“Harriett, we have to stop,” Mark murmured gently. Every fibre of his being screamed at him to carry on: to ease the ache in his body and claim her as his, but the reality of their situation added an edge of caution to the passion that he couldn’t ignore. Even if he discounted the fact that they were in Harriett’s sitting room, they were in the middle of a murder investigation in which Harriett was one of the witnesses, and a potential victim. There were boundaries that even he couldn’t cross.
Harriett heard his words and felt a wave of shame for her rash behaviour sweep over her. Colour flooded her face and she tried to ease away from him only to find that he wouldn’t allow her any distance.
“Please believe me when I say that I want nothing more than to be able to allow things to continue between us. You and I are both adults, and we know where this is going to lead us. I want that more than anything.” Mark knew that if he had any chance of keeping her with him after the investigation, he had to approach the subject now; police investigation or not. “I want to be able to continue to see you after this investigation is concluded, and the mysteries that surround us are unravelled. I hope that you will seriously consider a brief courtship before we marry. Right now, it is chucking out time at the pub in a few minutes and Charles, if not Babette, will soon be home but, at some point in the not too distant future, you and I are going to discuss our relationship, Harriett.”
In a desperate attempt to snatch whatever time he had left alone with her, Mark dipped his head and gave her a kiss that was so fierce, so possessive, that by the time he drew his arms away and put some distance between them, they were both shaken.
He had kissed a few women but none had ever had the ability to turn him inside out like Harriett. The last few hours had allayed all of his doubts about the speed in which he seemed to have grown so attached to her. There was a lot they had yet to learn about each other but, given the passion that had raged between them with so very little provocation, he had no doubt at all that she would be his.
Harriett leaned against the dresser and had barely a moment to compose herself before Babette appeared in the doorway. Her head whirled at his declaration and she was as thrilled as she was stunned by that, and the kiss that had followed.
“Mark, you are here. I was worried about Harriett being all alone, so hurried back early,” Babette gasped.
“It’s alright. I just stayed to keep Harriett company for a while,” Mark sighed. He studied Harriett carefully and was a little concerned with just how quiet she had grown. Was she worried about her conversation with Babette, or shaken by what had just happened; about what he had just said?
“I will leave you two to chat.” Regardless of Babette’s presence in the room, Mark skirted around the table to face Harriett.
She glanced up at him and felt her stomach flip at the tenderness on his face. “I will be by first thing in the morning to take you to work again. Don’t leave home without me.” His soft words were accompanied by a tender smile.
“Goodnight, Mark,” Babette called as Mark left the room.
“You don’t have to look so scared. Everyone in the village knows that he is protecting you because of the threats against you. Nobody is going to think twice about him calling around here so often,” Babette assured her with a wry smile when Harriett returned to the sitting room once Mark had gone.
“We both know what the gossips would do if they got wind of clandestine assignations,” Harriett replied quietly. “Although it would outwardly appear innocent, they wouldn’t be able to resist discussing it. It would bring shame upon the entire family, and could damage business at the tea shop.” Her eyes met and held Babette’s with such directness that the older woman paused in the doorway to the kitchen.
Babette looked frightened for a moment. Her eyes locked with Harriett’s. Harriett knew that it was now or never.
“I am not judging you.” Mark’s words echoed in her ears and she now knew what he had meant. Given what she had just shared with Mark, and the emotions he so easily stirred in her, she could understand Babette’s decision to seek solace in the arms of a man who did care. “I just think that you need to consider that there are other people involved in what you are doing.”
“What do you think I am doing, Harriett?” Babette dropped into a seat at the table wearily, as though having to maintain the subterfuge had sapped her strength.
“Well, as far as I can see, there aren’t many solicitors who wish to meet their clients at two o’clock in the morning or after eight o’clock in the evening, especially single, eminently eligible bachelor solicitors.” She watched Babette’s shoulders slump moments before she began to weep. Harriett felt like an eel for having raised the matter, but had to get Babette to at least acknowledge the risks involved in what she was doing.
“I am sorry, I truly am,” Babette sobbed. “I don’t know how it started. I went to see him to discuss divorcing Charles. I hate it here, Babette. Charles is so fixated on work and the pub that there is nothing between us anymore. There hasn’t been for several years but, of late, we are veritable strangers in our own home. When your parents died, we kept things going for the sake of raising you. It has suited us fine, until about five years ago when I started arguing so much with Charles that life became unbearable. He is never here and, when he is, hardly speaks to us. At work, he always has his friends dropping by for a chat and seems a different person entirely. I don’t know why we are together. I went to see Andrew about a divorce and he asked me what had gone wrong. You know, if there was any chance of reconciliation, because a divorce would bring scandal, especially in a small village like Tipton Hollow. I came home to think about it but continued to argue with Charles.” Now that the subject had been raised, Babette’s words came out in a constant flow as she tried to explain herself. Harriett could do little else but listen while she ineffectually patted her aunt’s hand. “At first, the meetings were in his office. We went through everything; the house, the business, you, the lot. The business is mine, as you know. It was handed down to me, but Charles has taken over practically everything to the point that I have been squeezed out of my own inheritance. Andrew started to look into the finer details of a separation and asked me a few questions. We met several times, and I popped information around to his house because it was quicker than having to travel to Great Tipton. We got talking and, well, things just progressed from there.” She lifted water-filled eyes to Harriett’s. “I love him, Harriett. If it wasn’t for Charles, I would be with Andrew.” She hiccupped and began to weep quietly into her handkerchief. “I have never felt like this before, not even with Charles. I know it is foolish, but I love Andrew. He has urged me to divorce Charles so that we can marry.”
