Jen Turano - [Ladies of Distinction 02]

by A Most Peculiar Circumstance

  “My hair’s standing up right now.”

  Arabella rolled her eyes even as she smiled. Honestly, he could be adorable, and at the moment she had the feeling he wasn’t even trying. She forced her thoughts back to what they’d been talking about. “So there I was, standing there with my hair straight up as this man watched me, and then he stepped out of the shadows and began walking toward me.”

  “Do you think he got a good look at you?”

  “It hardly matters if he did. It’s not as if I’m easily recognizable at the moment.”

  “Someone would recognize you, even dressed as you are, if they’d seen you before tonight.”

  She frowned. “Surely you don’t believe this madman who is snatching women off the streets is known to us, do you?”

  “I believe there are currently too many coincidental circumstances for me to not at least entertain that disturbing possibility.”

  “What?”

  “I went back to Gilman.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

  “There was unfinished business there that I couldn’t ignore.”

  “You never mentioned anything to me on the long train ride back to New York about ‘unfinished business.’”

  “You can hardly blame me, considering that all you seemed to want to discuss was the suffrage movement. How was I to know you’d be interested in any other topic of conversation?”

  There was the surly gentleman she’d come to know. She swallowed the laugh that was bubbling up in her throat and shook her head. “I think you didn’t bring it up because you, mistakenly of course, believe ladies shouldn’t be told anything of a distressing nature.”

  He opened his mouth, snapped it shut, and tilted his head. “You might be right. In hindsight, it would have been prudent to tell you my concerns because then tonight might never have happened. Although I did think that your brother was going to keep an eye on you.”

  She smiled. “You mustn’t blame Zayne. He’s been dogging my every footstep up until a day or so ago.” Her smile widened. “I knew something was afoot and that you had something to do with my brother’s odd behavior. I assumed it concerned those men from the farmhouse, since you had mentioned they might follow me here. But after two weeks went by and nothing dastardly occurred, I decided that having Zayne around all the time was bothersome. I strongly encouraged him to leave me alone.”

  “Of course you did.”

  “If you would have only explained yourself, I might not have encouraged him so vehemently.”

  “I was wrong to have kept you in the dark.”

  Her world suddenly shifted on its axis.

  Theodore Wilder had just admitted he’d been wrong.

  It was strange, but she didn’t feel one little urge to gloat. “Tell me, why did you go back to Gilman?”

  He shrugged. “Instinct.”

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain with more than one word.”

  He smiled. “Oh, very well. If you must know, I realized when we were in Gilman the first time that something disturbing was happening in town. When I went back there the second time, my concerns were proven correct.”

  “Did you find dead bodies?”

  “Why would you think I’d find dead bodies?”

  “You did say there was something disturbing happening, and disturbing, in my mind, conjures up dead bodies.”

  “No, there were no bodies, dead or alive. The sheriff and his men were not in town.”

  She blinked. “Perhaps their bodies are out there lost somewhere. Perhaps those two men from the farmhouse did away with them in order to avoid arrest.”

  Theodore laughed even as his eyes began to water. He swiped at them with his hand. “Are you sure you’re not reading gothic novels instead of romances?”

  He was very appealing when he laughed.

  “You explain it then,” she said when he finally sobered.

  “I wish I could, but it’s a mystery. And just so you know, those men from the farmhouse were nowhere to be found either.”

  “But . . . why do you think I’m in danger?”

  “Because I have this feeling some of those men headed to New York.”

  She frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense, especially in regard to Sheriff Dawson and his men. Granted, I did cause them a slight bit of trouble, but I find it hard to believe they’d come after me. It’s not as if they could arrest me again.”

  “I hate to point out the obvious, but you’re exceptionally beautiful. Those men from the farmhouse seemed to be dealing in some kind of slavery, and you, my dear, would fetch an exorbitant price. You might just be too tempting for them to ignore.”

  She couldn’t help but feel a little mushy inside.

  “I’ve come to believe that some of Sheriff Dawson’s men might be involved in that ugly business, so I’m sure you can understand why I’m concerned about your safety.”

  The mushiness disappeared in a split second.

  “That was the unfinished business you neglected to mention to me, wasn’t it?”

  Theodore winced. “I’m afraid it was, but in my defense, I really didn’t know any particulars, so other than having you try to stay out of trouble, there really wasn’t an urgent reason for me to share my thoughts.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you so concerned about that man I saw on the docks?”

  “I think he has something to do with that nasty business in Gilman.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Why do you think that?”

  “This is going to sound even crazier, but . . . I get these instincts about things, and my instincts are telling me everything is connected. It seems too much of a coincidence that everyone disappears from Gilman two weeks ago, and then a week and a half ago, ladies start disappearing from the streets of New York.”

  “Explain the instincts.”

