by Abigail Agar
“Do you suddenly wish that I would? I was rather under the impression that you did not approve of my choices in this matter, nor the feelings that I have for Miss Reid,” he said.
“Yes and no. I do not believe your affection for her should have any bearing on this department. As far as your feelings for her, I would not disapprove of that by any means,” John said.
Just then, Hamish was distracted. In the door walked a figure, shrouded and looking dressed for far cooler weather than what was outside. Hamish was certain that this had to be Miss Smithfield.
“What is she doing?” John asked. “Could she possibly draw more attention to herself?”
“She is trying to hide, to disguise herself. It is not working, but I shall speak with her. For now, I believe she is all right. She made it here and that is all that matters. Now, please send her in,” Hamish said.
John did as instructed and Miss Smithfield came into the office and took a seat across from Hamish.
“Thank you for coming in, Miss Smithfield. I understand that you are probably frightened,” he said.
“I did not wish to be seen,” she said.
“Yes, but your covering rather makes you stand out. Perhaps, next time, you might simply wear a hat and tuck your hair up into it? And, perhaps, wear clothing belonging to your mother,” he said.
“You believe that would hide me?” she asked.
“I honestly cannot say, but this is not going to do you any good,” he said.
She frowned and he tried to decide where to go next in the conversation.
“Well, anyway, let us move onto other things. Miss Smithfield, may we discuss your case further?” he asked.
Her shoulders sagged.
“We may. But I do wish that we could simply move on,” she said.
“Do you? And what do you think would be required in order to move on?” Hamish asked.
“I am not certain. I know that it is important that I find out who is behind all of this. I need to know who it was who tried to threaten me and the reason for it. But I cannot pretend that I am happy with living my life this way, hiding and hoping that things will settle,” she said.
“I do understand that. It must be very difficult,” Hamish said.
“Indeed, it is. But, if you do not mind, I would like to at least get a bit of rest from it all. Please, tell me, why do you think it is happening? Do you believe you will ever learn who is behind it all? Have you continued questioning anyone?” she asked.
He paused for a moment before answering.
“To be frank with you, Miss Smithfield, there is not much information that we have. I have my suspicions, but there is no evidence and, as there was no crime committed, I am finding it difficult to convince anyone that they must cooperate with me,” he said.
“I imagine so. After all, why would they bow to your demands when you have nothing with which to force them to do so?” she asked.
“Precisely. You know, your former employer, Mr. Reid, his business dealings are certainly shrouded in questions, but we have seen no real evidence that he did anything criminal. And Mrs. Reid is painfully unpleasant, but she has nothing about her to suspect beyond simply wanting to make another miserable,” he said.
“And Mr. William?” she asked.
“He is the one I am currently looking into. I have spoken with him and he denied all affection for you and any interaction that might suggest affection. I do not believe him, of course. The lies were obvious. And I have spoken with a few of my informants who have told me that he does enjoy gambling and that he is quite open about his desire to find a wife. But he has had no real affections for anyone. I presume that the reason is because he cares most for you,” Hamish said.
She gasped.
“He genuinely cares for me? I always assumed it was just his own selfishness,” she said.
“Indeed, I did as well. He certainly is the sort of man who would cause someone such an assumption,” Hamish said.
“Well, I do wonder if he sent me away as punishment,” she said.
“I considered that as well, but I cannot be sure. If his affection for you is real, I do not think he would. And, of course, I must also consider Mrs. Buckley, Miss Dalton, and Miss Reid. I do not believe it to be any of them, but I must still think on it,” he said, remembering his mild suspicion of Miss Dalton in the back of his mind.
“It cannot be any of them,” she said.
“I certainly hope we are correct in that,” he replied.
Miss Smithfield looked disappointed and he could see it in her eyes that she truly did just want to be rid of all of this burden.
“Miss Smithfield, may I have a look at that ring again? It is the only thing I can think of which constitutes as evidence. I did not inform Mr. Reid that I have seen it, or that I have spoken with you at all,” he said.
“Good. Thank you for that,” she said.
“Certainly. But if I may,” he said.
She pulled out the ring and he began to have a look over it.
He looked the crest over once more. Previously, he had been curious about the ring, but he had not thought what he could really do with that curiosity. Nothing was proven.
Now, he thought that it could, potentially, hold the key to learning something more. Hamish didn’t know why, but in his heart, he knew that he needed to identify the crest.
“Please give me just one moment,” he said, taking his pen in hand and dipping it in ink before putting it to paper.
He sketched the crest out neatly, although he never did consider himself the best of artists. Still, it would do for the time being and he might be able to use it in order to assist him in his search for the answer.
“Here you are,” he said.
“Thank you,” she replied, taking it back from him.
“Please, do not get rid of it any time soon. I may have need of it yet,” Hamish said.
“I shall keep it in my reticule until all is solved. Only then will I consider a better use for it,” she promised.
With that, Hamish allowed her to leave. He looked at the paper again and hoped he would find an answer.
He also hoped he would find a way back to Miss Georgiana Reid.
Chapter 25
Georgiana sat down with William, feeling that things were about to change for them. She had a feeling that he was finally going to open up to her about some things.
His eyes were filled with an emotion that she had not seen before. He looked serious, intent. He did not look as though he was going to tease her or pretend that things were all right.
In the past, from childhood, William had always been a boywho enjoyed jokes and pranks.
It was not so much that he was immature, but rather he chose to live life carefree.
Just as Georgiana had, she believed that it was a way to avoid the serious nature of their home. If they could live in this freedom, we could ignore their mother and father, avoid the unpleasant speech that often took place in the house.
“What is it, William? I can see that something is bothering you. Are you all right?” she asked him, as sensitively as she possibly could.
“Yes, I suppose,” he said, not meeting her gaze.
