A Spinster's Awakening (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 2)

Charity nodded her understanding of his warning. She wasn’t to tell her friend’s anything. It would have been easy, if she had had a few moments to herself to strengthen her resolve. As it was, beneath the scrutiny of her friends, she felt guilty, ashamed for having kept secrets from them, flustered and worried all at the same time. She wanted to squirm such was the intensity of their regard.

“You are not a relation,” Monika declared suddenly.

“I beg your pardon?” Aaron stopped and looked at her.

“Those boots are very expensive and finely cut. They must have cost a small fortune. There are very few rural craftsmen who could make such fine things. They were purchased in London,” Monika mused. “I know. I used to live there.”

Aaron sighed. “They did indeed come from London,” he confirmed but didn’t expand even when Monika kept her gaze trained on his boots, quietly demanding information on who made them.

Aaron suspected that if he buckled and told her what she wanted to know an entire ocean of questions would flood the room within seconds and he would be doomed to drown in a whirlpool of lies of his own making.

“We need to move,” he warned Angus, who nodded and used his lengthy stride to get out of the room.

When out in the hallway, though, Aaron went to open the door only to see a man standing at the front gate of the house they were there to watch. Instinctively, he edged the door closed, but not before the man looked in his direction. Aaron suspected the elderly gent was talking to Jasper given the dull murmur of voices audible through the door. What was being said was impossible to hear, though, given the noise the ladies were making behind him.

He sighed and looked at Angus who was surrounded by a bevy of females, all of whom appeared reluctant to allow him to leave.

Suddenly, the lady whom everybody called Agatha planted herself firmly in front of the door, effectively blocking Aaron’s escape from the house.

“But you cannot go yet. I have some wonderful fruit cake you simply must try before you go anywhere. It is important, is it not, for you to embark upon your journey back to London with enough sustenance to keep you going?” she asked, her wrinkled face wreathed in a delighted smile.

“We are not going back to London,” Aaron bit out.

He edged sideways and threw a longing look at the door knob, partially obscured by the woman’s ample waist, but he suspected he wasn’t going to use it yet.

“I am afraid we have another appointment to get to,” Angus declared with false reluctance.

“Oh, but you must stay. We have a nice plain cake that is Edwina’s speciality if you don’t like fruit cake. You simply must stay and tell us which one you prefer,” Agatha insisted.

With an adroit determination that was astounding to Aaron, she began to move forward, invading his personal space to the point that if he didn’t move he would be uncomfortably close to the unfamiliar woman, and would cause a scandal if he remained where he was. Reluctantly, he conceded defeat, and backstepped, but only a little – enough so he could throw a pleading look at Angus, who was having enough trouble of his own extracting himself from the woman blocking his progress into the hallway.

“Ladies, while your offer is wonderful, and at any other time we would be delighted to accept, I am afraid we simply cannot stay,” Angus declared loudly enough to be heard over the women who were all vying for his attention at the same time.

He sighed heavily when Monika stepped far too close. Tipping his head back, Angus peered down at her and gave her his best, darkest and most threatening look, silently warning her not to venture any closer.

It didn’t work. Monika stepped toward him, her dark eyes silently challenging him to defy her and stand his ground. In desperation, Angus looked around for Charity, but she was blockaded by the ample girth of Mrs Augusta Applebottom whose somewhat military stance left nobody in any doubt she wasn’t going to allow Charity to help. The way she had placed herself, somewhat sentry-like and facing the door, was enough warning to Angus that the Star Elite had indeed chosen the wrong home to keep watch on the house opposite.

“You may as well surrender, gentlemen. You need to understand, here and now, that we always get what we want,” Edwina reported smoothly, with an air of arrogant smugness that rippled around the group.

“You may as well give in,” Agatha prompted.

“Good, so cake it is,” Monika declared with a certain air of satisfaction that transferred itself into the smug smirk on her face. She linked arms with Angus, even though he made no attempt to accommodate her by bending his elbow in a gentlemanly fashion. Despite his reluctance, she began to tug and shove him back into the sitting room.

Angus, aware that he had been deftly outsmarted, dutifully followed.

CHAPTER FOUR

Charity yawned and tried to pretend she was interested in the conversation still flowing between the women in her sitting room. She surreptitiously glanced at the clock on the mantle and mentally groaned at the time. She was beyond exhausted and so desperately wanted to go to bed that she almost cried at the thought of the nice warm bed that awaited her, but she was unable to reach. In truth, she was starting to worry that if she didn’t get the ladies to go home soon she would never get them to leave before the men from the War Office arrived to begin their watch at ten o’clock.

The thought of having the Star Elite in the house was unnerving. So much so, Charity still couldn’t be sure she had done the right thing by allowing them to use her room. It was only her sense of community responsibility that had compelled her to agree to their request.

That, and outright nosiness, she mused with a heavy sigh. I confess that a little adventure wouldn’t go amiss, but this isn’t what I had in mind.

“Charity, what is the matter dear?” Edwina suddenly asked.

She patted the back of Charity’s hand to capture her attention when her words didn’t seem to register on the young woman. Charity had spent most of the evening alternating between sighing, half-heartedly engaging in the rather desultory conversation flowing between the group and staring out at the street at the exact spot where the men had climbed into the carriage several hours ago.

“He is rather handsome, isn’t he?” Edwina murmured, accurately sensing the direction of Charity’s thoughts.