Harriett (29 page)

Harriett’s stared at the sheer possessiveness written on his
face. “But you have work to do,” she protested weakly. “I cannot
ask you to escort me everywhere I go. You need to catch the
killer.”

“
I know Harriett, but it is my priority now to keep you safe.
If I am unable to escort you because of work commitments, I am
going to make sure that Isaac, Detective Brown, or one of the other
men in my team are here for you. Nobody is going to be able to get
to you without having to wade through us first.”

Words
failed her. His promise was written in his eyes. The steady green
gaze was filled with gentle but determined intent. She didn’t know
what to say to him. ‘Thank you’ seemed so weak and feeble in the
wake of such a strong declaration.

Her
heart hammered in her throat as his head slowly lowered toward
hers. The meagre light from the gas lights gave the room a honeyed
glow that seemed to wrap around them. His large, warm palm slowly
slid along her cheek to cup the back of her head. The firm brush of
his lips against hers made her jump and she looked up at the tender
reassurance in his eyes. He paused and rested his forehead against
hers for a moment while he studied her for any sign of fear or
anxiety. The relief that swept through him when he saw her calm
acceptance was all he needed to see and he slowly dipped his head
again.

She
watched his eyes close a second before his lips captured hers.
Curiosity refused to allow her to draw away; desire made her sit
perfectly still beneath the onslaught of his kiss. She began to
tremble when his lips pressed more firmly on hers. The slightest of
pressures eased her mouth open slightly and drew them closer
together. She had no idea what came next, and didn’t even want to
think about this moment drawing to an end. Instead, she tipped her
head back to allow him greater access and moaned as he immediately
responded to her acceptance.

Mark
took advantage of her compliance and held her head still while he
laid claim to her senses. He could feel the fine tremors that swept
through her but was fairly certain that it wasn’t cold or fear.
Passion hovered over them and he knew that it wouldn’t take much
before it swept both of them away completely. His body began to
ache uncomfortably but he couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow himself to
deepen the kiss the way he wanted to. It was enough that she had
allowed him to draw so close, so soon in their rather unusual
courtship. He tipped his head this way and that as he sipped from
her mouth.

Harriett
almost cried out loud when his mouth eventually lifted. It took her
several moments before she became aware of the metallic rattle of
keys in the door and could do no more than stare at him. He took
one of the last few moments they were alone to rest his forehead
against hers and kiss the tip of her nose. “Are you
alright?”

She
nodded jerkily. For the life of her she couldn’t have spoken. She
felt certain that she had written somewhere what she had just done
and couldn’t seem to gather her wits about her, even when Babette
appeared in the doorway.

“
Are you two alright?”

Mark
made no attempt to draw away from her. He sat a little too close to
her than was usual, but didn’t bother to offer either woman any
excuse.

“
We are fine. We were just making plans to keep Harriett safe
over the next few weeks while I uncover what is going on in Tipton
Hollow.” He took a moment to explain what had happened with the
carriage and measured the horror on Babette’s face.

“
I am afraid that Harriett has to have an escort wherever she
goes now. Nobody is to have any more séances for the time being. I
have to tell you that I think that Madame Humphries and Miss
Hepplethwaite are criminals who are wanted by Scotland Yard. I have
seen enough of the contents of their bag tonight to strongly
suspect that they are no more clairvoyant than I am, but I have yet
to catch them red handed, so to speak. Until I do, we have to
consider them a threat to Harriett’s safety as well. Unfortunately,
when we returned to Beatrice’s house, we now have a short-list of
potential candidates who may be involved with the incident tonight
with the carriage.”

“
Could it not be somebody else with a grudge or something?”
Henrietta asked with a frown. “Why does it have to be someone from
the Psychic Circle?”

“
Because that is where the threats come from and the bodies
are all connected with the circle. You may be right in that the
carriage could be a separate issue, but it seems like an awful lot
of time and trouble for someone to go to.”

He
didn’t expand on the fact that the carriage had turned up in Great
Tipton. At the time, he and Isaac had just left Madame Humphries’
house, and were on their way to Miss Hepplethwaite’s property
nearly a mile away. It wasn’t feasible that either woman could have
been anywhere near the black carriage.

If he
took into account everything that he had garnered so far, he had
only one potential suspect left who wasn’t around when the carriage
was.

Miss
Smethwick.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

He just
had no idea yet how she would get hold of a carriage and horse, or
why she was so interested in the investigation, or wanted to kill
Harriett. The wizened old spinster looked like the last person who
would turn to murder, but he knew from professional experience that
he couldn’t discount anyone, no matter how old they
were.

“
I can walk with Harriett whenever she needs to go anywhere,
that’s not a problem,” Babette offered. Her eyes glowed with
outrage that anyone would dare threaten one of her family and Mark
almost groaned at the militant gleam in his mother’s
eyes.

“
She is one of us now that she is soon to be one of the
family. It is down to all of us to protect her.”

“
I need you to let me get my job done, mother. I am going to
be the one who escorts her everywhere. If the killer does make
themselves known, neither of you are in a position to arrest them.”
This had the desired effect and both ladies lapsed into disgruntled
silence. Somehow Mark just knew that they wouldn’t leave it at
that. His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of the
look they shared.

He
mentally shook his head and heaved a sigh. “I am going to be here
first thing in the morning,” he glanced at Harriett enquiringly,
“say eight thirty? I will escort you to the tea shop and will be
back to escort you home, at what time?”

“
I leave at five o’clock when the shop shuts.”

