Enticing An Earl

Part 12

The next day, party of five left London for the Earl of Cambridge's country seat. George, Emma and Lady Hamilton were seated inside one carriage whereas Brandon and William followed on horseback. Their trunks and personal servants were following in another carriage. Max was to stay in London and continue the search for Lady Malcolm.

George wanted to stay behind and search for her mother. She finally felt strong enough to stand on her own two feet and felt that she was being robbed of the chance to make inquiries. Max had convinced her that Lady Malcolm would want her to be safe and she would be safe in the country. He promised to write everyday to inform her of the progress and to ask her if she thought some other avenue should be covered. Her brain had agreed with her friend but her heart had rebelled at the idea.

George wanted to stay away from the Earl of Cambridge, he had managed to make her feel things that no man had in her twenty five years. She didn’t know if she trusted herself in his company. Leaving London in his company felt like she was being disloyal to her mother. It was almost as if she was going to trap a man while her mother was missing. George felt like a opportunity grasping witch, someone exactly like Lady Sarah.

As George was too shy to share her feelings with anyone, no one understood her hesitation to leave London. In the end, she stopped coming up with small excuses and gave up. The journey was quickly planned so that the party would reach their destination within a day.

It was decided that only two stops would be made, so that they could complete their journey in less time and the chances of something happening could be decreased. Before leaving, George gave Max strict instructions on what to do if he got any lead concerning her mother's kidnapper or her father's murderer.

"You won't follow them on your own if you find them, do you understand? Don't try to be a hero, because you are not one. Observe and inform a bow street runner, you let police handle the criminals. If you find something useful, you'll write to me immediately. I don't care if it’s something a young lady should not hear. There's no need to protect me, I'm a grown woman who can take care of herself. Now repeat my instructions so I know you heard."

The determination on George's face was absolutely ferocious. Upon hearing her last order, the Duke of Lancaster just rolled his eyes.

"Okay mother dear! I heard everything you said and I will see you soon." Max started pushing George towards a waiting carriage. He knew that she was stalling.

"I knew that you won't take me seriously, you'll kill yourself one day because of your foolishness and I'll have to clean the mess you leave behind." George replied sharply, while digging her heels in so that she could no longer be pushed.

"I'll look after myself dear, just look after yourself and stay away from trouble. I will follow your instructions, at least I promise to try." Max tried to calm George further with promises that everyone including George knew that he would not keep. After saying his goodbyes to others, he finally turned to William.

"You'll have to be attentive. That girl is so brave that it almost feels like stupidity. If she thinks that putting her life in danger can save Lady Malcolm, she will do it. You will have to work extra hard to protect this one." Max knew his childhood friend therefore he knew that the need to keep an eye on George was absolute.

"Keeping an eye on her would have been easier with you there, you could keep her company so that she doesn't do something really stupid." William was still uncomfortable with Brandon being so near his sister and wanted to leave him in London, as far away from Emma as possible. He needed Max to be the one to travel with them to London.

"Get yourself together man, that snake filled your head with poison towards your own best friend. Brandon would never do anything to hurt you or Emma. Only George needs your protection. Can you to do your duty?" Max worried that Brandon was in love with Emma and William was so worried about his sister that the two of them would be the worst people to look after George at the moment who could be rather secretive when she wanted to be.

"Of course I can, I'll try to make sure that no harm comes to her. You just concentrate on solving the mystery here. We can get out of this mess quickly if we catch the killer sooner rather than later." William despite his assurances was still thinking of Brandon leaving his sister alone when everything goes back to normal, he wasn't thinking of George at all.

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They had been traveling since early morning and by late evening the ladies were feeling cranky because of being in a cramped carriage all day. They were hungry and needed to relieve themselves. The carriage stopped at the three hares. It was a famous establishment among nobles as the food served was always fresh and the rooms were elegantly furnished. As they sat for food in the dining hall, the party met three families that it was familiar with. Everyone knew about the tragedy and offered their condolences to George. When they inquired of her mother, she had no answer except that everyone was searching for her.

George knew that these families didn’t care for her or her mother, they were just looking for gossip fodder. It was impossible to ignore them and their pitying looks. She knew they thought that her mother had abandoned her and were unwilling to hear any different. She wanted to scream at them, to throw a tantrum but she knew that it would be useless.

After lunch Lady Hamilton decided that she needed some rest before the journey could be continued, Emma followed her to make sure that her mother was comfortable. Brandon sat with the three hares owner, asking everything about running and owning an inn. George was sure that he would start investing in inns soon, if the profit proved to be just right.

George wanted to stretch her legs. She decided to walk outside the inn and as she was about to leave, William offered to escort her outside. Emma walked into the dining room as they were about to walk out and decided to sit down next to Brandon. George could feel William’s reluctance to leave his sister alone and offered him to stay by the door so that he could keep an eye on both of them.

When George saw her cousin Stanley Beckham, her steps flattered. As she could be seen from the inn and there was a respectable distance between them, William stayed where he was. Stanley's smile was lascivious and made her feel like she was having a lovers tryst, that was the kind of person he was. He made you feel dirty and made your skin crawl.

"Greetings cousin! I see that you are leaving London, is everything fine? Do you need my help for anything? After all we are family." The way Stanley said it implied that maybe we were more than we appeared to be. George looked at William for assistance but he had his eyes fixed on his sister.

"Yes. Lady Hamilton has been kind enough to take me under her wing, I was leaving with her." George replied in clipped tone, the kind that stopped conversation but Stanley continued regardless.

"Ah! You should come with me. After all, family is all you have during hard times." The smile he gave was oily and not to be trusted. George knew that she would have to move away before the situation progressed to more then just suggestive words.

"I'm fine cousin, I will ask you if I need your help." George turned away so that nothing more could be said.

George’s anger grew as she walked towards William because he was not helpful when dealing with her cousin. He kept his eyes on Brandon and Emma all the time, so she had no one to turn to. He had made promises to protect her in London, he moved her from the city where she was close to her mother and promised her that country was safer. He asked her repeatedly to trust him, to leave everything in his hands. If this was how he planned to protect her, then she placed her trust in the wrong man. By the time they got into the carriage to continue their journey, George wished that she had never met William or that he would go away somehow.

The gods were listening at the exact same moment and she got her wish when William's horse threw him.