrace at once, though only enough to look at her properly. His hands moved over her shoulders and arms without thinking, checking for injury.
“Are you hurt? Did anyone speak to you?”
She frowned in concentration. “No, I am not. I saw two men by the wall.”
Gabriel’s stomach tightened. He had so wanted it to be a mistake.
“What men?”
“They were looking through the trees. I thought they were visitors.”
The governess hurried over, her face pale.
“My lord, I am so sorry. I only looked away for a moment. When I turned back, Jenkins shouted that there were strangers watching from the lane. By the time we reached the wall, they had gone.”
Gabriel rose slowly, lifting Sophie into his arms instead of setting her back on the ground.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said, though his voice was firmer than he intended. “You brought her away the moment you realized something was wrong.”
Eleanor caught up with them then, breathless from running. “Sophie.”
The little girl reached immediately for her mother. Gabriel placed her carefully into Eleanor’s arms, and only then did he realize how hard his own heart was beating. Eleanor held Sophie against her shoulder with visible relief before looking at Gabriel.
“Was she alone?”
“No.”
“Thank God.”
Neither of them said what they were both thinking. If the servants had noticed the men a few moments later…
Gabriel forced the thought aside before it could take hold. He turned sharply toward the head gardener.
“Send word that the child is not to be outside the house without two members of staff present. Double the watch at every gate, every wall, and every path leading onto the estate. I want men walking the grounds until nightfall, and the same again tomorrow.”
“At once, my lord.”
“And send Collins to my study.”
The gardener hurried away. Gabriel looked once more toward the estate wall.
“They were not wandering,” he said quietly. “They came here for a reason.”
Less than half an hour later, Gabriel stood in his study with Collins, the head gardener, and two of the men who had first spotted the strangers.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Gabriel said.
Collins folded his cap between his hands.
“I was near the rose garden when Jenkins called to me. Two gentlemen were standing beyond the wall where the old beech trees thin out. They were dressed well enough to be considered gentlemen, at least, but they did not belong here.”
“What were they doing?”
“They were watching the little miss. They made no attempt to hide it, and they disappeared the moment Jenkins shouted.”
Gabriel looked toward the second gardener. “Did you see them as well?”
“I did, but I could not hear them.”
Gabriel rested both hands on the edge of his desk. “What time did they arrive?”
“I cannot say exactly. It could not have been more than a few minutes before Miss Sophie came to that part of the lawn.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed, then he slowly straightened.
“They knew where she would be,” he muttered.
Neither gardener answered. They did not need to; the conclusion was becoming impossible to ignore.
Sophie did not play in the same part of the grounds every day.
The decision depended on the weather, the lessons she had finished, and whichever member of the household happened to be with her.
No stranger could have guessed precisely where to wait unless someone had told them beforehand, which meant that someone inside Ravenscourt was carrying word beyond its walls.
***
The remainder of the afternoon passed in a blur.
Gabriel scarcely left his study. Every servant who had possibly seen the strangers was questioned.
The gates were checked twice over, the walls inspected, and fresh instructions were given to the men patrolling the estate.
By the time the last report had been delivered, the sun had begun its slow descent, casting long shadows across the lawns where Sophie had nearly wandered into danger.
Only when he was certain Sophie was safely upstairs did he allow himself to leave the study.
He found Eleanor in the morning room. The letter to Beatrice still rested on the small writing table where she had abandoned it, though the ink had long since dried.
Eleanor stood at the window with her back to the room, watching the last light fade over the gardens.
She did not turn immediately when he entered, but he saw her shoulders stiffen at the sound of the door closing.
The fright they had shared that afternoon had caused them to leave their moment behind, leaving only the things neither of them had managed to say. Gabriel walked slowly toward her.
“Sophie frightened us both,” she said quietly.
“She did,” he replied, his gaze lingering on Eleanor’s face. “But she is not the only thing I have been thinking about.”
She lowered her eyes. “I know.”
“I did not finish what I was trying to tell you. When you said you intended to leave, I realized that I have already lived through losing you once. I do not think I could bear it a second time.”
The confession hung quietly between them. She looked at him again, and the uncertainty in her eyes unsettled him far more than anger ever could.
“I never wanted to hurt you again. I simply thought leaving would spare us both.”
“It would not,” he replied without hesitation. “It would only make us miserable in different houses.”
A sad laugh escaped her before she could stop it.
“You make it sound so simple.”
“I do not want to wake one morning and find that you are both gone. There is nothing more simple than that.”
He reached for her hand slowly enough that she could have withdrawn it if she wished. She did not. Her fingers settled into his, tentative at first, before gently tightening around them. Gabriel looked down at their joined hands, feeling a sense of peace that had been absent for years.
He smiled faintly.
“I have never been particularly good at saying the important things,” Gabriel sighed as he drew a slow breath. “Eleanor, I—“
A firm knock interrupted him. Both of them turned to see the butler standing there, glancing between them awkwardly.
“My lord, forgive the interruption.”
“What is it?”
“The investigator has arrived. He says the matter is urgent.”
Gabriel looked back at Eleanor. She had released his hand the moment Faulks arrived, but she did not look upset.
“I suppose duty has found you again,” she said softly.
He gave a rueful smile. “It has excellent timing.”
The warmth of her fingers lingered against his palm, making the loss immediate. Gabriel hesitated. There were still words waiting between them, words he had finally found the courage to speak only to lose the opportunity once again.
“I shall not be long.”
“I know. I shall be here.”
