Page 27 of Affair
He soothed her.
If not, Penelope would be making Poe, and himself, insane.
No one wanted that.
NO.
ONE.
“You need to do something to keep yourself busy.”
Likely.
Life was moving slowly, as of late, and she needed a little bit of an adventure.
“What do you have in mind?” she asked.
Liam went there.
“I know you love the horses, but how about some charity of sorts? The King has some organizations that he favors. Maybe we can get on a committee, and we can do it in honor of Hemmingway. We’re off from our holiday in a few days. We’ll arrange something then.”
She bounced in the saddle.
“Jolly good idea! I would love to be involved in something. Now, I almost wish our holiday was over.”
He laughed.
Penelope beamed at him.
“My love, you’re so smart. What would I do without you?” she asked.
He winked.
“You’d have all the other Dukes chasing you around to win your hand in marriage. Who are we kidding, Penelope? You were a catch then, and now.”
She covered her mouth with her fingers as she laughed.
“Never. There could only be that dashing barrister that caught my eye all of those years ago. I’m ever so glad I marriedhim, and we have the life we have. I can’t wait to get even older with you, my love.”
He blew her a kiss.
“Likewise, my sweet. Likewise,” he offered, seeing that their ride was done for the day.
As they continued toward the stables, the grounds were relatively silent.
Honestly, that was odd.
At this time of the day, the stable boys and the groundskeepers would be wandering around. There should be sounds of horses, and chaos.
What was going on?
As they both dismounted their horses, they led them into the barn, and that’s when they saw it.
Their stable boy was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood.
As Liam headed toward him, thinking he was hurt by one of the wilder horses, he stopped as soon as he saw the bullet hole.
That’s when he knew.
