“I hope you don’t mind that I stopped by unannounced,” Charles said as he entered Eris’ drawing room the next day. “I thought my cousin might be here.” That was a lie. He knew full well that Reina was shopping with his mother, but he had to come up with some excuse in order to see Eris. “She was talking about coming by to visit you. I assumed she meant today.” He offered an apologetic smile. “I can see that I was wrong.” He gestured to the book Eris was holding. “My apologies. I won’t keep you from your book.”
As he hoped, Eris said, “You might as well stay and have some tea since you came all the way over here.”
Pretending to think it over, he said, “I don’t want to disturb you.”
“You’re not disturbing me. I can read this later.” She slipped a clip into the book to mark her place. “Take off your coat and hat and have a seat.”
He turned to the butler and handed the servant his hat and coat. Afterward, he opted to sit on the settee. He could have chosen a chair, he supposed, but it wouldn’t allow him to suggest she sit next to him. If he was going to play the part of the besotted gentleman, the settee was his best choice.
He noted that she told the butler to bring the same things he’d had the last time he was here. Jonathan’s cook made excellent scones. It was no wonder she served those so much. Jonathan used to eat them a lot. He cleared his throat and forced his friend from his mind.
After the butler left, she went to the chair she’d been sitting in when he arrived.
“You can sit with me,” he said before she sat down. “There’s plenty of room on the settee.” When she hesitated, he added, “I’ll be escorting you at my dinner party. We might as well get comfortable with each other.”
A slight blush colored her cheeks before she sat beside him.
“That wasn’t painful, was it?” he teased her.
“No, of course not. We’re just sitting.”
“Precisely.” He paused then added, “It’s good practice. We’ll probably end up sitting next to each other on the settee at my townhouse. My cousin and friend will meet for the first time tomorrow. It’s best they sit in chairs. I doubt she’ll find him to her liking.”
“Do you mind if I ask why not, or is that too personal?”
“You can ask. Reina is a lady full of laughter and joy. I’m sure you’ve noticed that.”
Eris nodded. “Oh yes, she’s a lovely person to be around.”
“I enjoy my friend’s company. I wouldn’t be friends with him if I didn’t. But he has a tendency to be somber. It’s his fear of facing an early death that does it. He’s very intelligent. I suspect he’s smarter than most in London. Nevertheless, that fear has dimmed his enthusiasm for life. I suppose if I believed I was going to die soon, I might not be such an enthusiastic person, either.”
He glanced at her, wondering if she would try to kill him the same way she’d managed to kill Jonathan. Well, let her try. It’d be easier to prove she’d murdered his friend if she did. Unlike Jonathan, he would be careful around her.
Clearing his throat, he continued, “I can’t think of two people more different than Reina and Eric. The most I can hope is that they’ll have a pleasant evening talking and playing games.” He laughed and touched her arm. “Forgive me. I was so caught up in sitting next to you that I forgot to tell you that the dinner party is tomorrow.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Tomorrow?”
“I know it’s soon.” He smiled but removed his hand from her arm lest he seem too forward. “I hope you don’t mind me saying it, but I was impatient to see you again. Had I known I was allowed to spend some time with you today, I would have had the dinner party later on in the week. Do you forgive me?”
“It’s not a sin to have a dinner party so quickly because…because…”
When she failed to finish the sentence, he realized it was because she couldn’t bring herself to admit what he was trying to get her to believe.
“Yes, I confess my intentions are that of a romantic nature,” he whispered in a way he hoped would convey sincerity. “I told myself it was best to wait. I really don’t want to seem impatient. My friend hasn’t been gone for long. I realize it’s not appropriate for you to entertain suitors so soon. It’s just that,” he paused on purpose as if he was struggling with what to say, “you didn’t know Jonathan very well, and you weren’t even married to him beyond a day. Also, Reina told me you didn’t have time to fall in love with him.”
Eris winced.
“Jonathan told me about you,” he hurried to add. “He said you were beautiful and kind. He spoke of you in such a way that made me envy his good fortune.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t think anyone expected you to be in love with him. The marriage was arranged, and you two were chaperoned up until your wedding day.”
“Yes, that’s true,” she replied.
They grew quiet, and Charles felt a surge of panic well up within him when he realized he had run out of things to say. He couldn’t very well suggest they elope. Yes, that was his goal, but he couldn’t get to it so soon. The time wasn’t right. She had to be fully convinced he was in love with her first.
Thankfully, the butler came in and set the refreshments on the table.
