Page 46 of A Misguided Devotion

“No. Not a trespasser, because they would not prowl around the grounds smoking.”

William cocked his head back. “Smoking?”

“Yes, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen them. I believed I knew who they were…”

Something did not add up. “You’ve observed this smoker before and told nobody, so I assume you don’t see them as a threat, and yet on this occasion, you needed to share your suspicions with Mr Barrington under cover of night?”

“You make it sound so shocking, being alone with Hugh in the dark, but it’s no more scandalous than being here with you.”

Which did nothing to reassure him. He might wish to protect her as he would his sisters, but he couldn’t afford to forget that he did not have that right. Kitty was not part of his family.

“I still don’t understand why you sought Mr Barrington.”

“I didn’t. It was Laura I wanted to speak to, not her father. It was quite by chance that Hugh found me outside his daughter’s bedroom.”

On Kitty’s side, maybe, but William was not so sure about him. What was the man doing prowling around the house in the small hours of the night?

“That still doesn’t account for why you needed to talk to Miss Barrington so urgently. Why couldn’t it wait until morning?”

“Please don’t push me to explain. It does me no credit to have suspected Laura and suffice it to say that my fears were unfounded. I was wrong about the smoker’s identity.”

Suspected Miss Barrington of what? An assignation with a man in the garden at night? Someone who smoked. There was only one person who fit the bill, but if Kitty presumed her friend had been meeting Mr Jenkin, William could have set her right. The riding officer would never have given away his presence with the tell-tale smell of tobacco.

He wouldn’t press her to confirm his theory. What interested him more was why she had dismissed her suspicions—suspicions so strong that they had taken her to Miss Barrington’s door in the middle of the night.

Taking the candle from Kitty’s hand, he held it up to her face. “What did he say to convince you that you were wrong?”

There was a long pause. Would she refuse to answer his question?

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I can’t tell you. It’s a family secret.”

He moved the light in front of his eyes, so Kitty could not escape the accusation in his gaze. “A family secret. Yet you still maintain you’re not part of the family.”

“I promised not to spread the story abroad. It is my duty to protect the Barringtons, even though I’m not one of the family.”

He lowered the candle, so that its flame flickered between them, shielding their eyes from each other in the gloom.

“I’m not a gossip, Kitty. Can’t you trust me to keep the secret as well?”

He willed her to have faith in him. Not just because he was curious, but because he wanted her to. Very much.

After another long pause, she spoke again, her volume so low that he had to lean in to hear. “Did you know about the relative in the basement who is out of his mind?”

“The what?”

Kitty gave his hand a warning squeeze. “Shh. Not so loud. We don’t want to bring Mr Barrington down on us.”

No, indeed. That would take some explaining. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“There is a man named Silas who lives at the bottom of the house. His sanity was damaged in the war.”

“How very strange.”

“Yes, and what’s stranger is that I only found out about his existence a few days ago. Laura told me, but I thought it was all lies—until her father corroborated her story.”

“It sounds bizarre—but why would anyone make up such a tale?”

“I don’t know.”