Page 95 of The Earl She Once Saved

Rafe expected argument. The easy agreement felt wrong.

“You will remain in Ripon?”

Roland nodded. “For a few days.”

“And you will not approach Edgeworth.”

Roland smiled. “You have my word.”

Rafe remembered what a Thornlow’s word had cost Verity. He turned away.

“Rafe.”

He stopped.

“It is good to see you.”

Rafe looked back at his brother. Roland lifted his glass. Rafe left without answering.

In the inn yard, the afternoon had turned gray. Clouds gathered above the rooftops, and the air smelled of rain upon stone. He mounted. As he guided the horse toward the gate, unease moved across the back of his neck.

The sensation was familiar. He had felt it before ambushes, in silent villages, and along roads that appeared empty because men had taken pains to make them so.

Someone was watching him.

Rafe turned in the saddle. The inn windows reflected the dull sky. A curtain moved at an upper window, then fell still. No one stood in the doorway. No face looked from the yard. Roland remained somewhere inside, hidden behind stone and glass.

Rafe touched his heels to the horse.

As he rode from Ripon, the feeling followed him.

Chapter 15

Rafe returned from Ripon the following morning. Verity saw him from the estate-room window, though she had told herself she was not watching the drive.

His horse came slowly between the gateposts. She was halfway across the yard before she decided to leave the house. Rafe dismounted and kept one hand upon the saddle for a moment longer than necessary.

“You stayed the night,” she said.

He looked around. Something passed through his face at the sight of her. Surprise first, then a softer thing he concealed by turning to give the reins to the groom.

“It was dark before I left the inn.”

She ought to have been irritated. Instead, her eyes moved over him, taking in the shadows beneath his eyes and the stiffness with which he removed one glove.

“Did the fever return?”

“No.”

“You are certain?”

“I am tired,” he said. “Nothing more.”

The groom led his horse away. Hooves struck softly across the cobbles, leaving them in a silence that felt more private than an empty yard ought to allow. Rafe removed his second glove.

“I found him.”

Verity’s fingers tightened. “Is he coming here?”