Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress (The Husband Hunters Club 5)

“So you will help me find her?”

She was watching him with a look that told him she wasn’t going to get her hopes up only to have them dashed again.

“I promise,” he assured her. “I said I would. I don’t go back on my word once it’s given, Averil. You can rely on me utterly and completely.”

She nodded, glancing away so that he wouldn’t see the gleam of tears, but he saw them anyway.

“You are very kind, Lord Southbrook. Even though Jackson has helped me thus far, I don’t trust him. He left me all alone. It-it was not a nice experience.” Her eyes narrowed and she looked about her, as if hoping Jackson would pop up from behind the desk so that she could give him a piece of her mind. “I thought he’d be here at the Home today but I haven’t seen him.”

“Leave Jackson to me,” Rufus said with a hint of menace in his voice. “I’ll deal with him. And I am not very kind, Averil. I’m doing this as much for my own pleasure as to help you. I told you I needed a distraction.”

But she only smiled again, as if he was making a joke and she did not believe him for a moment. Rufus followed her from the room, and found himself observing, with a great deal of satisfaction, the sway of her hips beneath her skirts.

He was a cad and a damned fool, he didn’t need anyone to tell him that, but she was a little beauty, no doubt about it. Could he make her happy? Could he marry her and show the doubters that the wicked earl was a reformed fellow after all?

Preposterous!

Averil glanced at him over her shoulder. “Did you say something, my lord?”

Rufus shook his head. “Nothing you need worry about, Lady Averil.”

A moment later they were back with Gareth, who promptly offered to show him the dormitories. “I presume Lady Averil has shown you the kitchen?” he added, giving Averil a look that promised a scolding later on. “I would rather have done that myself, my lord.”

“I’ve seen enough,” said Rufus bluntly. He was done with being polite. “I’ll be in touch, Simmons. And thank you, Lady Averil.”

He bowed over her hand briefly, and then he was gone.

“I think we impressed him,” Gareth said, rubbing his hands together.

Averil was smiling to herself. Lord Southbrook was going to help her find Rose. She could rely on him “utterly and completely.” For the first time in a long time she felt a spurt of real hope, as if she’d been blundering around in the dark and now someone had lit a candle. The earl might have a dubious reputation, he might be an outcast from society, but Averil could not believe he was a bad man. In fact she was liking his company more and more. Beth might not trust him but Averil did.

“I’m sure he was very impressed.” Belatedly she remembered to answer Gareth.

Beth nudged her, and Averil remembered Gareth’s early behavior. She took a breath and launched into the speech she knew had to be made.

“Gareth, I do hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I really don’t think you should show any partiality for the girls. Or the staff. You are our leader, you know. We look to you for strength of character. A good leader should not show partiality. Perhaps you don’t realize you are doing it but the women notice. I noticed. Violet is a very pretty girl but she is your employee, she is under your care, Gareth.”

Gareth shot her a look under his brows and she could see he was shocked and mortified. Obviously he hadn’t realized how obvious his partiality was. In the end he gave a sort of humph, but she was glad to see that when they returned to the common room, he gave Violet Pinnock a wide berth.

Averil spent a few wasted moments searching the Home for Jackson. The man was usually ensconced in the kitchen, drinking tea and eating whatever the cook was baking that day, but he was nowhere to be found. She wouldn’t put it past him to be hiding, avoiding her. He’d be expecting her to seek him out and give him a piece of her mind. All she really wanted to do was to tell him she no longer needed his detective services, that she’d found someone else.

With a sigh, Averil gave up. She was tired from the earl’s visit, the high emotion of their talk, and then her remonstration of Gareth. Jackson would turn up eventually. He always did.

CHAPTER EIGHT

* * *

Rufus was keen to find Jackson, and he soon had his chance. After a word with one of the lads, in the gang hanging around the streets, he set off down a narrow alleyway that ended in a filthy courtyard.

The house he wanted was narrow and leaning to one side, and when he banged on the door it was opened by an old woman with no teeth. “Wha’s a gen’leman wan’ ’ere?” she demanded, or at least that was what he thought she said.

“I’m looking for Jackson. I was told he was here.”

“Wha’ you wan’ ’im fer?”

“I have something to offer him that would be to his advantage,” Rufus said. And, when the woman looked blank, “Money, madam.”

“Ah.” She thought a moment, but the money swayed her as he’d hoped it would. “’E’s at the Soldier.”