Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [77]
A little gasp sounded. A feminine foot appeared. She stepped into view at the doorway to the dining room.
It was not Daphne, but Miss Johnson.
“Where is Mrs. Joyes?” he demanded.
She shrank away, terrified. Mr. Edwards hurried over to reassure her with some whispered words.
“It would help if you did not yell like that, sir. She has a very delicate constitution,” Mr. Edwards had the temerity to say.
“I may do more than yell if she does not answer me. I have reason to think Mrs. Joyes is here, or was recently.”
“She was here, that is true,” Edwards said, yelling a bit himself. In fact, he dared to act piqued. “I saw her. She stayed one night, then left in the morning. She did not say where she was going.”
Castleford kept his attention on Miss Johnson. “She did not give her destination to you, Edwards, but I think she did to her dear friend here. Miss Johnson would need to know where to write to Mrs. Joyes, in the event there were a problem with the business.”
Edwards frowned over that. He turned to Miss Johnson. “Did she leave such information, Katherine?”
Katherine?
Castleford suddenly noticed the gentle way Edwards spoke to Miss Johnson. He finally became aware of the nice dress Miss Johnson wore. He assessed the total absence of Mrs. Hill from these chambers.
Miss Johnson appeared distraught. She turned those dark, limpid eyes on Edwards. “She said she was going north, to her first sister.”
Edwards turned to Castleford. “There you have it, Your Grace. She went to visit her sister,” he said defensively.
“A lot of good that does me, since she has no sister. An address, Miss Johnson. I will have it now, please.”
“She only said I could write if I had to, to the town of Failsworth, in Lancashire. She would get the letter.”
Failsworth. She was not just going north, but far north. The woman was traveling right into the heart of the danger up there.
Castleford turned on his heel. “Come with me, Mr. Edwards. That front sitting room will do, I think.”
Once they got there, Castleford made himself comfortable on a chair. He did not invite Edwards to do the same. He gave his secretary a good examination.
Country air suited Edwards. He did not appear so pale now. He even held himself differently, as if he found his body more comfortable than before.
“Enjoying your sojourn amid the blooms, are you, Edwards?”
Edwards gazed straight ahead at nothing in particular. “I do not mind the country as much as you do, if that is what you mean, Your Grace.”
“I was very surprised to find you here and not at the inn.”
“You told me to stay here, sir. In your last letter. You said it would be best if I stayed with the ladies.”
“I did not mean at night, Edwards.”
“Then perhaps you should have been explicit, sir. I always do as you order, and your letter ordered me to—”
“Have there been any more trespassers?”
“Several. Two near the men examining the land, that they reported to me. One on the property next to this, peering over the garden wall. I pursued the last, but he lost me in the woods.” He looked at Castleford. “I do not think he was with the others. I think the one who is so bold regarding this house is less interested in your affairs than in the house itself.”
“Why do you think this?”
“We would not be mining for minerals in the garden, would we? I am fairly sure he was the same one as the first time too, not that I saw clearly enough either time to be certain.”
Castleford stored away that observation. He would have many hours in his saddle to contemplate it later.
He gave Edwards another good look. The secretary’s gaze settled elsewhere again.
“Mr. Edwards.”
“Your Grace?”
“I trust that you are being a gentleman with Miss Johnson.”
Edwards swallowed hard.
“Because, Edwards, I gave instructions that you were to protect the women here and see they were not bothered. I do not remember giving you permission to seduce her.”
“I have not seduced her.”
There had been a peculiar emphasis on the word seduced . “You wouldn’t be parsing words with me, would you, Edwards?”
Edwards ignored that. “If I had seduced her,