  “There’s not much to explain. They’re just feelings I get, but they’re normally on target.” He smiled. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I think God sends them to me, because there is no other way to explain them.”

  She looked at him for a long moment. “There really is more substance to you than you let on, isn’t there?”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Theodore said. “And just so you know, because I think you may think I’m not a man of faith, I do believe God guides me at times.”

  Yes, she had doubted whether or not he possessed any faith, but she realized she really didn’t know the gentleman sitting across from her at all.

  He was becoming more attractive by the second, but that wasn’t something she needed to think about right now. There was a mystery to puzzle out, and she was determined he wouldn’t leave her out of the puzzling again.

  “What do you suggest we do now?” she asked. “Should we set me up as bait in order to capture the criminals?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  “I’m going to take you out of New York.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “That’s a little drastic, and . . . I can’t go away with you. It would hardly be proper.”

  “You travel the country on a regular basis without a chaperone.”

  “Yes, but I’m alone, certainly not in the company of a man.”

  “You traveled with me to Chicago, and then to New York.”

  “True, but it wasn’t planned, and it was perfectly innocent.”

  Theodore grinned. “And traveling with me now wouldn’t be innocent?”

  “Now we know each other.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “People would expect things.”

  “What people?”

  Arabella held up her fingers and began counting them off. “My parents, Hamilton, Zayne, and don’t even get me started on Eliza and Agatha, let alone your sister. They’d have a complete wedding planned for us before we had an opportunity to blink.”

  Theodore leaned forward and took her hand f
rom her lap, the action causing a shiver of something unexpected to run up her arm and down her spine. She forced herself not to snatch her hand from his.

  “Don’t you think you might be overreacting a bit?” Theodore asked. “Your friends and family know we’re hardly a suitable match. They’ve certainly witnessed us arguing enough to realize we’d kill each other within a month of exchanging vows.”

  Now, that was just . . . probably true, except for Agatha . . . and maybe Katherine.

  She lifted her chin. “Agatha thinks I fascinate you.”

  “She said that?”

  “Yes, out loud.”

  Theodore put her hand back in her lap and frowned. “What do you think about what Agatha said?”

  “I don’t set much store by it. She was most likely just trying to make me feel better because you’d been so miserable to me at the dinner party.”

  “I wasn’t myself that night.”

  “You accused me of flirting with Grayson.”

  “You were flirting with Grayson.”

  Arabella opened her mouth and then closed it. “I might have been flirting.”

  “See, that’s a completely feminine endeavor. There is absolutely no reason for you to doubt your femininity.”

  “What is wrong with you? You’re being nice.”

  “I’m trying to soften you up so you’ll agree to leave the city with me.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re just being nice.”

  “Don’t tell anyone. I do have a fierce reputation as a horrid and miserable man to uphold.”

  Arabella smiled. “I really can’t leave town with you.”

  “You could bring a chaperone.”

  “I don’t have a chaperone waiting in the wings.”

  “There’s always Agatha,” Theodore said.

  “She would end up killing you before we even got out of New York.”

  “Agatha likes me; she just pretends to find me repulsive. But she does have that pesky position at the newspaper to consider. They probably wouldn’t like it if their new star journalist disappeared from town.” He looked out the window for a minute and then turned back to her, a smile creasing his lips. “We could bring Violet and her friends.”

  Arabella laughed, she couldn’t help herself. “They would hardly make respectable chaperones, even though they would most likely be fun. Besides, we would have a hard time remaining unnoticed if we traveled in such a large group and with such a vivid assortment of characters.”

  “We wouldn’t have to travel far,” Theodore said. “I can take you to my grandfather’s house.”

  “I’m not certain your grandfather would appreciate hosting such unexpected and unusual guests.”

  “My grandfather possesses a wonderful sense of humor.”

  Arabella blinked. “Really?”

  “Do you not believe anyone in my family could have a sense of humor?”

  “Your sister is amusing.”

  “My sister and I are very similar.”

  Arabella arched a brow. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  Theodore ignored her statement. “My grandfather will adore you.”

  “Because . . . ?”

  “You’re not normal.”

  “I see we’re back to trading insults.”

  “I meant that as a compliment.”

  Arabella swallowed a laugh. “I can’t go to your grandfather’s house in the company of women of the night. He is an older gentleman, most likely set in his ways, and it’s just not done.”

  “My grandfather was responsible for encouraging me to pursue a career as a private investigator.”

  “And that knowledge is supposed to encourage me to stay at his house?”

  “That knowledge is to let you know he’s a very progressive man. Also, you should know he supports rights for women.”

  “You’re just saying that to get me to agree to your plan.”

  “I’m not. He is very modern, and he won’t bat an eye if we take Violet and her friends with us.”

  “I don’t know, Theodore. It seems rather . . . well, intimate. Our families will assume we’ve formed an attachment to each other.”

  “No, they won’t.”

