This Side of Murder

by Anna Lee Huber

  I smiled tightly, unsure how I should answer him, or if I even should.

  That was how Sidney found us when the door behind us suddenly opened and he strode out onto the terrace. There was nothing improper in our postures or attitudes. We stood a perfectly respectable distance apart. And yet I found myself flushing as if I’d done something wrong. If Sidney noticed it, he chose the gentlemanly course of action and ignored it, stepping forward to take Max’s hand.

  “Thank you, Ryde. I’m not sure I can adequately express how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me, for my men”—his eyes locked with mine—“and for my wife.”

  Max shook his hand. “It’s the least I could do considering you’ve caught us a couple of traitors and brought justice to several men who deserved it. After all, they were my men, too.” He tucked his hand into the pocket of his navy worsted suit. “And don’t worry about anything at the War Office. I’ll smooth things over and make sure any question of desertion charges are dropped, as I’m certain they’ll agree they should be. I’ll also make certain Sam Gerard and Mabel Lorraine suffer no unpleasant consequences either. Though, I’m sure you’ll all be called in, simply as a formality, to have you report the details firsthand. But they shouldn’t give you any trouble.”

  “They do love their paperwork,” Sidney quipped.

  Ryde’s lips quirked. “That they do.”

  Sidney reached over to wrap his arm around my waist, as casually as if he’d been doing so for years, as if the war and his feigned death had never separated us. “I hear you spend most of your time at your estate on Wight, but the next time you’re in London, be sure to look us up.”

  Max’s eyes locked with mine where I stood at Sidney’s side. “I will.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Max as he walked away, then offered Sidney a strained smile. I could tell he sensed my discomfort, my uncertainty, and I thought it might make him angry, but he only twisted his head to look out over the lawn and the gardens beyond.

  “Will you walk with me?” he asked.

  I nodded and he took my hand lightly in his, guiding me toward the steps and down onto the paths leading away from the castle. I’d expected him to take me toward the flower gardens, but instead he guided me around the left perimeter of the house toward the sea. We paused at the steps that would have led us down onto the beach, now strewn with the flotsam of the storm.

  The sea today was a calm, cool blue, its waves rolling gently up onto the sand. Boats darted to and fro over its surface, most heading toward Poole or out into the Channel, but a few seemed to lazily chart their own course. Above, the skies were a brilliant azure, and only the wispiest of clouds remained.

  We didn’t talk for some time, just stood hand in hand, listening to the soft cadence of the sea and watching the light glisten off the water. I began to wonder if he expected me to speak first, but then he lifted his face to the sky and closed his eyes.

  “I’d almost forgotten what it was like.”

  He didn’t elaborate, and I was just about to ask him to explain when he opened his eyes and looked at me.

  “To stand beside you, to feel your hand in mine, and to not worry what the next week, the next day, the next moment will bring.” His gaze strayed back toward the water. “It’s . . .”

  He couldn’t seem to find the word, so I tried to finish it for him. “Heartbreaking?”

  His head snapped back around, seeing the pain it caused me to think of how bleak his life must have been over the last five years.

  “I was going to say remarkable.” He pivoted to face me, taking both of my hands in his. “You are remarkable.” He stared at my fingers, at the wedding band that still gleamed back up at him. The one I’d never removed. “Verity, I’m sorry I hurt you. If I could have seen another way, one where I could return to you sooner, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. I can’t tell you how many times I lay awake at night aching for you, wishing I could let it all go and just hold you in my arms again.”

  Hot tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

  “I want to be with you. I’ve never stopped.” His eyebrows arched. “And while I think Ryde is a capital fellow, I have to tell you I have absolutely no intention of giving you up. At least, not without a fight.” He leaned closer, staring intently into my eyes. “Will you let me try? Will you return to London with me?”

  I sniffed and pulled one of my hands from his grasp, swiping at the tears that continued to course down my cheeks. “Yes. Yes, I will,” I replied through the emotion clogging my throat. “But . . .” I inhaled a ragged breath. “You must know it’s not going to be so simple. We’ve both done things we regret. We’ve both made mistakes and kept secrets. And some of those secrets I know we’re still guarding.”

  His eyes dropped from mine, as if acknowledging the truth of what I was saying. Except I had been referring to my own secrets. What was he still hiding from me?

  Gathering my composure, I pressed on and squeezed his hands in emphasis. “I want to make it work. I hope we can. But it will take some time, and patience, and understanding, I think, on both our parts.”

  “You’re right. I realize that. I accept it.” He pulled me closer. “But as long as you still care for me the way I care for you, then I think we can see it through.” His eyes clouded with worry, and I couldn’t believe he didn’t already know, that he couldn’t tell the moment he looked in my eyes.

  “Sidney,” I murmured. “Of course I love you. You know I never stopped.”

  His eyes lit with an exultant gleam, and he captured my mouth in a kiss that almost made me forget myself and where we stood for all of Poole Harbor to see. Almost.

  Some time later, he pulled back to look into my flushed face. “What do you say you let me take you home?”

  “I would like that,” I replied.

  He took hold of my hand to lead me back up the path toward the castle. “I suppose Chumley will know the local train schedule, and when we can catch the next one to London.”

  “Perhaps.” I pulled my hand from his, walking ahead of him. “But I didn’t take the train down from London.”

  “You didn’t?”

  I clasped my hands behind my back and pivoted to walk backward, biting back a smile. “I drove your Pierce-Arrow. It’s waiting for me at the Poole quay.”

  His eyes brightened and I could almost see the excitement humming through him at the prospect of getting behind the wheel of his beloved motorcar again.

  “But don’t think I’m going to let you drive,” I teased, turning away. “You’re a bit out of practice, and besides, I’ve grown rather accustomed to motoring myself.”

  “Have you?” His voice warmed, catching on to my game.

  “Yes, I suspect you’ll find I’ve grown quite independent.”

  “I see. As troublesome as always, then?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him over my shoulder, catching the twinkle in his eyes. “Well, you know what they say. Once a hoyden, always a hoyden.”

  “And thank heavens for that,” he quipped, capturing me about the waist and swinging me around.

  I laughed and set about proving how very troublesome I was, indeed.

  Photo: Shanon Aycock

  About the Author

  Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne award–winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries and the forthcoming Verity Kent Mysteries. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides in Indiana with her family and is hard at work on her next novel. Visit her online at www.annaleehuber.com.

 

 

 
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