An Earl to Save Her Reputation

by Laura Martin

  Harry picked himself up from the floor and took a seat across from Mr Maltravers.

  ‘Tell me, why were you outside Lady Fortescue’s house, watching?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Your carriage was stopped outside Lady Fortescue’s house.’

  ‘Indeed it was. There’s no crime in it.’

  ‘No...’ Harry shook his head ‘...but it is a crime to send threatening messages, to kill a cat and send it to their owner.’

  ‘What are you going on about?’ Mr Maltravers bellowed. ‘You’re making no sense.’

  Harry watched carefully and saw a flicker of fear in the portly man’s eyes. He knew exactly what Harry was talking about.

  ‘Why were you here, then?’

  ‘Not that it’s any of your concern, but I had in mind to pay Lady Fortescue a little visit this evening, then I remembered her uncle was hosting a dinner party so thought it better not to intrude.’

  ‘So why did you not instruct your coachman to leave straight away? You were watching the house.’

  ‘I was doing nothing of the sort. Get out. Take your vile accusations and leave my carriage.’

  Harry had seen enough. Mr Maltravers wasn’t going to admit he had been the one terrorising Anna, much less explain why he’d done so. Nothing more would be gleaned tonight.

  ‘I must insist you have no further contact with my fiancée,’ Harry said. ‘Do not visit her on business, do not run into her on the street by accident, do not ever come by her house. Is that clear?’

  Mr Maltravers bristled, but did not protest.

  ‘I shall inform Lady Fortescue of this in the morning,’ Harry said.

  ‘No, you won’t.’

  Harry had just turned to get down from the carriage when Mr Maltravers grabbed him by the jacket.

  ‘I saw you go into her room, saw the shadows behind the curtains,’ he hissed. ‘I don’t think you or Lady Fortescue would like the world to know what happened between you tonight.’

  Harry shrugged, pulling himself free of Mr Maltravers’s grip. ‘I don’t much care what you tell the world. Soon Lady Fortescue and I will be married and if the gossips want to talk about us, then so be it. There are worse things in the world than a little gossip.’

  Quickly he jumped down from the coach, turning to address the coachman.

  ‘Get this scoundrel out of my sight.’

  As the coach raced off around the corner Harry glanced back at Anna’s window. Now she could go about her life in peace, not always wondering where the next threat was coming from. Tomorrow he’d tell her about Mr Maltravers and, once he’d informed her, he would talk to a magistrate he knew well and see what could be done to keep Mr Maltravers from ever bothering Anna again.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ‘I’m not sure I believe it,’ Anna said. ‘I’ve never liked the man, but I didn’t think he was capable of this.’

  She sank back into her chair behind the desk and absentmindedly stroked the small kitten in her lap. She’d brought both kittens into the office today as they were already causing chaos around the house, scratching furniture and ripping fabrics. They were sweet little things, just wanting to frolic and play all the time, but they didn’t realise yet that the whole world wasn’t theirs to paw and scratch.

  ‘I found him sitting in a carriage outside your uncle’s house.’

  Anna nodded. ‘Why would he do it?’ she asked. ‘I thought he liked me—the man proposed to me often enough.’

  ‘I suspect he wanted to make you feel vulnerable, so you would think you needed a husband to look after you and run to him for comfort.’

  Anna shuddered. It was a cruel thing to do.

  ‘I never even suspected him.’ Mr Maltravers had suggested she needed protection on a number of occasions, but she’d never thought he was terrorising her to scare her into marriage.

  Harry shrugged. ‘Sometimes we need to be more wary of the people who act in secret than the people who are unpleasant to our faces.’

  ‘He actually thought it would make me marry him?’ Anna asked, incredulous. Mr Maltravers was the last man she would ever consider marrying.

  ‘He didn’t admit as much, but I suspect that was the reason. He had no other motive I can see. And he did propose to you rather a lot.’

