An Icy Christmas Engagement (Christmas Matches of Worth #1)

Chapter Thirteen

Cedric looked up as Harrison walked into his office and immediately said, “I do not wish to be disturbed.”

“Marvellous,” Harrison drawled, his tone lacking much of its usual mirth. “But unfortunately, it seems a number of things will not go your way today.”

Cedric didn’t like the thought of that. He removed his spectacles and sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “What is it?”

Harrison marched up his desk and sank into the armchair across it with a heavy sigh. “We have another issue. This time, it was at our warehouse.”

Cedric’s countenance immediately darkened. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear right now. Between Ambrose’s offer, his proposal, and the fact that he hadn’t heard anything from Mr. Thatcher, Cedric was already nearing his breaking point. He didn’t want to del with another issue on top of it.

“There was a fire.”

“What?” He shot to his feet, fury taking control of every inch of his body within seconds. “Was anyone hurt? What is the damage?”

“No one was hurt,” Harrison said, far calmer than Cedric felt. But he could see the anger in his eyes. “They all got out in time. I do not know if whomever set the fire timed it well or we simply got lucky that there were no casualties. The goods, on the other hand…”

Cedric stalked over to his sideboard. He took one look at his array of spirits and wine and knew that no amount of alcohol would be able to quell the rage coursing through his body. So he stalked over to the window instead, staring out like he had done nearly every day since this damn mess began. But then his mind inevitable wandered to Lady Winterbourne and he quickly dismissed her as best as he could, not wanting to sour the thought of her with his rage .

At last, he whirled back to face Harrison, who was watching him carefully.

“Tell me if you know more than the fact that there was a fire,” Cedric demanded.

“If you think they left any clues behind, you’re out of luck,” Harrison said slowly. “They were quick and no one saw anything. As for the inventory, more than half the stock is gone. I do not think word has gotten out but it will be common knowledge by the end of his week, I’m sure. And our suppliers…well, I’m sure they will hear of this soon enough.”

Cedric could only sigh. He hated that fact. It was unending torture to know that his business was falling apart at the hands of an unknown saboteur and he could do nothing to stop it.

“At this rate, we will be out of business by the end of this month,” Harrison said.

“Those were just the words I needed to hear,” Cedric drawled.

Harrison shrugged. “We were both thinking it. And we are no closer to figuring out who is behind all of this.”

“Mr. Thatcher seems to have disappeared,” Cedric commented, crossing his arms.

“I hope that means that he is hard at work,” Harrison said. “Otherwise, we wasted far too much time already.”

That wasn’t something Cedric was willing to consider right now. He needed to cling to the smallest bit of hope that at least something was going right.

“Enough of the negative talk.” Harrison pulled himself to stand. “We should make our way to the warehouse and take stock of what has been ruined. The suppliers aren’t going to be happy.”

“We can fight that battle when I return to the office,” Cedric said. “I only hope I do not return to find Ambrose waiting for me.”

Harrison raised his brows, intrigued. “Have you heard from him since the dinner party? You still have not given him a response regarding his wish to marry his daughter after all.”

“I did not have to reach out to him because he came here.” Just thinking about the day served to upset him even further. “He told me that he’d heard of the missing shipments and came to offer two ships with a small grant to find crews for them both. Of course, that is all contingent on whether I agree to marry Miss Alice.”

“Oh, she is Miss Alice to you now? You’d always referred to her as ‘his daughter’. Does this mean you are actually considering it?”

Cedric didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed that Harrison’s natural inclination for levity returned with that glint in his eyes.

“I am not marrying her,” Cedric stated firmly.

“You say that with far less conviction in your voice than you did before.”

“That is because I have another crisis on my hand and I am appalled by your insistence on wasting my time wiht this conversation.”

Harrison raised his hands in defeat, smirking. “You were the one who brought it up. I am only here to point out that Ambrose’s offer is a very generous one. Marrying her would be a small price to pay for the benefit you would gain from having her as your wife.”

Cedric was already shaking his head. “I know better than to assume that Ambrose does not have other hidden agendas to be gained from our union.”

“Possibly union?” Harrison probed.

“Move on, Harrison,” Cedric said with a roll of his eyes.

Harrison chuckled as he turned towards the door. “You are an unmarried man, Cedric. That will have to change sooner or later.”

Cedric didn’t bother to answer. He had more pressing things to focus on. But he knew good and well that it was only a matter of time before Ambrose returned seeking Cedric’s answer, and there was no guarantee that he would be nice about it this time around.

He reached for his coat. It was the one he didn’t really like, but had no option to use since he’d left his other one with Lady Winterbourne.

