Page 110 of Miss Vincent’s Vow

Eugenia turned an even deeper shade of red.

Mr Frampton strode across the room, a stern expression on his face, and secured his wife’s arm in his own. “Come, my dear. It is time we took our leave.”

Eugenia didn’t object, and offered a subdued goodnight to the company.

Mr Wade pulled on the bell rope and a few moments later, a man who did not appear to be a regular employee of the hotel answered his summons.

Assuming him to be one of Mr Wade’s servants, Jethro would have thought no more about it if he had not caught the fierce glance that Mr Frampton shot at the newcomer, which the man acknowledged by the slightest nod of his head.

Jethro’s business experience had taught him never to overlook the details, and he stared full into the servant’s face. He seemed vaguely familiar, but Jethro couldn’t place him. Wait…maybe…was he the man who Cassandra had pointed out to him—the one who had been spying on her?

A glance at his wife confirmed his suspicion. She was glaring at the man with undisguised loathing.

What was he doing here? Was he an employee of Mr Wade’s? Had his host had the gall to spy on Cassandra? How dare he?

“Show the Framptons out, Legg.”

The servant nodded at Mr Wade and ushered Mr and Mrs Frampton out of the room. As soon as the door shut behind them, Jethro turned on Mr Wade.

“Does that man work for you?”

A crease appeared on Mr Wade’s brow. “You know him? Has he been troubling you?”

“He’s been harassing my wife, sneaking around after her, and asking questions, so she didn’t feel safe. And you are responsible for him? That Frampton might employ a spy to fuel him with information to weigh against us, I could resent, but in some measure understand. But you? What possible justification have you got for upsetting my wife?”

“I wanted to know what manner of man you were, and what kind of woman you had married.”

The man’s cool admission did nothing to assuage Jethro’s growing irritation. “There are civilised ways of discovering such things, Mr Wade. I had assumed such underhand tactics were the work of my rival, not my investor.”

For the first time, the older man appeared discomposed. “Forgive me, Mrs Hunt. I am too used to extracting information by less conventional methods for me to change my habits now. Legg’s brief was to be unobtrusive—to fill me in before I arrived in Weymouth.”

Cassandra acknowledged his apology with a bow of her head, but said nothing. Huh! His wife was more generous than he was. It would take more than a few words of regret to reconcile him to Mr Wade’s clandestine behaviour.

“Why did you think Legg was in Frampton’s employ?” the older man asked him.

“Because we saw them together, which struck us as rather incriminating evidence.”

Mr Wade’s mouth hardened. “I could see Frampton was discomposed when Legg came to show them out. I assumed he was wary, because my man had been less discreet than I directed. What you say puts a more sinister slant on his reaction. I won’t stand for disloyalty.”

Now, that was something Jethro could understand, as he felt the same way.

“I am not happy about this,” Mr Wade said, shaking his head, and talking as much to himself as to his guests. “Not happy at all. I will take him to task later. This is not the first time I’ve had my doubts about Legg, but he has proved so useful…”

The older man fell silent, raising his eyes to meet Jethro’s gaze, which had not wavered from his face.

The two men stared at each other for what felt like an age. Mr Wade’s expression gave away as little as Jethro’s own. His host was clearly as well-versed in the knack of keeping his thoughts close to his chest as he was himself.

However much Jethro might admire this skill in normal circumstances, just now, he wished Mr Wade was easier to read.

He had absolutely no idea what the man was going to do next.

Chapter 59

His apology did not dispel Cassandra’s doubts about Mr Wade. Whilst she believed he had not meant his man to upset her, she was by no means reconciled to the fact that he had employed him to spy on her in the first place. Mr Wade’s explanation was plausible, but she disapproved of his sneaky methods.

To think of all the uneasiness she had endured because Jethro’s investor had wanted information!

Still, it had provoked her husband to spend more time with her, so she supposed she could forgive Mr Wade’s impudence for that. It was harder to dismiss his earnest discussion with Mr Frampton from her mind, or the handshake between the two men she had observed.