He nodded and followed the butler from the room, carrying with him the warmth of Eleanor’s hand and the frustration of yet another conversation left unfinished.
By the time he reached the study, the investigator was already waiting, and Gabriel realized that he had drawn nearer to her than he had thought possible only hours earlier, and yet the most important words still remained unspoken.
Gabriel entered the study to find the investigator waiting beside the hearth, his hat resting on the table beside him.
“My lord.”
“You said the matter was urgent.”
“It is.”
Gabriel crossed to the desk but remained standing. “Then begin.”
The investigator opened the leather portfolio he carried and withdrew several folded sheets.
“I have spent the past several days following the inquiries you requested. Some have led nowhere, which is to be expected. Others, however, have proven more interesting.”
Gabriel folded his arms. “You mentioned before that Tibbs had recently come into money.”
“I did. I have learned nothing further to explain it, only that the sum was enough for several people to remark upon it. An apothecary’s assistant does not ordinarily begin settling old accounts all at once, and while I do not know the reason for it, I can tell you that it is certainly something that I shall continue to look into. ”
Gabriel nodded slowly. “And Julian?”
“The position is much the same. His creditors have become unexpectedly patient. There have been no further demands for repayments, despite the size of what he owes.”
“That is unlike creditors.”
“It is, and it suggests that they are under the belief that they will very suddenly be paid.”
The investigator laid another sheet upon the desk.
“And so I looked into the amounts, and of course the explanation appeared at once. If Julian gains control of Miss Sophie’s inheritance, every one of those debts disappears.”
Gabriel stared at the paper for a long moment. “So he has every reason to see Eleanor declared unfit.”
“Precisely.”
Silence settled between them as Gabriel considered the growing shape of the affair.
“A desperate man is dangerous,” he said quietly. “But desperation alone does not explain what happened today. The men who came to Ravenscourt today knew exactly where Sophie would be.”
Gabriel rested one hand against the window frame.
“Sophie does not play there every day, so how did they know?”
The investigator did not answer immediately. Instead, he reached into his portfolio once more and withdrew a small notebook.
“I spent part of the afternoon speaking with your household, just as they told me you did. Given that the structure of the little girl’s day changes, I thought it would be important to understand why she was where she was. I asked each servant, separately, how today’s routine came to be arranged.”
“What did you learn?”
“The decision for Miss Sophie to spend the afternoon on the south lawn was made less than half an hour before she went outside. The governess knew of it, as well as the two footmen that were instructed to carry refreshments. The kitchen staff who prepared said refreshments knew they would be there too, and then of course there were the several gardeners who were told where to place the chairs.”
He closed the notebook.
“And, naturally, anyone else who happened to overhear.”
Gabriel was silent.
“The information never left these walls through any proper channel,” the investigator continued, “yet strangers arrived at precisely the right place and at precisely the right time. Had they taken her, they could claim it proves you are not fit to care for her.”
“There is no coincidence in that.”
“I do not believe there is, no.”
Gabriel looked back toward the window.
“When Julian spoke to me after the ball, he repeated something I had said inside this house. I tried to persuade myself it was only by chance.”
“I would not advise doing so any longer. I believe someone within Ravenscourt is passing information to Julian, and as you know that poses a greater threat than one might think at first.”
The words settled heavily over the room. Gabriel had suspected as much since the ball, but hearing another man reach the same conclusion made the suspicion impossible to dismiss.
“Have you formed any opinion as to who could be doing this?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
“I dislike that answer.”
“So do I,” the investigator grumbled as he gathered another document from the portfolio. “There is something else. You told me about the hunting accident several weeks ago—the saddle-girth.”
“Yes.”
“You believed it failed through age. I have since spoken with the saddler who inspected the tack afterwards. He told me that he had found the leather failure unusual. According to him, the girth did not simply wear through. There were small cuts on the underside of the leather.”
Gabriel’s face hardened. “Cuts?”
“The saddler believed they had been concealed by dirt and oil. Under ordinary inspection they would have passed unnoticed, but once he looked at it more closely…”
“You are telling me someone weakened it.”
“I am telling you the damage was unlikely to have occurred naturally.”
Gabriel said nothing. His thoughts returned at once to that morning. At the time it had seemed an unfortunate accident, but after everything that had happened, it was not something that he could believe.
“If the girth had failed a little sooner,” he said quietly, “or on the stone road rather than open ground…”
The investigator nodded grimly. “I considered the same possibility.”
Gabriel let out a slow breath.
“Do you believe Julian was behind it?”
“I do not know, but I suspect very little that has happened here was by chance. This is a man that wants a fortune, and he will stop at nothing given his debts.”
The room fell silent again. After several moments, the investigator reached for one final paper.
“There is, however, one encouraging development.”
Gabriel looked up.
“The stable hand, Jem Carter, has been found. I have received word that he has been seen nearby.”
Gabriel frowned. Jem Carter had been a member of his household before, but then he disappeared without a trace.
“Has he not left the county?”
“Apparently not.”
“Why remain so close?”
“I cannot answer that, but a man who stays within reach is often a man who wishes to be found, provided the right person finds him first.”
“Do you believe he might talk?”
“I believe he might be persuaded.”
Gabriel considered the possibility.
“If Carter knows who tampered with the tack, he may know more than he realizes. Find him before Julian does.”
The investigator nodded at once. “I understand.”
As the man gathered his papers, Gabriel remained standing before the fire, his thoughts moving from one revelation to the next. The danger facing them was greater than a legal battle or whispered scandal alone.
Someone had already begun acting against his family, and there was the possibility that the next move might not fail.