Wishing for Rainbows

“It has been the same man all along?”

Trenton sighed. “I am almost convinced it is the same man, yes. I do think he has help though.”

“Go on,” she demanded in a voice that was raw with fear. “Brampton?” she asked hopefully.

Trenton shook his head, still stunned by the revelation himself. “Sinnerton.”

“Alfred Sinnerton?” she gasped in shock. “Are you sure?”

She scowled at him and thought over the bedroom incident. Had her assailant been Alfred Sinnerton? She shook her head slowly. “He isn’t the one who broke into my bedroom. I am sure of it.”

“Why?” Trenton demanded. He knew it had been Alfred Sinnerton who had attacked him. He had seen the man’s face with his own eyes.

“Because the person in my bedroom was slightly taller and thinner,” she said thoughtfully.

“That was definitely Alfred Sinnerton out on the street just now,” Trenton retorted while rubbing his jaw. “He is damned useless with his fists, but good at surprising people.”

“I wonder if it was his sister who attacked me. Whoever that was in my bedroom wasn’t big enough to be Mrs Sinnerton.”

“It may have been his sister,” Trenton murmured, trying to remember what Hyacinth looked like. The Sinnertons were an odd bunch of people at the best of times. Now it appeared that they were criminals.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” she whispered and nodded to the morning room.

“Where is Adelaide?” he murmured quietly. He didn’t say as much but he desperately needed to see with his own eyes that Ursula really was alright.

“She will have gone to bed by now,” she replied, only to gasp when he swept her high into his arms and headed toward the stairs. “Where are we going?”

“To your room. You can hardly look at my wounds down here in the hallway.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of the morning room,” she replied dryly, making no attempt to encourage him to put her down.

“Oh, well, I thought you might need to lie down for a bit,” he mused thoughtfully.

“Well, I might need to recover for a while I suppose,” she countered, and pressed a daring kiss to his cheek.

“Then your bedroom it is. Show me which way,” he whispered at the top of the stairs.

“I suppose you may need to lie down too. After all, you have taken several blows to the head.”

He grinned at her. “To recuperate, you understand. I am in no condition for any of that,” he assured her pointedly.

Her cheeks blushed mightily and she ducked her head and buried her face in the base of his neck to smother her laughter. It just right being able to tease him so freely and aided the air of intimacy that they now shared. There was something intriguingly daring about being alone with him that was addictive, even without taking into account the delicious things he did to her.

Were they really a couple now? She mused and thought about that for a moment and sighed with contentment when she realised that they were. Secure in the knowledge that she had her man, she happily directed him to her bedroom. Once there, she locked the door and began to check him from head to toe for any injuries before she kissed him better.

The following morning, just before dawn, she stood on the back doorstep wrapped in Trenton’s warm embrace. Cool morning air swept around them, teasing their fingers and toes with winter’s icy grip, but neither of them paid any attention to the chill.

“I will see you later,” Trenton murmured when he found the strength to release her. “I will come back about eleven for our picnic. Until then, don’t go out alone, not even with a maid as a chaperone. Until we can get an idea of what Sinnerton is up to, keep the Sinnertons out of the house. I think Adelaide needs to be informed about what’s happened anyway, but leave that until I get here. I am going to ask around to see if anyone knows much about the family. They are up to something, of that there can be no doubt, but what I want to know is whether it is me they are after, or you.”

“Why would they be after you?” she asked with a frown.

“Why should they be after you either?” he mused in reply.

She wrinkled her nose up. “Fair point.”

“It was me they attacked, Ursula,” he reminded her.

Ursula thought about what had happened and was forced to concede that he had a point.