“
Anywhere else you need to go will have to wait for the time
being. Right now, I have to consider that the threat is directly
toward Harriett and not yourself, Babette, so you are safe to go
about your business, just be careful. Don’t go out at night unless
you absolutely have to. If you do go out, make sure that you take
Charles with you and he is available to collect you when you are
ready to return home.”

He
glanced at Harriett and sighed. He knew that if anyone was likely
to sneak off on a quick trip anywhere it was going to be her, but
could see no way of being able to protect her during those trips
unless he dogged her every footstep. It was imperative to everyone
that he get this investigation completed as soon as possible. The
quicker the killer was brought to justice, the sooner he and
Harriett could get on with their future together.

Harriett
felt strangely overwhelmed by the concern on everyone’s faces. She
had never really considered just how serious, or precarious, her
situation was before. Although she had been present at the scene of
the two recent deaths, she had never really felt as though they had
any direct association to her. Now she knew differently, and was
scared witless. However, although she was very grateful for Mark’s
kind offer of protection, she couldn’t help but want more of the
man beside her rather than the police officer, especially after his
kisses tonight.

“
I will stay in the tea shop throughout the day. I don’t need
to leave until the shop shuts, and I am sure that Uncle Charles
will pop out for anything we need throughout the day.”

“
I will go with you if you need to go out in the
evening.”

“
But you have work to do. It is inevitable that you cannot be
here all of the time,” she protested.

“
I am going to be here as much as I can be. It is important
now that I get this investigation moving a lot more quickly, but my
work can stop in an evening to enable me to be free to take you
wherever you need to go,” Mark argued.

He
mentally planned a second early morning visit to the redoubtable
Miss Smethwick. This time though, he was going to take her to the
station if she didn’t tell him everything he wanted to
know.

“
As I said to you earlier, if I cannot be here then I will
ensure that someone from my team will be able to take you where you
need to go.”

Harriett
nodded and felt strangely threatened by the concern on his
face.

As if he
sensed her fear, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He was aware of
the looks his mother and Babette threw at their clasped hands but
didn’t give a damn what they thought.

“
Just work with me on this Harriett, and I will keep you safe.
Nobody is going to harm you, darling.”

He
thought he heard someone say ‘aah’, but couldn’t be sure and didn’t
pay all that much attention. When his mother yawned, he glanced at
the time and was shocked to note that it was well past
midnight.

“
If you have to be up early in the morning, I suggest you get
some sleep,” he added ruefully and tugged Harriett upward as he
rose. “I am going to get mother home and then head off to bed. I
will see you first thing in the morning. Don’t leave home without
me,” he tipped her chin up and, in the shocked presence of their
mothers, dared to kiss her on her startled lips. He quickly said
goodnight and waved his delighted mother toward the
door.

Later
that night, Harriett lay in bed and listened to the chimes of the
clock on the mantle. Sleep eluded her. She knew that she would be
exhausted tomorrow. Although the tea shop was relatively civilised,
it was very busy all the time and she was going to be half asleep
on her feet if she didn’t get at least a few hours of rest.
Unfortunately, her mind wouldn’t close down and flipped from the
near-death brush with the carriage, to the wonderful sensations
Mark’s kisses brought forth.

The soft
click of a door broke the stillness of the night. She frowned into
the darkness. She was fairly certain that the noise wasn’t from
inside the house. Her heart began to beat loudly in her ears and
she pushed the bed covers off her legs. She crept quietly across
the room and eased the corner of the curtain aside so she could see
the street beneath the window. The gas lamps hadn’t been installed
on Daventry Street, and the lights situated on the main road
weren’t bright enough to eradicate the gloom, but she was still
able to see Babette scurry down the street.

Harriett
scowled at the time and wondered just where her aunt needed to go
at such an ungodly hour in the morning.

Was it
Babette, or had it been someone else?

She
swallowed loudly and moved quietly toward the door. As she stood at
the end of Babette’s empty bed her mind raced with the unanswered
questions that stole her last chance of getting any sleep at all
that night.

Harriett
paused beside the back door of the tea shop and watched Mark close
the gate to the small yard. Sometime during the night she must have
fallen asleep because she had woken up just after dawn feeling
tired and groggy. She had no idea what time Babette had returned
home, but had been surprised to find her aunt already at the
breakfast table with a hot cup of tea at her elbow seemingly
unaffected by her nocturnal journey.

“
Are you alright to stay here until I come back for you later
this afternoon?” Mark asked as he moved to stand before her in a
quiet corner of the yard. He could hear the clatter of pots and
pans from inside the busy kitchen as Charles prepared the cakes for
the day, but his attention was ensnared by the woman before him.
From the look of the dark shadows beneath her eyes she had managed
to get as much sleep as he had. His night had been plagued with
dreams of a wonderfully warm and vibrant Harriett in his arms,
intermingled with a deep fear that someone would come along and
snatch her away from him.

This
morning, although exhausted, he was driven by a desperate need that
clawed at him with talons that refused to relinquish their hold.
Ideally, he would have liked to have done nothing more than spend
the day beside her in her parlour, and share tea and anecdotes with
her. As it was, he had a murderer to unmask and fraudsters to
gather evidence on. The weight of his workload preyed on him, yet
he tipped his head down to hers and took advantage of being alone
with her.

Harriett
made no objection to his possessive behaviour, and merely melted
against him when he slid his arms around her waist and drew her
tighter against him. She copied what she did last night and tipped
her head back while she clung on to his jacket. With a groan, he
immediately deepened the kiss. It wasn’t a long possession, merely
a swift claim of ownership that left her slightly off balance and
gasping for breath when he finally did lift his head.