the floor of his room, later, wondering how to proceed. It was just possible, he supposed, that her grandfather had taken a turn for the worse and couldn’t stir out of doors. He might have some genuine illness for which he was seeking treatment in Bath, rather than merely coming here to gossip with his cronies.
He’d simply have to wait and see if the old fellow recovered. He wasn’t yet on familiar enough terms with Miss Hutton to just call upon her and enquire after her grandfather’s health. Not taking into account the way Colonel Hutton had taken an instant and irrational dislike to him.
* * *
‘Shall I snoop about a bit, sir,’ Dawkins asked on the second morning he returned from the Pump Room without seeing her, ‘and see what I can find out? After all, that’s why Their Lordships sent me down here. To be an extra pair of eyes.’
‘No.’ The very idea of letting someone spy on Miss Hutton revolted him. ‘I will ask some of her acquaintance, openly, what they know of her whereabouts.’
‘Ah, yes, playing the role of smitten suitor. Very clever.’
No, it wasn’t clever. It was just...the obvious course to take.
* * *
The next day, when he attended the Pump Room and joined the queue to purchase a cup of the disgusting water that was supposed to be helping restore him to health, he spotted Lady Mainwaring. She would be the perfect person to approach, since he’d met her first in Miss Hutton’s company. If anyone knew what was going on in the Hutton household, it was likely to be her.
‘Good morning, my lady,’ he said, sweeping her a bow.
‘Good morning Captain,’ she replied, according him a nod, rather than a curtsy.
‘I was wondering if you knew how Colonel Hutton is faring?’
‘Colonel Hutton?’ She gave an arch smile. ‘I would have thought your interest was in his granddaughter.’
‘Yes. Well...but...it’s just I haven’t seen either of them for a day or two. So I assumed he had taken a turn for the worse.’
She pursed her lips. ‘His temper certainly has. According to Mrs Hutchens, who lives just across the way from his lodgings, he was in a rare taking. Ordered his bags packed and his horses put to.’
‘Horses?’
‘Yes. He’s gone home. Cancelled the lease on his lodgings and asked for his money back. Quite the commotion, there was, with the leasing agent, over that, since the agent refused to reimburse him a single penny.’
He wondered how on earth the woman knew such things. Thought it best not to ask. But to just be grateful she did.
‘Home, to Dorset?’
Lady Mainwaring’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Yes. My goodness, it didn’t take you long to discover where Miss Hutton hales from, did it?’
Well, no, but then he’d known it before he’d even set foot in Bath. Not that he was fool enough to correct Lady Mainwaring’s assumption.
‘Did your friend happen to find out why they left?’
She shook her head. ‘You would think, with that parade-ground voice of his, that she would have been able to make out just the gist of it, wouldn’t you? But even the cook he hired with the house hadn’t been able to discover why they all left so suddenly. But then by the time she came into work on Thursday morning, the agent was there and the battle in full swing.’
Thursday morning. She’d left Bath the very day after the concert.
Was it a coincidence? Or could it be a result of his own behaviour? Could someone have seen him holding hands with her and told her grandfather?
That was the trouble with making a daring move. The rewards could be great, but sometimes the risks meant the end result could be catastrophic.
Though, in this case, he could see a way to come about. He’d simply adapt the plans Rawcliffe and Becconsall had drawn up. They’d instructed him to cajole Miss Hutton into inviting him to spend Christmas with her at Lesser Peeving. Instead, he would move his pursuit of Miss Hutton to the next level by going down to Peacombe, a little seaside town which boasted a hotel or two. And from where he could beat a path to her door.
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