Working up her courage, she crossed over to the dresser and opened the drawer. Neat rows of socks greeted her like a little line of defence, daring her to break through their ranks. Looking around, she spotted a quill on top of the dresser.
Perfect.
She revelled a little in the thought of not having to touch any of his socks. Using the tip of the quill like a stick, she moved the socks aside and immediately spotted a stack of letters. Most of the letters were correspondences with family, but one right at the bottom stood out to her. The paper was soft and a little warm, as if it had been handled daily for a long time.
Lifting the letter, she carefully unfolded the parchment and began to read. The writer had not signed their name, but the writing was elegant and slanted with a feminine touch.
I am writing to let you know that the plan will still go ahead, as we discussed. Everything will be fine once they are taken care of.
I am placing my trust in you and hope that you won’t back out now just because a few things have gone astray.
Her heart leapt into her throat as her eyes widened in shock. There was no date on the note, but judging by the appearance of the parchment, it wasn’t written in the recent past.
She quickly shoved the socks back in place and left the room. There was no time to waste now; Benedict needed to see the note.
***
Benedict stared into the fire that had been lit in the parlour. Things had been simpler when he’d chosen to push the world at large away. He wasn’t sure why Eleanor had suddenly appeared again, but her presence posed quite a challenge to the feelings of lust harboured for Livinia.
It’s just lust.
He tried to reassure himself of that as the thought of her soft skin drifted into his mind. Her hair smelled of lavender, and her scent often lingered in the parlour long after she’d left. If it was lust, then it was lust that he hadn’t experienced in the past.
The door suddenly burst open to reveal a breathless Livinia. Her eyes were wild, as if she’s seen a ghost.
“Miss Campbell?” Benedict came to his feet at once.
“Benedict, I mean, My Lord, I have found something you must see at once!” Her breaths came in sharp intervals as she bent over the back of a chair and clutched her side.
“Take a deep breath and tell me what happened?” He ushered her onto the sofa and waited for her to catch her breath.
Livinia regained her composure and thrust a worn piece of parchment in his face. “Read this!” she demanded, waving her arm frantically.
Benedict eyed the note suspiciously at first before taking it from her.
“Thomas and Lady Eleanor are up to something!” she exclaimed before he even had the chance to look inside.
“I beg your pardon?” he asked with a frown, pausing with his fingers on one end of the note.
Taking a deep breath, Livinia calmed herself before explaining, “Yesterday, I saw Lady Eleanor and Thomas whispering angrily to one another in front of her carriage. This morning, I found that note in his chambers. The two of them are definitely up to something. This is definitive proof.” She gestured to the note once again with a confident nod.
Benedict frowned as he took in her words. Nothing she was saying was making any sense to him at all. “You took this note from Thomas’s chambers?” He glanced at the worn piece of parchment in his hand. He wasn’t sure what had got into her all of a sudden, but he knew for sure that going through the private property of a man who had been loyal to his family for years was crossing a boundary, even if he was the earl.
She nodded so vigorously that Benedict feared her head would fall off.
“You must go and put this back at once,” he commanded, thrusting the note back in her hand.
Livinia’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him in horror. “You aren’t even going to read what it says?” She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“No, I am not. This may come as a shock to you, but I respect other people’s right to privacy. I’m unsure if you are familiar with the concept given that you’ve read my diary,” he snapped at her.
Jumping to her feet, she balled her hands at her sides. “This is different! If you just read the note, you will see that something isn’t right. The writer clearly says that everything will be fine once ‘they are taken care of’ and that can’t mean anything good! It’s clearly a woman who wrote the letter!”
She’s jealous.
Benedict recalled the shocked look on her face when Eleanor had barged into the parlour. Given the kiss they had shared at the ball, he didn’t blame her for being jealous and jumping to conclusions. Even he was struggling with the intense attraction he felt towards her.
“I think you may have misunderstood what you read. Thomas has been loyal to this family for many years; he was the only member of staff who stayed on after my parents’ deaths,” he tried to calmly reassure her.
“What about the way he was whispering with Lady Eleanor? The two looked as if they were having a heated argument!” She stood her ground with an incredulous look on her face.
“Were you close enough to hear what they were arguing about?” He decided to humour her for a moment until she saw reason.
“No, but given the fact that Thomas is a servant, I don’t think they were arguing about where to have tea together!” Her cheeks flushed with colour as her anger grew.
A chuckle escaped his throat despite the seriousness of her accusations. “No, I dare say that Lady Eleanor was not discussing tea arrangements with Thomas.”
Livinia seemed to snap at his dismissal of what she was saying; taking a step forward, she looked him in the eyes. “How can you laugh in the face of everything I have just said? I thought you would take any accusations seriously given the fact that you pore over your journal day and night trying to figure out what happened!”
Her accusations hit a nerve with him that turned his mirth into anger. “How dare you question me like this when I was the one who had to live through it all?
Have you not considered even for a moment that I would have ruled them out? Why would Thomas and Lady Eleanor conspire together? Have you considered the fact that, like you, Thomas needs his position, and Lady Eleanor has money from her family? Unless there is something that I am unaware of in her past, I highly doubt she’d have any kind of motive to kill the late earl and countess?”
She stood her ground, narrowing her eyes at him as he came closer. “I’m only trying to help you and Lady Theodora,” she said, her voice low and unapologetic as she glared up at him.
Feeling an overwhelming rush of desire, Benedict drew her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers in a fiery embrace.
Livinia quickly pushed him off and took a step back. “Why won’t you listen to me?” she demanded with a look of confusion in her eyes.
