Tempted at Every Turn

by Robyn DeHart

  Yes, but if people had seen the way he looked at her. Seen the desire he bore her, they would know it was a charade. “It’s a risk,” he said.

  “Yes,” she nodded. “It is a risk. But proving my father’s innocence is far more important to me than my reputation. I sincerely doubt anyone is talking about me in any case. Besides, my existence thus far in Society has been so boring that no one would believe that I was having an illicit affair.” Her face went pale and she leaned back in her seat. “I certainly didn’t mean to imply…”

  “I have taken liberties with you, Willow, liberties I had no right to take. But it doesn’t prevent me from wanting to take them again. Right now, I want nothing more than to pull you across my lap and kiss you senseless.”

  There was no time for her to react to his words as the carriage pulled to a stop in front of Amelia’s house, where he was letting Willow out for her Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society meeting.

  “Would you like me to walk you up?” he asked.

  “No, I can manage.” Her voice shook ever so slightly.

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  She nodded, but said nothing else as she climbed from the carriage.

  What sort of game was he playing? Toying with her like that. She was the perfect woman for him. Someone who met him intellectually, who was not afraid to stand up to him. Someone he desired. But then there was that other bit, the fact that she was someone whom his mother approved of.

  He’d spent his entire life fighting what that stood for and he couldn’t very well walk away from that now. Not for a pair of brown eyes that seemed to reach in and squeeze his very heart. He knew that solving this case wouldn’t right the wrong of so long ago. None of the cases he’d solved in the last seven years had. But that mattered naught. He simply had to try.

  Poor Willow was caught in his life’s battle between what was right and what seemed right. He owed it to her to cease his flirtatious behavior and treat her like the lady she was. He had a job to do and his attraction for her was muddling everything up. Her father might very well be the culprit. If James wasn’t careful he might lose his heart and the murderer. And then where would that leave him?

  Willow took several deep breaths trying to rid her mind of the things James had said. He wanted to kiss her senseless. So he still desired her. Not that any of that mattered. He desired her carnally, not for anything substantial.

  But that’s what she wanted too, wasn’t it? She couldn’t have more, so there was no reason to be disappointed if he didn’t drop to one knee and declare his undying love. She made another pass over her dress and hair to ensure she was still intact before opening the parlor door.

  “Willow,” Amelia said.

  The room was empty except for she and Amelia. “I see the other two have not arrived just yet.”

  “You are a bit early,” Amelia pointed out.

  Willow glanced at the mantel clock. “So I am. I hope I am not intruding.”

  “No, of course not. You are always welcome. Any time. Colin has a new case that is taking up much of his time and I have been trying to work on my newest Lady Shadows story, but the writing is simply not flowing today.”

  “Perhaps tomorrow will be kinder to your writing.”

  “Come and sit. Tea will arrive shortly.”

  Willow took a seat and straightened her spectacles. “How are you doing?”

  “I’d say fair,” Amelia said, trying to offer a smile.

  “Did you tell Colin?”

  “About Meg being with child?” She sighed. “Yes, I did. We had another long discussion about the entire ordeal. He said we’ll find a way to have children.” She looked down at her dress. “Silly man thinks he can fix anything.”

  “Perhaps he can,” Willow suggested, not knowing what else to say.

  “Willow, I don’t want Meg to know.” Amelia looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t want to ruin this for her. I hate that I feel jealous sometimes. That’s terrible of me. But if she knew about our troubles, knew how I felt, it would take away some of her joy, and I refuse to do that.”

  Willow felt a catch in her throat. “Amelia, it isn’t terrible. It’s natural. There is nothing wrong with wanting children. You aren’t wishing she wasn’t having a baby.”

  “Of course not,” Amelia said emphatically.

  “Right. You simply want one of your own.”

  “Or five or six,” Amelia said with a smile.

  “That would be quite the brood,” Willow said, but she understood. A houseful sounded good to her as well. She knew it would be full of disorder, loud and disruptive, but it would be wonderful too.

  Amelia swiped angrily at her tears. “Enough of this,” she said with a forced smile.

  “They won’t be here for a bit longer,” Willow said, “if you want to continue.”

  “No, honestly, I can’t talk about any more of this today. It has the tendency to drain everything out of me and”—she shook her head—“I don’t want that today. So enough about me. Tell me how you are fairing with your wager.”

  Willow had been waiting for an opportunity to share with Amelia everything that had happened. She’d longed for a sympathetic ear. She certainly couldn’t discuss it with her family, as there was no reason to alert them of her father being a suspect until absolutely necessary.

  “It has taken a bit of a turn,” she explained.

  “Are you losing, then?” Amelia asked.

  “No, that’s not it. In fact the wager itself seems rather unimportant now.” She leaned forward. “Amelia, you must promise to keep this a secret. It could be devastating if word got out.”

  Amelia sat up straight and nodded decidedly. “Of course.”

  “My father appears to be a suspect.”

  Her friend frowned. “For murder?” She waved a hand casually. “Well, that is preposterous.”

  “I believe so too.”