  “You do remember that Gloria is my mother, right? If you take me to your grandfather’s house, I can guarantee she’ll show up with a shotgun slung over her shoulder and demand you marry me.”

  “You have been reading too many romance novels.”

  Arabella blew out an exasperated breath of air. “This is a bad idea.”

  “It’s a wonderful idea, especially if we bring Violet and her friends with us. You are in need of a distraction, especially since you took a slight beating from Dot tonight. What better way to reaffirm that God does have a purpose for you than to allow you to spend time in the company of women who truly do need your help?”

  “I told you, I’m not good at actually helping anyone, and it’s obvious I completely misunderstood God’s plan for me. Besides, the ladies tonight were more than vocal about my offer to assist them.”

  “Violet and her friends didn’t refuse the offer of a safe haven.”

  That was an interesting point, but . . . no, she could not continue barging into other people’s lives.

  “My grandparents would love to help you sort out those ladies,” Theodore said, pulling her from her thoughts. “And it would give them a purpose.”

  “A purpose?”

  Theodore shrugged. “My grandfather recently told me he feels a little useless. He’s almost eighty years old, and I fear he and my grandmother are not as happy now that they’ve been forced to slow down due to age. If we were to give them the task of figuring out what to do with the ladies, well, I would have to imagine they’d be forever grateful.”

  It was amazing how innocent he looked at the moment, especially since she was fairly certain he’d just spun an incredibly tall tale. For some odd reason, though, she didn’t feel like arguing the point with him. Instead, a sense of what felt like anticipation suddenly swept over her.

  “We’ll have to broach this with my family first, before we begin to make any plans,” she heard herself say.

  For a brief second, what looked like relief flickered through Theodore’s eyes before he blinked and the look disappeared. “Excellent,” he said with a grin. “And it’s a good thing we’ve just arrived at your house, because I would hate to allow you an opportunity to change your mind.”

  The carriage had barely come to a stop before the door wrenched open, Hamilton jumped in, took a seat next to Theodore, and scowled at Arabella.

  “You, my dear sister, are a menace.”

  15

  Theodore shifted on the seat to allow Hamilton more room and smiled when Arabella caught his eye, grimaced, then turned her attention to her brother.

  “My being a menace does seem to be the general consensus this evening, Hamilton, but I really can’t be blamed for all the ills of the world. I’m only responsible for a few of them.”

  Hamilton narrowed his eyes. “You don’t even know why I called you a menace.”

  “You could never be a menace, Miss Beckett,” Grayson exclaimed as he stuck his head in the carriage and then climbed in, taking the seat next to Arabella. He took her hand in his, placed a kiss on it and, to Theodore’s annoyance, didn’t release his hold. “You look exceedingly lovely this evening.”

  Theodore’s annoyance increased when Arabella grinned—much too flirtatiously, in his opinion—back at Grayson and even seemed to flutter her lashes, drawing attention to her eyes that he just then noticed looked unusually big and . . . intriguing.

  He swallowed a sigh. Everything had been much easier when he’d simply thought of her as irritating.

  “. . . and you must tell me where you’ve been,” Grayson was saying, pulling Theodore rather abruptly back to the conversation at hand. “Your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Watson, and Mrs. Wilder have been in an uproar ever since you neglected to return on time from the theater.”


  “They got delayed by way of the jail,” Theodore muttered.

  “Did someone mention jail?” Zayne asked when the door to the carriage swung open again and he climbed in. To Theodore’s relief, Zayne squeezed himself in between Grayson and Arabella, forcing Grayson to finally release Arabella’s hand.

  Zayne let out a grunt when Arabella shoved him, pulled out what looked to be half of her skirt from under him, and then sent her brother a glare as he looked her up and down.

  “Nice,” Zayne said before he tilted his head. “Tell me, if you please, how it happened that you landed in jail again, especially when you led me to believe you were going to be spending a quiet evening with your friends?”

  Arabella went from glaring to pouting, looking somewhat injured as she pouted.

  He’d never even considered the fact that she’d have that particular feminine weapon at her disposal, but it was effective.

  Hamilton leaned forward. “You’re forgetting you’re with your brothers, Arabella, so that won’t work.”

  Arabella’s pout disappeared in a split second, right before tears filled her lovely eyes.

  Hamilton and Zayne rolled their eyes, but Grayson drew in a sharp breath as he got up from the seat, shoved open the carriage door, and extended his hand to Arabella. “My dear, you are becoming distressed. This carriage has turned downright chilly, and I for one believe we should get you immediately into the house.”

  Theodore, slightly disgruntled he hadn’t thought about the chill of the carriage, couldn’t help but be impressed at the way Arabella’s tears suddenly vanished as she rose to take Grayson’s hand and disappeared out into the cold night.

  She really could cry on cue.

  “Someone should have let her rot in jail a little longer,” Hamilton said with a pointed look to Theodore.