An Earl To Save Her Reputation. Laura Martin

was spinning, or that was how it seemed to Anna. Everything in the room had gone blurry and she felt herself stagger uncoordinatedly a few steps to one side. Before she could get her panic under control strong arms had looped around her waist and were guiding her back to the armchair, pressing her firmly, insistently, into the seat.

      ‘Take deep, slow breaths.’ Lord Edgerton’s voice was quiet and calm in her ear.

      Silently Anna cursed. Two minutes later and Lord Edgerton would have left. Now there would be questions, enquiries about her health, probably even a follow-up visit. At least the rules of politeness meant he would not enquire what was in the package.

      ‘What on earth is in that package?’ Lord Edgerton murmured, more to himself than to her. ‘That’s it, long, deep breaths, you’ll feel recovered in a moment.’

      Thankfully he didn’t seem inclined to call for a servant or her cousin to come and attend her; he seemed perfectly content to deal with this himself. Anna had to admire a man who could deal calmly with a panicking near-stranger—most would just step back and convince themselves it wasn’t their problem.

      Opening her eyes, she saw the room had come back into focus. In front of her she could see her hands gripping the arms of the chair so firmly her knuckles had turned white, and a few feet further away was the offending package.

      ‘Have some tea,’ Lord Edgerton suggested, backing away and sitting down in the other armchair, his demeanour remarkably relaxed.

      She declined with a shake of her head. The teacup would only rattle in the saucer and give away quite how discomposed she was, if the attack of panic hadn’t done that enough already.

      ‘Tell me it is none of my concern,’ Lord Edgerton said, his eyes fixed on hers, ‘but what could be so awful about this package on the table?’

      ‘It is none of your concern,’ Anna said, trying to inject some haughtiness into her voice, but failing miserably—the squeak that came forth from her mouth was more adolescent girl than woman of the world.

      Lord Edgerton actually grinned. ‘The gossips say you are unreadable, Lady Fortescue. Unreadable and superior, but I think they’ve got you all wrong. Right now I can read you as easily as I read the morning papers.’ He paused, catching her eye and holding it until Anna was forced to look away. ‘You’re petrified of whatever is inside that box.’

      Slowly she inclined her head; there was no point denying it. He’d witnessed her reaction first-hand.

      ‘What do you think is inside?’

      ‘Truly, I have no idea,’ she said honestly. It could be a bloodied rag, a pile of excrement, a particularly graphic and threatening letter. All of these things she’d received in similar packages over the last few weeks. ‘But it won’t be anything pleasant.’

      ‘There’s no markings to say where or who it is from. How can you be so sure it will be something unpleasant?’

      Instead of answering Anna stood, steeling herself mentally before raising her hands and starting to open the package. Her fingers were shaking so badly that she fumbled with the string that held the box closed. Quickly Lord Edgerton rose to his feet and placed a cool hand on top of hers, stilling her fingers.

      ‘Allow me,’ he said, not waiting for her to reply before unfastening the string and opening the box.

      The sharp inhalation of surprise told Anna that he hadn’t been prepared for whatever was inside. She stepped forward, but Lord Edgerton moved in front of her, blocking her view. As he raised his hands to her arms she flinched, as she always did whenever anyone touched her, but he gripped her gently but insistently, moving her away from the table.

      ‘What was inside?’ Anna asked.

      ‘A dead animal.’

      Anna felt the bile rise up in her throat. The vendetta against her was escalating. In a few short weeks it had gone from threatening letters to a dead animal in a box.

      ‘What sort of animal?’

      ‘A cat, I think.’

      Anna stiffened, torn between breaking free from Lord Edgerton’s grip and seeing for herself, and burying her head in his shoulder and crying for the animal she knew instinctively was in that box.

      ‘A ginger cat? Small?’

      Lord Edgerton nodded. ‘Was it yours?’

      Morosely Anna nodded. Beatrice had bought her the animal soon after Anna had come to live in London. It had been her younger cousin’s attempt to brighten Anna’s days and in a strange and unexpected way it had worked. At least until a few days ago when the lovely creature had gone missing.

      Lord Edgerton turned to her, his face fixed in an expression of determination. ‘You need to tell me what is going on here.’

      She needed to do nothing of the sort. He was little more than a stranger, albeit a chivalrous one. For a moment she avoided his eyes, trying to work out exactly what she could say to make Lord Edgerton go away and forget what he had seen here. It was a deep instinct, this need to deal with her problems with no help from anyone else. For so long she’d been on her own—even through her marriages she’d never found a true companion, someone to share the difficulties of daily life with.

      ‘I think you should leave,’ Anna said quietly, knowing he would protest, but trying all the same.

      ‘Not a chance.’

      ‘This really is none of your concern.’

      ‘Would you rather I called your uncle in here? Or your cousin?’

      Silently Anna shook her head.

      ‘I thought not. You haven’t told them, have you?’ he asked.

      ‘There is no need. I am dealing with it.’

      ‘You’ve had similar packages before?’

      Closing her eyes for a moment, Anna assessed her options. Either she could confide a little in Lord Edgerton, just enough to satisfy his curiosity, or she could insist he leave and risk him informing her uncle of what was happening.

      ‘Can we go for a walk?’ she asked, eyeing the package from a distance.

      ‘Of course. What would you like done with the box?’

      Anna felt the tears building in her eyes. Although she’d always insisted she wasn’t an animal lover, her little cat had brought her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty.

      ‘Perhaps you would like to bury the cat discreetly?’

      Before she could answer he picked up the box, folded the lid over to shield the dead animal from her eyes and tucked it under his arm.

      ‘I will meet you on the front steps.’

      Anna watched in amazement as he left the room, crossed the hallway and quickly descended the stairs to the basement, no doubt in search of a servant to help him with whatever it was he had in mind. Although she prized her independence, in this situation it was rather pleasant to have someone else take charge and make the decisions.

      * * *

      Lady Fortescue had just emerged into the hallway when Harry came striding up the stairs from the basement kitchen, taking them two at a time. He’d found a footman and paid him a generous sum to store the package somewhere discreet, warning the man against looking inside. To ensure he would comply, Harry had tied the string in a complicated knot which meant he would know if it had been tampered with. Later he would organise for the box to be buried in the garden and for the gardener to mark the spot with a rose or some other flower of Lady Fortescue’s choice.

      ‘Shall we take a walk to the park?’ he suggested, offering Lady Fortescue his arm.

      She nodded, her face still ashen from the surprise of finding out what was in the parcel.

      They left the house and walked in silence for a few minutes, Harry