  “You sound hesitant.”

  “I know my father isn’t a murderer. The clues simply aren’t leading us to any clear suspects. And as much as I hate to admit it, James is a good detective.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. It’s very early in the investigation. You will, no doubt, find other suspects.”

  “I believe so. But it’s been more challenging than I expected.”

  “How are you doing with all of this?”

  Willow shrugged. “I’m frightened,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Amelia stood and approached her. “Of course you are.”

  Before the discussion could continue Meg and Charlotte appeared in the doorway. Amelia gave Willow a wistful smile. It was probably for the best that they not say more, Willow supposed.

  “We actually met at the doorstep,” Charlotte said.

  “And it was a good thing too, as she had to assist me inside,” Meg said. “I have been positively green today.”

  “Oh, dear,” Amelia said. “You could have stayed home since you are not feeling well.”

  “No, it’s been passing every day. Eventually. It tends to pop up at the most inconvenient times, though,” Meg said.

  “Let me go check on the tea,” Amelia said.

  “I have had no fewer than two gentlemen inquire about the mysterious buxom beauty who attended the masque ball,” Charlotte said as she settled onto the settee.

  “About whom?” Willow asked. Evidently she’d missed more than just the Jack of Hearts at the ball.

  “You, silly,” Charlotte said. “Not to worry, though. I haven’t revealed your secret.”

  Buxom beauty? Her? That was enough to make her laugh, and on another day it might have. “I wasn’t exactly trying to have a secret. Everyone was wearing a mask that night.”

  “Yes, but you hide your…” Charlotte paused “…attributes in your regular clothes, and you certainly revealed a secret that night.”

  Willow waved a hand in front of her face. “Did people simply believe I did not have breasts?”

  Amelia
stepped in at that precise moment and her mouth dropped. “Oh, I do believe I missed something good. What are we discussing?”

  “Evidently Willow’s breasts,” Meg said.

  “No, we are not,” Willow said. “We were talking about the ball the other night, and evidently my dress caused quite a stir. Well, now you know why I dress so modestly.”

  “I do believe if I had your figure,” Charlotte said, “I would scarcely wear clothes at all.”

  “Because you don’t garner enough attention as it is?” Willow said rhetorically.

  “Perhaps we should address the meeting topics now,” Amelia said.

  “Splendid idea,” Willow said. She’d had enough discussion of her body. She had every right to hide her attributes, as Charlotte put it. There was no reason to flaunt herself in front of everyone. It would only garner stares and she had no use for that.

  “Did James uncover anything about the Jack of Hearts?” Amelia asked.

  “Another inspector is leading that investigation, but no, another trail that simply ended,” Willow said. “He does agree with me, however, that the reason he’s never been caught is because no one will fight with him or call for authorities. They simply stand there and hand over their belongings as if he has every right to request them.” She glared at them pointedly.

  “He did have a pistol,” Amelia pointed out.

  “You can never be certain that a man will not use a weapon if he carries it with him,” Meg said.

  “You’re right, of course,” Willow said. “I was not there and I’m sure it was a frightening experience for all of you.”

  “Where is our list that we’ve been keeping on him?” Charlotte asked. “Surely we have new tidbits to add since we’ve all seen him now. Well, most of us.”

  Willow shot her a look. “Yes, I missed out on all the fun whilst walking in the garden,” Willow said.

  “At the precise moment Inspector Sterling was walking in the garden,” Charlotte said softly.

  “What?” Amelia said, sitting on the edge of her chair.

  Willow felt her cheeks go warm.

  “Were you in the garden with James?” Amelia asked.

  She eyed each of her friends, who sat anxiously awaiting her answer. Charlotte smiled smugly. How had she known? Willow could not lie to them. For one, because they were her friends and lying would be wrong. Secondly, because she was a dreadful liar and they’d see right through her.

  “We were discussing the investigation. We found these letters in Drummond’s studio, and we expected them to lead us to someone, but they were a dead end.” Perhaps if she gave them details they would believe she’d only been out there talking. “It seems the letters were from many years ago, when he lived in Paris.” She shook her head. “It was bad timing on both our parts, and we should have saved our business for the following day,” Willow admitted.

  “You were in the garden with James?” Amelia repeated. “Alone?” Her friend completely ignored all the other details, focusing only on that one aspect.

  “Oh, for pity’s sake, Amelia, you traveled overnight with Colin,” Willow said.

  “Where I lost my virtue,” Amelia said with a chuckle.

  “Well, I can assure you that I did not lose my virtue. I am still as virtuous as ever.” Why did that suddenly annoy her? Her virtue had always been a point of pride, but today it felt more like a nuisance. She shouldn’t be so annoyed; she wasn’t nearly as virtuous as she used to be.

  All three of the other girls chuckled.

  “Laugh all you like.” Willow retrieved her notes on the Jack of Hearts. “Now, do we want to dally all afternoon, or shall we get some work done?”

  “She’s right,” Charlotte said. “She’s the same old Willow.”

  “Very amusing,” Willow said.

  “He has brown eyes,” Charlotte said.

