Page 81 of Tempting the Earl

Looking at Ainsworth now as she sat listening intently to Thomas’s low voice as the man spoke haltingly at first then with growing surety about his home, Colin felt a rush of warmth through his entire person. The rightness inside him expanded exponentially. Rightness. Ease. Desire. Longing. And more.

When she seemed to notice his regard out of the corner of her eye, she glanced aside at him. Noticing his intent stare, her lips parted on a swift breath and her green eyes darkened. That was all it took for the flames ever smoldering beneath the surface of his existence to spark instantly to life.

He quickly shifted his focus, making sure not to look in Roderick’s direction. There would be no hiding his current thoughts or feelings from that astute brother. But when he caught Caillie’s eye instead, he realized it wasn’t much better.

The girl was gazing at him with a wide and far-too-knowing grin.

He narrowed his eyes, but the girl only grinned wider before looking away to scratch Bramble behind the ears.

Just as it seemed Mr. Thomas was growing uncomfortable with being the main focus of attention, Roderick took over the conversation with an ease that kept the shift from feeling awkward or forced. And soon, everyone was listening in rapt attention to his wild anecdotes of life in a gambling hell.

He was in the midst of telling of one particular incident which had taken place shortly after Emma had started working for him as a bookkeeper that had resulted in Roderick getting shot by a distressed patron when Shaw once again appeared in the parlor doorway.

Everyone fell silent as the butler announced, “Mr. Davies, my lord.”

Since Shaw had been advised to show Nightshade’s man in without delay, the man stepped around Shaw just as the butler finished the introduction.

Everyone who’d been sitting rose to their feet and turned expectantly toward the newcomer. Mr. Davies, however, ignored everyone but Colin as he approached to give a short bow of his head. “My lord.”

“Hello, Mr. Davies.” It took all his effort to keep his tone level and unrushed. “You have news?”

“I do.” A slight pause. “Not all of it good.”

Roderick made a gruff sound of impatience. “Tell us, man.”

Clearly not one to be intimidated, Davies waited for Colin’s nod before explaining.

“Nightshade was successful in recovering the evidence necessary to prove Max Owen was not even in the vicinity of the accused crime when it occurred.” The man cleared his throat to continue. “It appears likely that a rival in the criminal gang to which he belongs staged the robbery and committed the murder in order to frame Mr. Owen and get him out of the way so as to create an opportunity for his own advancement. The evidence has been turned over to the magistrate, who’s dropped the charges against Owen.”

The announcement created a gentle ripple of relief through the room. Colin, however, kept his attention fixed upon Davies. He feared getting his hopes too high before hearing everything. “Nightshade discovered all this in just the last several hours?”

Davies cleared his throat again. “Well, not exactly. He’d been following a lead on the rival for some time but previously had nothing concrete to report.”

“You mentioned not all the news was good,” Colin prompted.

“Being unaware of what was being done to assist him, Mr. Owen did not wait around to be proven innocent.” An odd pause. “The lad preempted his release by freeing himself from custody. Unfortunately, this has not endeared him to the magistrate.”

“The damned rascal escaped?” Roderick questioned.

“He did,” Davies answered without bothering to turn toward the other man. “He also managed to evade the man Nightshade had positioned to watch Bow Street for just this occurrence. He has effectively disappeared.”

“How could a man just disappear?” Thomas’s graveled voice interjected.

“Mr. Owen is exceptionally familiar with the East End warrens. He also likely has some friends and associates spread throughout the rookery who’re willing to help him. This has long been suspected as the reason we were unsuccessful in locating him before he fell into the authorities’ hands.”

“But that’s a good thing, right?” Caillie piped up optimistically. “That he has so many people willing to protect him.”

Despite his obvious frustration at the new development, Roderick managed a smile for her. “Quite true. Though it does make things more difficult for us.”

“Nightshade made the assumption, my lord,” Davies continued to the earl, “that you’d wish us to continue our search. He has assured me he has a few new threads to follow and would like to make use of them while the trail is fresh, so to speak.”

“Of course,” Colin answered swiftly. Then he glanced toward his other siblings. “Unless any of you have an objection? Or something else you believe we should consider?”

Roderick and Caillie both made it clear they had no objections.

But Thomas roughly cleared his throat. “It sounds like the boy doesn’t wish to be found.”

Temperamental, loyal, and single-minded, Colin noted silently in an amendment to his earlier assessment.

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