He looked up, searching for evidence of life. But other than the reflection of the sunset winking in the top windows, the house showed no sign of it.
Perhaps it was for the best that the house was empty. What would he have said to her if she’d been there?
Was she happy? Or had that freedom of spirit, that fire, been doused by the cold waters of reality?
Would there ever be a woman to measure up to her?
Light footsteps approached, and he hunched his shoulders and stared straight ahead as if to render himself invisible.
A hand touched his arm, and a female voice spoke. “It is you! I thought as much.”
Clad in a scarlet, fur-trimmed jacket, her blonde hair peeking out from beneath her bonnet, Anne Pelham stood out among the harsh winter landscape.
He issued a bow. “Mrs. Pelham.”
“I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “London is frightfully dull this time of year, but there’s nothing to compare to excellent company.”
“You’re too kind,” he said. “But if you dislike London, why do you stay? Don’t you have a house in the country?”
“Harold is here,” she said, “and I’d rather be by his side.” She blushed and smiled, the epitome of the well-satisfied and well-loved wife. Harold Pelham was, indeed, a lucky bastard.
“Tomorrow, I stake my claim on him,” she continued, “and we leave for Hertfordshire.”
“Then I count myself fortunate, having seen you today,” he said. “It seems as if all houses in London are empty.”
“All, or just one?” she asked, her gaze lingering on the townhouse before them. “Most houses on this street are occupied.”
“I suppose they are.”
“But the one in which you have a particular interest is not.”
She nodded toward the Hart residence.
“It’s been unoccupied for a month,” she said. “Mr. Hart is in the country with his new wife.”
“He’s married?”
“Just last month. A rather hasty affair, so I heard, and a most unsuitable woman.”
“And…the rest of the family?”
“Miss Hart’s in Bath,” she said. “She’s taking the waters for her health.”
“I didn’t know Miss Dorothea was unwell.”
“No, I meant Delilah.”
“Oh,” he said. “Lady Tipton.”
“Oh, good lord!” She cried. “You’ve not heard?” She shook her head. “I suppose being half a world away, the news didn’t reach you. The marriage never took place.”
Glendarron was hardly half a world away.
“What happened?” he asked. “Did she break off their engagement?”
“No, he did. The night before the wedding.” She lowered her voice, “Her dowry never materialized. Apparently, she invested the money—rather unwisely, it seems.”
“Invested it?”
“I don’t know the particulars, but Harold overheard mention of it in Whites. I’ll never understand why gentlemen accuse ladies of idle tattle when they’re equally at fault. But if men believe that gossip over brandy in a smoke-filled clubroom is akin to an intellectual conversation, then who am I to shatter their illusions?”
“And Mr. Pelham?”
“My husband knows better than to discuss his business openly. His ability to keep an open ear among so many loose tongues, serves him well.”
“And he trusts you with the secrets revealed in Whites?” Fraser asked.
She smiled. “There was little to relate other than the disappearance of twenty thousand pounds.”
He froze. “How much did you say?”
“Twenty thousand,” she said. “If you ask me, Delilah was at liberty to do what she wanted with her fortune, and if Sir Thomas spurned her as a result, then she’s well rid of him.”
Twenty thousand! It couldn’t be a coincidence.
She curled her lip into a sneer. “Sir Thomas is making a speedy recovery from his ordeal.”
“How so?”
“He’s been seen paying compliments to Lady Atalanta Grey, who’s still in town,” she said. “I wish him well in his endeavors. If he prefers a soulless debutante, then he never deserved my friend.”
“The cad!” Fraser cried. “Why didn’t Hart challenge him?”
“Other than soundly ejecting Sir Thomas from his home, he did very little.”
Fraser shook his head. “If I were her, I…”
“You’d what?” she asked. “Run after him through the streets of London, beg his hand, and further your humiliation?”
“He deserves a bloody good thrashing!”
“And you’re the one to do it?”
“If I must,” he said. “If there is none other to fight for her.”
She raised her eyebrows at his vehemence.
“Tipton must be brought to justice,” he said.
“I agree,” she replied, “but society would argue that he acted within his rights. A marriage is like a business agreement, with obligations and expectations on both sides, and the marriage settlement he was expecting never materialized.”
“Surely, you don’t see Miss Hart as a commodity, who should come with payment to compensate for the obligation of keeping her?”
“Of course not,” she said, “but I don’t make the rules of our world. Besides, I believe she only wishes for peace, given her condition.”
“Is something wrong with Miss Delilah’s health?”
She blushed and shook her head. “I’ve said too much. She’s in perfect health but needs a little rest after a trying few weeks. Would you be so good as to escort me home?”
He held out his arm. She took it, and they set off. Before they reached the end of the street, he turned and took a final look at the Hart townhouse.
“I should visit her,” he said.
“Please, you mustn’t. I doubt you’d be welcome, and she’s not accepting visitors.”
“Why not?”
She hesitated. “Dorothea is very particular about guests.”
“That doesn’t sound very accommodating.”
She turned her head away, but not before he caught the blush on her cheeks.
“Something’s the matter,” he said. “Isn’t it? If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out myself.”
She let out a sigh. “Harold wouldn’t want me to say anything, but neither do I wish to hear you’ve been tattling in Whites and arousing suspicion. If I tell you, will you swear never to breathe a word?”
“I swear.”
She cast her gaze about the street, as if expecting to see eavesdroppers hanging out of every window, then she lowered her voice.
“Delilah is with child.”
“She’s what?”
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed. “She’s to remain in Bath with Dorothea until her confinement is over.”
Dear Lord! Had Sir Thomas taken advantage of her before abandoning her?
Hypocrite…
Hadn’t Fraser done exactly that?
“And—the father?” he asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?