Page 108 of A Dangerous Scheme (Regency Spies & Secrets 4)

Guy opened his mouth to respond, but Hawthorne spoke first. “Mr. Stewart has always been very thorough, which is one of the things that I admire about him.”

Surprise flickered in Phineas’ eyes at Hawthorne’s declaration. “You admire Mr. Stewart?”

Hawthorne nodded. “I do,” he replied. “I have no doubt that he will complete this assignment with the same fastidious effort that he usually does.”

Miss Locke glanced over at Guy and offered him a private smile, which he found oddly charming. “I agree, Lord Hawthorne,” she said. “Mr. Stewart is a man worth being admired. I especially respect the way he helped the coal workers in their time of need.”

“I did nothing more than what my conscience dictated,” Guy said, maintaining her gaze.

Phineas interjected, “We could go riding.”

“Pardon?” Guy asked, confused by the abrupt change of conversation.

“Not you,” Phineas responded with a flick of his wrist. “I meant that Lord Hawthorne and I could go on a ride.”

Hawthorne pressed his lips together, then remarked, “As fun as that sounds, I’m afraid I am in Anmore on business.”

“We could go to the pub and get a drink?” Phineas attempted.

“I shall have to pass, but perhaps we can have one at White’s when you return to London,” Hawthorne said.

A victorious smile came to Phineas’ face. “I would enjoy that very much.”

Guy kept his face expressionless, but he couldn’t help but enjoy how Phineas was falling all over himself for Hawthorne’s approval.

“When will that be?” Miss Locke asked innocently as she reached for her glass.

The smile fell from Phineas’ face as he met his cousin’s gaze. “When my business has concluded here,” he replied curtly.

The tension in the room was palpable as Lady Frances directed her comments to Lord Hawthorne. “If I recall correctly, your brother, Lord Oliver, brought down a ring of smugglers in Whitstable.”

“That is true,” Hawthorne replied.

“News of it was in the morning newspaper, but I would love to hear the story from you,” Lady Frances said.

“I would be honored to.”

As Guy listened to Hawthorne tell the story, he couldn’t resist glancing over at Miss Locke. He was surprised to see that she wasn’t watching Hawthorne, but was looking at him instead.

He winked at her, and he was pleased to see a blush forming on her cheeks as she lowered her gaze to her lap.

In that moment, he knew he had done something intolerably stupid. He had gone and fallen in love with Miss Locke.

“That was avery interesting evening,” Hawthorne commented as they rode back to town.

Guy acknowledged his words with a tip of his head.

“Miss Locke looked lovely this evening,” Hawthorne continued. “Did she not?”

“I suppose so.”

Hawthorne leaned forward in his seat. “You have hardly spoken a word since we left,” he said. “Is something the matter?”

“I am just thinking about the case.”

“Are you?” Hawthorne questioned. “Or are you thinking about Miss Locke?”

Guy frowned. “I don’t have time to think about Miss Locke at the moment. I need to prepare for the meeting with Burke tonight.”

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