They were seated in the parlour and William had come in from having been with their father in town.
“You appear as though you wish to talk about something,” she observed.
“I suppose I do. And…and if I tell you this thing, you must promise me that you will not assume the worst about me,” William said.
“I would never assume the worst about you, William. You are my brother and I want only to think well of you,” she said.
“But this is a very…this is not something that Mother or Father are ever to hear, do you understand?” he asked.
“I do. I promise you, William. I shall honour your secret,” she said.
“All right, then. I know that you are very upset about Miss Smithfield leaving,” he began.
“Yes, I am,” she said, h
er voice somewhat stony at the mention of Rachel.
“Well, there is a reason that I have not said much on the matter,” he said.
“And what is that reason? I must confess that I have been wondering why my family is not in the least worried about her,” Georgiana said.
“I know, I know. But, you must understand, I am worried that I will be seen as a villain if I speak openly about what I am going to share with you,” he said.
“Then just come out with it,” she said.
“Fine. I thought, for a time, that I might be in love with her. With Rachel Smithfield,” he said.
“You did?” she asked, as if she was not already well aware.
“I did,” he said. “But you do not seem surprised.”
“I am not. She is lovely. Just because it is not what might be considered acceptable does not mean I would be shocked. Rachel has been a good friend of mine. That, to many people, would be shocking,” she said.
“True enough, I suppose,” he said.
“But you love her?” Georgiana asked.
“I believe I did,” he said.
Finally, he had confessed. Finally, he had told her the truth about how his heart burned for Rachel.
She had known about it all along, but this was the first time that William was being honest about it.
It made her wonder. Was he hiding anything more? And now that she knew that he had feelings for Rachel, now that he had admitted to it, was he going to tell her anything else?
Perhaps, William was the guilty party. Perhaps, he was the one who sent her away, because of his unrequited love. If he had been angry enough to send her away, it would explain everything.
But Georgiana did not want to bring that up. He had only just opened up to her about these feelings and she wondered if it would be rushing matters if she asked him to tell her more.
“Why have you decided to tell me this? And why now?” she asked him.
“I cannot say. Perhaps because it was weighing on me? After all, she means so much to me and it is painful to know that she is simply gone,” he said.
“You know nothing of her whereabouts?” Georgiana asked.
“Nothing. She made it clear to me. I told her that I cared for her, that I wanted her to be in my life always. But she would never love me. She told me as much,” he said.
“I am sorry. You must have been very sad to learn that,” Georgiana said.
“Angry, more like,” he said.
“Oh? You were angry?” Georgiana asked, wondering if he was going to reveal something new now.
“I was. I never said or did anything. I just accepted it,” he said.
“Did you do anything to make her leave? In your anger, did you send her away?” Georgiana asked.
He looked at her with irritation.
“Nothing. Why would you even ask me that? I am trying to tell you something and you turn it around to that? You must stop thinking of yourself as some sort of investigator. You would be far better off just forgetting about this whole matter. Let it go,” he said.
His comment was painful. Why would he accuse her of that?
It was not as though she believed herself to be an investigator. She was simply trying to help Rachel.
She wondered how he knew. Was he only referring to the fact that she had enlisted the help of Inspector Brock? Or was he referring to the fact that she had been wandering around, trying to investigate on her own?
Either way, she was unhappy. She didn’t like the fact that William was talking to her that way. Nor did she care for the fact that he was not taking her seriously.
“I do not understand you,” Georgiana said.
“Nor I you. What of it?” he asked.
“You say that you care for her, love her even. And yet, she has vanished. You have done nothing. You mock me for trying to learn what has happened to her. You pretend that you know nothing at all about her. How can you reconcile those things?” she asked.
William shrugged. He didn’t seem to care either way. It was wrong and it was confusing to Georgiana.
She simply couldn’t understand why he would be so flippant. If he really did care about her, wouldn’t he want to make sure that she was safe?
Instead, he was ignoring matters.
“She rejected me. Why should I be worried for her? What does it matter?” he asked.
Georgiana tried to interpret his words.
William was being cold and aloof, much like their mother often was. But she could not figure out if he was trying to hide something or if he was still hurt.
Was there something darker at work?
It certainly appeared to her that he was trying to avoid Georgiana learning anything regarding the truth.
“William, please speak to me. I do not know what it is that you are trying to tell me,” she said.
“Nothing that matters. Nothing at all. I only wanted you to know that I cared for her. Because you are constantly going on about it, I thought you should know,” he said.
“I do not believe you. You would not have sat down with me to tell me these things just so that you could get them off your chest. What is it about Rachel that has you coming to me and confiding in me?” she asked.
“I…I simply wondered if you know where she is at,” he said.
Georgiana gave nothing away. She had not expected his question, but she would not allow him to see it in her face, to know that she did.
“What do you mean? I have been doing everything I can to find her,” Georgiana said.
“I know you said that, but I thought that maybe you found her by now,” he said.
“Why would you care? You said that she is not important to you,” Georgiana said.
“That does not mean I do not wish to know that she is safe. I am hoping to learn whether or not she is all right. Is there something wrong with that?” he asked.
More than ever, she was growing suspicious of her brother.
Georgiana couldn’t be sure, but she was starting to feel that he wanted to learn from her where Rachel was because, perhaps, he meant to find her himself.
Why would he need to go and find Rachel? What did he want from her? Was he going to threaten her all over again? Was he going to try and leave her a note at her home this time?
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“Like what?” she replied.
“Like I have ill intentions. I told you, I just want to know if she is all right,” he said.
“I thought you just told me it does not matter. She rejected you. You do not care,” she reminded him.
He glared at her for a moment.
“I was angry at her, but that does not mean that I want her in harm’s way. I just wanted to make certain that she is all right, that she is doing well,” he said.