Page 28 of Choosing Her Earl at Last
Michael nodded in acceptance of her gratitude. “Sometimes it is best to accept help when it is needed, do you not agree?” he teased her, his good humor returning, if only briefly.
Emmeline frowned, shaking her head at him. She was embarrassed by her reaction to his closeness and his seemingly having been unaffected by it.
“A true gentleman would not boast of his deeds or goad a lady into an argument!” she snapped, unable to keep her emotions from her voice.
Michael looked at her as if confused by her sudden change in attitude. “It was not my intention to offend. It was simply my attempt at levity. I know that you are in great distress and wished to ease the heaviness of the day. A jest on your character is perhaps in poor taste at this time. You have my sincerest apologies.”
“You know nothing of my character,” Emmeline quipped, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from behind her lashes.
She turned away, straightening her dress and hat as she fought to get her emotions under control. It had been a long time since she had been held in a man’s arms with any kind of tenderness. The fact that it had been Michael’s arms only added fuel to the flames.
Colin cleared his throat in an attempt to break the tension between them. “Yes, well, shall we discuss our plan for our coming liaison with the mysterious coachman?”
“Mysterious indeed,” Michael agreed. “The man did not even have the courtesy to provide us with his name.”
“I would not have done so either if you had threatened me that way,” Emmeline noted, as she turned back around to face him, having finally collected herself. “Did you mean what you said?”
Michael shrugged. “I simply wished to make it clear that he would be held to his word.”
“How did you intend to find him without a name? We cannot even find a simple laundry maid, and we have her name,” Emmeline asked doubtfully.
“A man of that size and stature does not blend into a crowd. He stands out. People remember when giants walk among them,” Michael retorted.
“Versus a whisp of a girl.” Emmeline sighed, knowing that he was right.
“Just so.” Michael nodded. His eyes held an apologetic light that caused Emmeline’s heart to squeeze in her chest. Unable to bear his gaze, Emmeline turned and attempted once more to make her way toward their carriage.
Once they were all tucked safely inside, the coachman instructed the horses to move forward. Colin and Michael sat across from Emmeline, their bodies moving in rhythm with the carriage wheels as they bumped over the cobblestone streets.
Michael studied her from across the conveyance, his eyes giving nothing of his thoughts away. The tension between them practically crackled in the confined space.
“Colin, you spoke of a plan,” Emmeline broke the silence.
Colin nodded. “We do not know who this man is, nor can we risk Rebecca’s safety by forcing him to tell us anything against his will if this Martha Gouldsmith is indeed involved in her disappearance.”
Emmeline nodded for him to continue.
“I would just as soon beat the answers out of him myself at this point,” he admitted. The desperation that he felt to find the woman he loved emanated from his eyes in a most heart-wrenching way.
“I understand the desire,” Emmeline admitted, just as desperate as he was to find her sister.
Michael’s brows rose in an expression that Emmeline could not quite interpret. “I do not believe that violence will solve our present conundrum.”
“Perhaps not, but punching something or someone would most certainly make me feel better,” Colin admitted.
“That being said, we cannot go into an unknown situation such as this without a way to follow through with it. The coachman was quite concerned with being overheard by someone within the market. If this Martha has gotten herself involved with the criminal underbelly of London, then we could be putting ourselves in danger. While I would gladly die if it meant that Rebecca would be returned safely, I will not place her beloved sister in jeopardy. Rebecca would never forgive me.”
Emmeline sighed. “If they had wanted to take me, they would have. I was right there in front of her. I am not in danger.”
“You do not know that for certain,” Michael argued. “It would have been more difficult to take you where you were sitting than it was to take Rebecca. Someone would have seen something if they had attempted to take two women at the same time.”
“Someone should have seen them taking Rebecca!” Emmeline’s distress was mounting with each moment. “I am not about to allow either of you to tell me what I can and cannot do. Neither of you is my father, brother, husband, or guardian.”
Emmeline knew that her words stung Michael from the angry look that entered his eyes, but she did not care. “I will make my own decisions, and both of you will simply have to live with it.”
“I only wish to protect you because I care,” Colin explained, “but I understand your need to be a part of this. She is your sister. Please promise me that you will not allow yourself to come to harm for her sake.”
Emmeline’s temper softened. “I promise to do my utmost.”