As the butler left, he thought of something to say that wouldn’t press the issue of romance. “Tell me about your family.”
“Well,” she began, “my brother and I are all that’s left.”
She picked up the teapot, and he noticed that her hands were trembling as she poured tea into their cups. A subconscious admission of guilt, perhaps? Had his reminder that she hadn’t loved Jonathan disturbed her? Was it possible she experienced a slight sting of conscience over ruthlessly killing him?
“My father died when I was six, but he left us with money,” she said. “We never wanted for anything. My mother passed on a couple of years ago.”
“She never married again?” Charles asked.
Eris shook her head, and he noted how attractive she was with those dark curls framing her face. He supposed Jonathan thought the same when he used to look at her. She really did appear harmless. His poor friend would never have suspected that she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
She set the teapot down and held a cup out to him, her hand still a bit shaky. “I’m not sure my brother will ever marry. He doesn’t have the kind of life that would make for a good husband. He’s always going from one job to another, and he works at all hours.”
Charles accepted the cup. “Plenty of gentlemen have jobs that require them to be away from home at different times of the day.”
“Yes, but his job comes with some danger, too.”
Charles took a sip of the hot tea. “I suppose that makes sense. I bet your brother has a lot of interesting stories to share.”
“Probably, but he doesn’t share them. What about your family? I know Reina’s staying with your parents, and there was a mention of you having a sister.”
He drank his tea as he debated how much to tell her. He had to let her get close to him, but he couldn’t let her get too close. After a moment, he said, “I have three, but only one is old enough to have a husband, and she’s married with a child and another on the way. She’s excited about adding another member to the family.”
“I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to expect a child.”
He wondered if she might be expecting a child right now but telling him. Jonathan’s dead body hadn’t been discovered until the morning, and the doctor estimated the time of death to be anywhere from ten in the night to one in the morning. Jonathan could have consummated the marriage then returned to his bedchamber where he met his fate.
Maybe she’d managed to slip poison into his drink without him finding out. Or maybe she had offered him something to drink in her bedchamber and the poison didn’t take effect until he was back in his own bed. Not all poisons worked immediately.
He glanced at the cup he was holding. For a split second, he wondered if he had been careless to drink from it, but then, he remembered the butler had brought the tea, and he had watched her pour the tea into his cup. She hadn’t had an opportunity to slip something into it.
Besides, why would she? She wasn’t married to him. Jonathan was just fine until his wedding night. Charles relaxed. He didn’t have to worry yet. The time to worry was after he married her. The only chance he had of finding the proof he needed to convict her of murder was by getting full access to this townhouse.
Eris bit into her scone. “Are you and your sisters close?”
“The oldest has her own life with her husband,” Charles replied. “I see her from time to time, but usually, it’s when we have something special happening in the family. As for the other two, they’re still children.”
“My brother is my closest friend. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“That’s nice.” It must help to have someone in the family whose job it was to track down criminals when one was a killer. If her brother discovered what she’d done, he’d probably do his best to make sure no one else found out.
She bit into a piece of the scone, and a crumb fell to her gown. She hurried to pick up one of the cloth napkins and searched for it. He hesitated to point it out to her since it had landed between the edge of her gown and her breast. Fortunately, she shifted as she continued looking for it, and it ended up in her lap. That was a much safer place to point to.
“It’s right there,” he said, gesturing to it.
“Thank you.” She picked the crumb up with her napkin and set the rest of the scone on the tray. She offered an apologetic smile. “When I’m nervous, I can be clumsy.”
Nervous, or guilty? Pretending to believe that it was a simple case of nerves, he said, “You have no need to be nervous around me. I very much enjoy your company.”
A blush crept up her face as she folded the napkin, and put it on the tray.
“I hate to leave, but I still need to find my cousin,” he said when he couldn’t think of a single other thing to say.
“Oh, I forgot you were looking for her.”
“I did, too, but one can’t blame a gentleman for being forgetful when he’s around a charming lady. I’m looking forward to the dinner party.” He considered kissing her cheek or her hand, but he figured he’d already taken enough liberties for the time being.
She cleared her throat. “I’m looking forward to it, too.”
She began to rise to her feet, but he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm. “There’s no need to get up. I’ll see myself out.” He let his hand rest on her arm longer than necessary then stood up. “I’m counting down the hours until I get to see you again.”
As he made his way to the front door, he smiled. That had gone much better than he’d hoped. She believed everything he’d told her. He was sure of it. If tomorrow evening went as he planned, he should have no trouble convincing her to run off and marry him.