“I understand, Babette, truly I do,” Harriett whispered. Her heart ached for her aunt’s predicament. To be able to be with the man she really cared about, Babette would have to face public censure and gossip the likes of which could pose a significant problem for the good name of the business the three of them had spent many years building up. However, to ignore her feelings and remain with her loveless marriage would mean personal misery, and being separated from the man she truly loved.
“I have to break it off, don’t I? With so many police around day and night, it is impossible to go anywhere without being seen. It is only a matter of time, as you say, before I bring the entire family name into disrepute.” She heaved a sigh and blinked tearfully at Harriett. “I knew that one day I would have to say goodbye to Andrew, I just didn’t think it was going to be yet.”
“You could just stop seeing him until Mark finishes his investigation. As soon as the killer is caught, the policemen will go back to Great Tipton and everything will quieten down in the village, you’ll see. You can then -”
Babette began to shake her head. “You know as well as I do that someone, at some point, will see me and there will be no explaining what I am doing. Everyone will know. It isn’t just my scandal and the tea-shop that will be damaged, it will b
e Andrew’s business as well.”
“I am sorry, Babette, I truly am.” Harriett didn’t know what else to say. “I can’t even begin to imagine the hurt you must be feeling. Being torn between family duty and your heart is an unbearable situation. I wish I could help you. I can only go on how I would feel if I had to watch Mark walk away.” She shook her head. “I think I would be just like you are now.” Her voice quivered with tears and as one, they moved away from the table and shared a hug.
“We are a right pair of water babies, aren’t we?” Babette sighed when they broke apart. “You love him, don’t you, Harriett?”
It was all Harriett could do to nod. Her feelings for Mark seemed to grow stronger every day, to the point now that she knew she would be devastated if she lost him. She couldn’t lose sight of the fact that out of the two of them, she was in a far better situation than Babette, because at least she could have the future with Mark that he had hinted at. For Babette, the possibility of a happy outcome was remote.
“I wish I could help you.”
“There is nothing you can do,” Babette assured her and wiped the tears off her face. “I shouldn’t have started this in the first place. It is now down to me to put a stop to it.”
“You are going to end it then?”
“I have to, don’t I?” At the door she paused and looked back at Harriett. “Mark knows doesn’t he?” She looked fearful.
Harriett hastened to reassure her. “He does. He saw you when he was watching for someone in the village. He told me, but I had already seen you on the night that Minerva died.” She knew from the realisation that dawned on Babette’s face that she knew what Harriett meant. “He suggested that I talk to you about it, although said he isn’t going to speak of it because it is a family matter. He is protecting us, Babette. He won’t gossip about it.”
“I like Mark. He is one in a million.” She pointed one long finger at her niece. “If you take one piece of advice from me? When a man like that loves you, don’t ever let him go.” Her voice choked and she remained quiet as she quickly left the house.
Harriett didn’t need to ask where she was headed. She knew that if she followed, Babette would lead her straight to Andrew’s house. There was very little that she could do to help Babette with her current problems except be there for her when she came home heartbroken. She settled down in the chair before the fire, wrinkled her nose at the rattle of the front door, and remained quiet as Charles let himself in and stomped up the stairs.
With a quick glance at the clock, she picked up her sewing and waited for Babette to return.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Harriett, you look exhausted. Why don’t you stop at home today?” Mark scowled at the dark circles beneath Harriett’s eyes and he knew that she had slept little, if at all. He glanced around the quiet house.
“I am alright,” Harriett whispered. In reality she was anything but alright. Babette had returned to the house about an hour after she had left, and had been distraught. Andrew had strenuously objected to Babette ending their association, and had done everything in his power to try to stop her. By the time she had managed to get back to 29 Daventry Street, she was barely coherent. Harriett had spent several hours listening to Babette weep while she recounted Andrew’s many strengths and very few weaknesses. By the time dawn had started to approach, Harriett had wanted Mark’s arms around her with a desperation that had very nearly sent her out into the middle of the night to knock on his door. She wondered if it was a family trait.
Despite having spent several hours crying with Babette, Harriett felt her chin wobble. She didn’t say anything, but then didn’t need to. Mark seemed to know what she wanted and swept her against him without a word.
“I am sorry,” she whispered in a voice that was soft and filled with sadness.