  Amelia looked up from her tea. “What?”

  “The Jack of Hearts,” Charlotte continued. “His eyes are brown.” Everyone just stared at her. “You said you wanted to get started.”

  Amelia nodded. “Yes.”

  Willow jotted the note down. “That will certainly narrow the field some, but brown eyes are fairly common. Everyone in my family has brown eyes except for my mother.”

  “True,” Charlotte said. “But I would recognize them again, if I saw them. They were such a rich brown.”

  “Well, if we see Charlotte gazing into all the gentlemen’s eyes for the rest of the Season, we’ll know why,” Meg said.

  They chuckled and Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

  “What we need to figure out is why this time worked,” Willow said. “Was it simply a feature of it being a masque ball, so he could easily blend in with everyone?”

  “He’s had such an easy go of stealing before, though,” Amelia said. “Perhaps it was just a matter of being in the right spot at the right time. We’ve only barely missed him in the past.”

  “But he always knows precisely when to act,” Willow said.

  “Yes, he seems to know plenty about us, but we know very little about him,” Amelia said.

  “Except his brown eyes,” Charlotte said.

  “Yes, Charlotte, except his eyes,” Willow said.

  “And his voice,” Meg said. “He is most definitely educated and well-bred. Of course servants can mimic their employers, but I don’t think that’s the case here. I believe he is most certainly a gentleman.”

  “Which adds to the intrigue,” Amelia said.

  “And excitement,” Charlotte pointed out.

  “Well, we all know a fair number of the gentlemen in this town,” Willow said. “If not personally, then by name. Surely we could cross off a considerable number based on coloring and body stature. How was the Jack of Heart’s form?”

  Charlotte sighed with great drama. “Athletic and strong. All in all, he was positively dashing.”

  Everyone ignored Charlotte’s laudation.

  “Let us compose a list, then, of all of the gentlemen we can think of,” Willow suggested.

  “We can use our invitation list as a reference,” Meg said.

  Amelia clapped. “Brilliant idea.”

  “Meg, can you bring that with you to our next meeting?” Willow asked.

  Meg nodded and her red curls bobbed with her head.

  “In the meantime we can each work on a list separately and then we’ll put them together when we next see one another,” Willow said. They could catch him. The thought was exhilarating. She wanted to tell James. Share with him their clever detecting skills.

  But she could not continue to nurture a friendly relationship with him. Could she? So far, it had led to inappropriate embraces and her father as a suspect. Because, had they not conversed that night at the Fieldcrest ball, had his mother not said her mother’s name aloud, then he would never have known who Agatha was.

  Like the other women in the journal, her mother’s name would have faded into ambiguity and James would never have questioned her parents.

  Upon arriving home, Willow found Edmond sitting in a chair next to their mother, reading some of her favorite poetry. Willow’s heart caught at the sight of them. Her brother, who gambled too much and stayed out way too late, yet was so gentle with their mother.

  It wasn’t fair to him. She should be sitting there reading. She should be taking care of their mother as she slipped further and further away. Edmond needed freedom from this, needed to marry and start a family.

  Her own body ached to know the love of a man and the heaviness of a child within, but none of that mattered. She had a duty to her family. If she tried to do both, if she found love and married and became a mother, how could she balance it all?

  Would not her children or her husband or perhaps even her mother suffer? She could not divide her attentions in such a way. When it came to her mother, she needed to be able to give her her full attention.

  As it was, this investigation was taking her away from home more than she’d e
ver been away. And her brother and father were having to take her place. Were the investigation not so important for the good of their family, she would cease her dalliances with James and get back home where she belonged.

  Perhaps she could help him speed things along. She needed to secure her father’s innocence and then she needed to hang up her detecting hat and stay by her mother’s side.

  Chapter 15

  Willow placed the spectacles on her nose and reached for her bag. On her way out of her bedroom, she caught her reflection in the mirror and stopped to observe. Yes, that was more the thing. She felt herself. She looked herself.

  Today was the most important part of their investigation so far. They were finally going to question the ladies from the exhibit photographs. James had felt certain that these women would hold the key to Drummond’s secrets.

  Some of the women might even be mentioned in that journal of his. It would be nice to have other suspects aside from her poor father. James had not yet returned to finish questioning him on his whereabouts the night of the murder. Willow suspected it had little to do with her assurance that her father had been home in bed, and more to do with not having the opportunity to do so without her by his side.

  Willow simply couldn’t have him questioning her father without her being present—not because she was concerned her father would say something wrong, but simply so that she could reassure him that all would be well, and to ensure that James was on his best behavior.

  With a last pat to her hair, she headed out her bedroom door and down the stairs. James was picking her up today as they had many houses to travel to. Thankfully she did not know any of the women personally, although she knew most by name. She was certain they wouldn’t know her. James could simply tell them she was his clerk and there to take the notes or something.

  She didn’t have to wait long before he knocked on their front door. She caught her father on the way to answer it.

  “It’s for me.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I promise this will not continue much longer, Papa. I am only doing this for the good of our family. I hope you understand.”