  Anna nodded. ‘And I suppose the packages started when I came out of mourning, the point when I could start considering marriage again.’

  ‘It’s not just me that finds you irresistible,’ Harry said, moving closer and taking Anna’s hand.

  ‘He killed my cat, he watched me and recorded all my movements.’

  ‘Men can do terrible things when they’re thwarted.’

  ‘I was never sure if he wanted to marry me for me or for the business.’

  ‘I think we can assume it was you he was obsessed with. I’ve never known a man to go to such lengths for anything other than an infatuation.’

  Anna shuddered, thinking of all the times she’d been alone with the man, all the carriage rides home, the conversations in her office.

  ‘I don’t think he would have ever harmed you,’ Harry said.

  ‘You warned him to stay away?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’m glad the matter’s resolved,’ Anna said with a sigh, taking Harry’s hand. ‘Thank you. I don’t think I truly believed this would ever be over.’

  ‘It’s over,’ Harry said, pulling her closer to him and kissing her lightly on the forehead. ‘I won’t let anyone harm you, I won’t let anyone threaten you.’

  ‘I just want to forget this all ever happened.’

  ‘And you can, my love. I’ll sort things out with the magistrate.’

  Anna stiffened and pulled away. She didn’t want to involve a magistrate, she just wanted to forget Mr Maltravers even existed, forget about the horrible packages and the feelings of unrest and fear at the thought of being watched.

  ‘No magistrate,’ Anna said. ‘I don’t want to report this.’

  ‘We must, Anna. He’s tormented you for months, he can’t be allowed to get away with it.’

  ‘No, Harry, no magistrate. I don’t want anyone else knowing about this. I don’t want to have to relive everything that’s happened.’

  ‘You won’t have to. I’ll talk to the magistrate, make sure everything is kept discreet.’

  ‘I said no, Harry,’ Anna stood back and folded her arms.

  ‘What if he does it again? What if he thinks he can get away with it and torments another woman?’

  ‘I don’t want to report it,’ Anna said firmly.

  Harry hesitated and then moved forward, engulfing her in his arms. At their feet the two kittens jumped and rolled, vying for her attention, and with a laugh Harry bent down and scooped them up.

  ‘I can see you two are going to be trouble,’ he said, giving both tiny balls of fur a stern look before giving in and stroking them until they purred. ‘Do you mind if I take your mama out for a little excursion?’

  Anna tidied up the papers on her desk, putting the large accounts book into a drawer and locking it afterwards. Then she gathered her cloak and slipped it on, glancing out the grimy window at the grey sky.

  ‘Don’t worry, I have the carriage waiting,’ Harry said, following her gaze. ‘And it means these two beauties can come along with us.’

  * * *

  The streets were busy as they weaved their way towards Ludgate Hill. Women selling flowers competed with men pushing wheelbarrows and children hurrying along behind governesses, and there was a crush of carriages travelling in all directions.

  ‘What did you name them?’ Harry asked as he stroked the kitten that had decided to settle in the crook of his arm, oblivious to the hairs that were already falling on his jacket.

  ‘He’s Ap
ollo and this little lady is Artemis.’

  ‘Twin gods. Very apt. I think they’ll like Halstead Hall. Lots of curtains for them to get their claws into.’

  ‘They’re going to stay with you?’ Anna asked, her expression serene.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll want to bring them with you when we take up residence.’

  ‘Harry...’

  ‘I’m not rushing you.’

  Anna had to suppress a smile. It was hard to resist his easy charm and even harder to remain annoyed at him when he flashed that rather dazzling look. She still felt as though she were in a dream. Ever since their intimacies the night before Anna kept wondering if things were real. She shouldn’t want to fall into Harry’s arms, agree to everything he was proposing and allow him to sweep her off into the sunset, but she did. Part of her wondered why she was still resisting. She didn’t really think Harry was like any of her other husbands. He would never be cruel, never hurt her. Sometimes he liked to make decisions for her, but surely she could work on that. She just wanted to be sure she would be able to maintain her independence if she agreed to this marriage. And that she was almost sure of. Almost.