Cedric let his mind stray to her. He wondered what she could be doing right now. He could imagine her sitting in her library with her ankles crossed and a book tucked into one hand and another one she was hoping to get to sitting on top of an end table nearby .

The thought brought a smile to his face.

***

“You seem lost in thought. May I guess what is on your mind?”

Caroline blinked, looking up from the book in her hand. Louisa was standing at the door of the modest library, a glass of red wine in her hand.

“You are starting early today,” Caroline commented.

Louisa smiled as she entered the room, draping herself across the chaise lounge next to Caroline’s armchair. “With my status as a spinster comes the ability to drink wine whenever I want. You know that.”

Caroline only smiled and returned her eyes to the book. A few seconds went by before Louisa spoke again.

“You clearly aren’t reading anything.”

Her eyes shot back up to her. “Why do you say that?”

“I have been watching you for the past few minutes and your eyes hardly moved at all. I know you to be a swift reader and yet you did not turn a single page.”

“Others would find it uncomfortable knowing they were being watched without their knowledge, you know.”

“What can I say?” Louisa said with a shrug. “I like to observe. And you have been quite interesting to observe as of late.”

Caroline frowned. She didn’t bother to point out that Louisa was right and simply closed her book, putting atop the other book she had confidently brought with her thinking she would finish her first. “In what way?”

“I can tell you’re thinking about something that is not within your usual train of thought. The Earl of Colenhurst, perhaps.”

Caroline held herself completely still, even when her heart skipped a beat. “Why would you assume that? I have not spoken about the earl since the day after Lady Maria’s ball.”

‘You did not have to,” Louisa said simply. When she caught Caroline’s incredulous look, she laughed and added, “And Lady York may have made mention of you running into him yesterday. ”

“Did she now?” Caroline was never good at hiding anything from Louisa. Her friend was far too perceptive and she knew it was a useless feat even as she made her attempt to school her expression. “Yes, we did. But it was no special affair. We only talked for a bit while they walked with us to the milliner.”

Louisa slowly sipped her wine, not taking her eyes off Caroline for a second. A bead of sweat ran down Caroline’s neck as she met her friend’s eyes.

“Is that what you would like for me to believe?” Louisa asked her.

“You need not believe me but it is the truth.”

“So you did not spend the past ten minutes thinking about Lord Colenhurst and blushing to yourself?”

“You were watching me for ten minutes?” Caroline gasped.

“I was not,” Louisa said, hiding her grin behind the rim of her glass. “But I do think you just gave yourself away.”

Caroline thinned her lips, getting to her feet. “You’re overthinking it,” she insisted. “I was not thinking about the earl and I do not think we have enough time to talk about this. We have to go to the orphanage.”

Louisa laughed, a clear indication to Caroline that nothing she’d just said was believed, but Caroline was just happy Louisa didn’t press the matter any further.

Lord Colenhurst was the only thing she could think about. On the one hand, it was alarming. She did not know this man nearly enough to be thinking about him as much as she did—even if it seemed as if he might have thrown all propriety away and kiss her right there in the street.

On the other hand, thinking about him was all the inspiration she needed. Caroline had churned out dozens of pages just this morning and had even wrote a rather intense scene between her main characters. At least it no longer felt like a block on her mind.

Louisa drained her glass and set the cup down before trailing Caroline out the door. She knew that Elizabeth was not home, visiting a friend, which meant they were not subject to incessant questions as they left. They decided to walk since it was a particularly sunny day and thus, not as cold as it had been lately, and conversation turned to what they would like to do with the orphans during this visit.

Caroline was happy to read to them again, since they seemed to like that before. She’d even sent over a few books since her last visit, so she knew she would have a good spread to choose from when she arrived.

Mrs. Henry was already waiting for them on the doorstep and happily ushered them inside. Just like last time, all the children were engaged in some activity or other when they entered, but abandoned it all when Caroline and Louisa walked in.

“Read for us! Read for us please!”

Caroline smiled at the few children who pleaded with her to read, a few of them already bringing the books they would like her to read.

Caroline settled into the same worn chair she had last time and reached for the first book. Her voice filled the wide space, rising and falling to give life to the story, bolstered by the children’s rapt attention.

Then a prickle shot through her mind. It felt as if she was being watched.

Caroline trailed off for a moment, her eyes darting to the window closest to her. No one was there. The other windows were empty as well. There was no indication that there was anyone peeping in.

Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling. She quickly picked back up her pace, trying not to show that she felt uneasy. But the feeling would not go away and no amount of glances at the window helped chase it away.