Loving The Lost Duke (Dangerous Deceptions #1)(52)

‘No,’ he agreed flatly.

‘Cal – could it have been her, all along? Who better than a woman to poison your food, or however it was that made you ill?’

‘And the accidents?’

‘Anyone with money can employ criminals to do anything, I imagine.’

‘Oh, hell.’ He flashed her an apologetic look for his language and she smiled back at him, both forgiving it and, she realised with a jolt, happy to be this close to him, sharing his secrets, even if they were so grim. ‘I thought there were just two of them to investigate.’

‘It is almost impossible to prove a negative,’ Sophie mused. ‘If nothing ever happens again that you cannot clearly account for, then you will always be left suspecting them. So, you are going to have to leave yourself open to attack and investigate from there while the evidence is fresh.’

‘You are determined to thrust your future husband into danger I see.’ He looked amused.

‘You are a big, strong man with intelligence and powerful resources, no longer a sickly youth. I would say that anyone attempting to kill you now is the one in danger.’

‘There was someone in my bedchamber last night, after two o’clock,’ he said abruptly. ‘Something woke me. By the time I had got out of bed and into the corridor they had gone.’

Sophie felt the blood leave her face, but she kept her voice as steady as his had been. ‘A knife in the back?’

‘Difficult to disguise as an accident. Something in the water in the carafe by the bed, or a pillow over the face, perhaps?’

‘They couldn’t hope to subdue you like that, you would be too strong for one man.’

‘Thank you for that.’ Cal’s tone was light, his hands as they fisted on his bent knees gave another message.

‘So, what is the plan?’ As she spoke Sophie felt Cal’s whole body become alert, tense against hers. She followed his line of sight down the slope and saw movement amongst the trees, gone almost as soon as she noticed it.

‘Deer?’

‘No.’ Cal relaxed. ‘Jared. Watching my back whether I like it or not.’

‘He is your employee, surely what you want happens?’ She did not like the fencing master, but she welcomed the idea that he was behind Cal.

‘He is my friend first, someone who works for me when it suits him, second. I must tell him we saw him, he will be mortified.’ Cal’s grin was wicked. ‘But a plan? Can you talk to my aunt? Be less than tactful.’

‘Talk of how much you owe her for bringing you up like a son? How noble and selfless of her it is when her own son will not inherit a title or any of the lands her husband has cared for so devotedly? And then watch her reactions. I can do that. You will lock your bedchamber door tonight?’

‘Most certainly not. I will leave it open and sleep with a knife under my pillow and a pistol on the bedside table.’

‘Why not have Hunt sleep in your sitting room with the door ajar?’

‘I do not need a nursemaid. If anyone is sleeping with me, it is you, and as we have agreed, that is not going to happen. Yet.’

It would be so very easy to become distracted, to turn into his arms, tell him she really did not want to wait. And yet part of her did, part of her had a superstitious dread that if they slept together she would immediately become pregnant, a hostage to whatever malign fate was waiting for Cal.

‘As a witness, another pair of eyes, another hand on a knife.’

‘A good idea, but not in my sitting room – in yours and with the door unlocked between the rooms. I find the idea of giving you a bodyguard appealing.’

‘I do not! I do not care for the man, he makes me think of a snake about to strike, or a hawk sitting in a tree waiting for something helpless and small and furry to blunder past.’

‘Yes, a perfect description. And I would trust him with my life, and yours, and Isobel’s.’

‘Where is she?’ Sophie remembered guiltily that she had not seen the child since that initial awkward meeting in the hall. To be truthful with herself she had been glad of it. Isobel resented her, with some reason, and she had no clear idea what she could do to make things right.

‘I told Nanny Jenkins to keep her to the nursery wing, to tell her that this was a grown-up party and not for little girls. I hope that is going to pique her to such an extent that she will do almost anything to be considered fit to join the adults. If she can bring herself to behave for a few days she will realise she likes you and that you are not going to take her father away from her.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Sophie was dubious, but Cal knew his own child, so perhaps that would work. ‘What else can we do, besides ensuring that any nocturnal visitors get an unpleasant shock?’

‘Anything that I am presented to eat or drink that is for me alone I will only pretend to consume and we will have it tested. As for accidents, we wait for them to happen and then analyse them.’ He saw her expression and reached out to touch her cheek. ‘Sophie, we have to know the truth and hiding is not going to help. You’ll allow Jared into your sitting room?’

‘Yes. Unless he snores.’

It was good to hear Cal’s laughter, to be caught up in his arms, to feel the strong body shaking with amusement. It was good to have his mouth on hers again. And a torture.