  ‘We’re here,’ Harry said, jumping down from the carriage and holding out his hand to Anna. Before she could protest he had handed the two kittens up to the coachman, instructing him to guard them with his life.

  Anna allowed Harry to lead her to a shop a few doors down, noting the elegant displays in the window and the fancy lettering above the door. Augustus Grey Jeweller’s, it read, and as they pushed opened the door a small man with a clipped moustache and small spectacles halfway down the bridge of his nose rushed forward to greet them.

  ‘Lord Edgerton, what an honour. Please come in and look around. Is there anything in particular I can help you with today?’ The words came out in a rush, so much so that Anna had to pause for a moment to separate the sentences.

  ‘I wish to buy an engagement gift for my fiancée,’ Harry said.

  ‘May I offer my congratulations to you both,’ the jeweller said, giving a funny little bow and flushing with pleasure. ‘Please have a look around and if anything catches your eye I will get it out for closer inspection.’

  ‘We’re not really engaged yet,’ Anna whispered to Harry as they began to stroll around the shop.

  ‘I’m hopeful,’ Harry said.

  Anna tried giving him her sternest glare, but in truth she wasn’t in the slightest put out. It was another generous act in a string of generous acts that showed the sort of person Harry was. She’d be a fool to turn down his proposal.

  ‘What would you like?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps a necklace, or a ring to mark our engagement.’

  Anna paused by a beautiful necklace. A string of iridescent pearls of the highest quality, shimmering under the glass. She didn’t have much jewellery, only the pieces she’d saved from her adolescence and year as a debutante. Her first husband had gifted her a few pieces, but her second husband had promptly sold them to raise funds before his posting to India. Lord Fortescue had never bought her any jewellery of her own, instead making her wear items that had belonged to his late wife and were certainly never Anna’s to keep.

  ‘I can imagine you in pearls,’ Harry murmured in her ear. ‘Just in pearls.’

  Refusing to be embarrassed, Anna moved on, her eyes flitting across the beautiful pieces set out to entice and enthral.

  ‘I don’t need anything, Harry,’ she said.

  ‘I know, but I would like to get you something all the same. Sometimes it’s nice to be spoiled, to have someone buy you a gift.’

  Anna stepped up to a case containing multiple beautiful rings, bands of gold and silver all set with different stones. There were some with huge diamonds and rubies, rings that would be noticed and commented on, and one particularly beautiful ring with a perfectly cut emerald, but Anna’s eyes focused on something much less ostentatious, much more simple.

  ‘Could I have a look at this one?’ she asked.

  It had a simple gold band with a green jade stone, unostentatious and beautiful.

  The jeweller obligingly took it from the case and offered it to Anna for closer inspection.

  ‘Allow me,’ Harry said, taking the ring from her and slipping it on to her finger. It fit perfectly and looked as if it had been made to sit on her hand.

  Anna regarded it, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes. Why couldn’t she have met Harry before her father had arranged her first marriage with Lord Humphries? Why couldn’t she turn back time and be an eager debutante again, ready to fall in love without all the complications the last six years had added to her life?

  ‘We’ll take this one,’ Harry said and Anna didn’t even bristle at him assuming control of the situation and making the decision for her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Resisting the urge to twiddle with the ring on her finger, Anna suppressed a smile as she glanced impatiently at the clock. Harry was due to visit and today was the day she was going to accept his proposal. First she was going to gently bring up the subject of her independence and her continuing to run her business, but if that went well she would agree to be his wife.

  A bubble of excitement welled up inside her, threatening to burst and make her giggle or clap her hands with joy, but with some difficulty Anna managed to suppress the urge to show how giddy this was making her feel.