“I take it that you have spoken to her?” He was unsurprised when Harriett nodded miserably.
“She has broken things off, but is distraught. She really loves him.”
“Given how things have worked out with us, I can fully sympathise.” He tipped her chin up and wondered if she understood what he meant. “There is nothing worse than losing someone who holds your heart.”
Harriett nodded. “I know.” Her eyes met and held his. “He didn’t take it very well,” she swallowed and tried to keep the tears at bay. She had cried more in the last night than she had cried in all of her life. “He warned her that she had a fight on her hands.”
“We have to let them sort things out now. Babette is old enough to make her own decisions.”
“I know Mark, but I have never seen Babette cry as much as she did last night. I have never seen her like that. I managed to persuade her to go to bed at about four this morning, but she is devastated. I don’t think she slept much.”
“You didn’t either from the look of you.” He tenderly traced the darkness beneath her eyes with his fingertip and rested his head against hers. He couldn’t find the words to assure her that everything was going to be alright. In reality, he had no idea if they would be. “Why don’t you stop at home today? Do you have someone who covers for you in the tea shop if you have to go somewhere?”
Harriett nodded. “Celeste, from two doors down comes in and helps. She is the Calder’s eldest daughter.”
“Let me see if she is available to help out today. Try to get some sleep instead.”
Harriett was torn. There was nothing she wanted more than to be able to crawl back into bed and pull the covers up to her ears, but she also wanted to stay exactly where she was, wrapped in Mark’s loving arms. It was on the tip of her tongue to agree when loud thumps at the kitchen door shattered the silence.
“Andrew,” she whispered. She didn’t need to answer the door to know it was him. The persistent force of the knocks would have woken the dead. When Harriett made no move to answer, Mark slowly eased away and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Where is she? I want to speak to her.” From the look of him, Andrew hadn’t slept at all either. His hair stood on end; his clothes were crumpled and looked as though they had been worn the day before too. A days’ growth of stubble lined his square jaw, but all of that paled into insignificance against the fierceness in his red-rimmed grey eyes.
“She is here. I know she is here. Let me speak to her.” His clipped tones were tinged with a weary desperation that made Harriett’s heart flip. She moved to stand just behind Mark.
“Calm down, Andrew.” Mark turned to Harriett and lifted his brows.
“She didn’t sleep much last night. She is still in bed.”
“Let me see her,” the man’s eyes were desperate. “I just need to talk to her.”
“It’s alright,” Babette whispered from behind them. “Let him in.” Calm resignation was written on her face and she took a seat, from the look of her, before her legs gave in.
Andrew burst into the house, his gaze locked on Babette. As soon as he was inside, he stalked across the room in ground eating strides and knelt beside her chair. Babette began to sob.
“I am off to work, Babette.” Harriett grabbed Mark’s hand and they left the house to the sound of quite murmuring.
They remained silent as Mark escorted Harriett to the back of the tea shop. He was glad that it wasn’t him and Harriett in that situation. He could fully appreciate Andrew’s determination not to lose the woman he loved.
“Are you sure you are going to be alright? I am going to be out at work all day. If you want somewhere where you can sit and rest for a while, and get some sleep without being disturbed, you can have my house keys and go and help yourself.” Personally, he couldn’t think of anything nicer than Harriett being in his house while he was at work. He wanted to be able to come home and find her there, and couldn’t wait to turn his dreams into reality.
“Charles will wonder where I am,” Harriett sighed. Acceptance of his offer was on the tip of her tongue but, at the last minute, she sighed and reluctantly shook her head. “I would love to just re
st for a while, but I think it is best if Babette and Andrew are able to resolve matters undisturbed. If I am at work, Charles won’t think anything unusual is happening. If I stay at home, even your home, he could go back to Daventry Street to see how I am. I don’t really want him to turn up while Babette and Andrew are there.” She kept her voice low for fear of Charles overhearing, but was reassured but the almost continual clatter of pots and pans from inside the kitchens.
Mark nodded. When they were married, Harriett wouldn’t need to worry about work. He earned enough to ensure that she could spend her days running his house and raising their children. He tucked that precious thought into a corner of his heart, and took advantage of a darkened corner of the yard to draw her into his arms.
“I have to interview our clairvoyants and Miss Smethwick. After that, I will come back and pick you up so you can have the afternoon off,” Mark persisted. He wished he could have the afternoon off too, but that luxury was saved for Sundays; if he was lucky and everyone behaved themselves.
“I can’t. I have to arrange flowers in the church for Hugo’s funeral at four o’clock today.” Harriett sighed deeply and looked up at him. “Hugo doesn’t have any other family, so various people in the village are involved in the arrangements for his funeral.” She gave him a rueful smile, went on to her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his lips.
His smile quickly vanished. The immediate surge of anticipation that swept through him made him groan and he immediately deepened the kiss for several long moments before he reluctantly leaned back to look down at her. “What time are you leaving here?”
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