  She was sitting with her legs underneath her, curled up in the drawing room with her two beautiful kittens frolicking at her feet. Another glance at the clock revealed only a minute had passed since she’d last checked and with a groan of impatience she got to her feet, sidestepping to avoid Apollo and Artemis, and crossed to the piano. Music would make the time pass more quickly.

  With an ease that showed her talent at the piano Anna began to play, not bothering to flip through the sheets of music, but instead choosing a piece that was imprinted into her mind. As she played she felt a peculiar sense of contentment. Today she was going to leave her past behind and start to plan her future with the man she loved. Of course she still had a few misgivings, concerns that were only natural for a widow who’d survived three disastrous marriages, but that was not going to stop her from admitting she loved Harry and realising it would only be herself she was hurting if she chose to live her life separate from him.

  She kept telling herself that if she went into this marriage making it clear to Harry she would never give up her business, that she would not sit at home organising the domestic matters like most wives, then surely they would have a chance at happiness.

  There was a murmur of voices in the entrance hall, inaudible under the piano music, but Anna knew within a few seconds her future husband would be shown into the room. She had butterflies in her stomach as the door opened and couldn’t resist the smile that took over her face when Harry walked in.

  Just as she was about to stand and fling herself into Harry’s arms another man entered the room behind him. Without missing a note Anna continued playing the piano as she assessed the newcomer. He was in his mid-forties, his expression serious, but as Harry leaned in and said something he gave a jovial little laugh.

  Anna came to the end of the piece and stood, stepping out from behind the piano and gliding towards Harry, her movements slow and controlled and her expression neutral.

  ‘Lady Fortescue, may I introduce Sir Gregory Hicks.’

  Anna inclined her head in greeting before meeting his steely gaze with one of her own.

  ‘Sir Gregory is a magistrate, he’s discreet and I trust his judgement.’

  ‘A magistrate,’ Anna murmured. ‘How interesting.’ Pulling Harry to one side, she gave Sir Gregory a polite little smile before turning her back on him so her words were not overheard. ‘What is he doing here?’

  ‘Lord Edgerton told me of your little problem,’ Sir Gregory interrupted, steppi
ng forward and inserting himself in between her and Harry. ‘He thought I may be able to advise you.’

  ‘My little problem?’ Anna asked, hardly believing what she was hearing.

  ‘With an overzealous suitor. Malicious letters and packages, following your movements, all in all a very unpleasant episode.’

  ‘Please excuse us for a few minutes, Sir Gregory, I just need to discuss something with Lord Edgerton. Would you care for some tea while you wait?’ Anna was so irate she had nearly forgotten to offer the man some refreshments and was glad when he shook his head. It would mean he could be got rid of quicker.

  She half-dragged Harry from the drawing room, not trusting herself to speak until they were safely ensconced in her uncle’s study, with two doors firmly closed between them and Sir Gregory.

  ‘Explain yourself,’ Anna said, her tone clipped and harsh even to her own ears. She was finding it hard not to raise her voice.

  ‘I thought it would be wise to consult a magistrate about how best to proceed with this Maltravers situation.’ Harry placed his hand lightly on her shoulder and Anna had the urge to shake it off—instead she focused on maintaining her composure.

  ‘Why?’ she asked.

  ‘Why? Because he killed your cat. Because he had been following you and watching you for months. Because he’s been threatening you and who knows what he’ll do now he’s been found out. I want to keep you safe.’

  ‘I asked you not to do anything,’ Anna said, shaking his hand off her shoulder and moving away. Her hands were trembling and she felt her breathing becoming quicker and more laboured.

  ‘I know, Anna, but...’

  ‘But what? My opinions don’t matter? Is that it?’

  ‘Of course they matter,’ Harry said, his voice soothing.

  ‘Clearly they don’t. You heard what I said, but just decided to do the opposite anyway.’

  ‘I want to protect you. It’s in your best interests.’

  Anna let out a short, almost hysterical laugh as she tried to gain control of herself and failed miserably. ‘I never asked you to protect me, Harry. I never asked you to do anything except let the matter drop.’