To Love a Thief by Darcy Burke Page B

especially Carlyle. Those who have proposed his behavior is less than lawful have sometimes disappeared.”
    What on earth was he suggesting now? That Daniel murdered people? Or had them imprisoned? She simply couldn’t credit it. “You expect me to believe he’s that cold?”
    Aldridge shrugged. “Believe what you like. However, if you tell him what I told you, he’ll deny it.” He leaned forward and added, “And then you’d better watch your back.”
    She took a step back. “Are you threatening me?”
    “No, I’m helping you make an informed decision regarding what you do next. I suggest you stay as far away from me and ‘Daniel’ as possible.”
    Her mind swarmed with everything Aldridge had told her. Daniel was corrupt? He was compiling evidence to implicate her as a thief? He’d ensure she “disappeared” if she revealed what Aldridge had told her? She didn’t want to believe any of it.
    It was not lost on her that Aldridge would benefit from her keeping silent and leaving London. But how much did she really know about Daniel?
    She tucked the watch fob into her pocket with fingers that shook more than she wanted. “Thank you for returning my property, my lord. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
    She gestured to the door, indicating he should leave. But he didn’t. Instead, he moved close enough that she could see the pores on his face.
    “Don’t be foolish, Miss Renwick,” he said in a low, sinister voice.” I hope you’ll heed my advice.” She stepped back, and her hands involuntarily came up in a defensive posture. His lip curled before he spun around and quit first the sitting room and then the town house.
    Jocelyn let out the breath she’d apparently been holding, and most of the tension left her body. It was time to find out once and for all if Daniel was the monster Aldridge described or the man she was falling in love with.
     
     
    TODAY had not gone as planned. Daniel had intended to visit Jocelyn early this afternoon to propose marriage, an endeavor he’d delightfully orchestrated last night during his walk back to the Silver Unicorn, where he’d meant to catch a hack. However, a brawl inside Odette’s establishment had drawn him into the flash house.
    A gang of older boys had become quite unruly, and Daniel’s inner constable hadn’t been able to walk away. Trying to instill peace, he’d ended up getting dragged into the fight. Ultimately, two officers had arrived, and together they’d put an end to the disturbance. Some of the lads had been carted off to Newgate, while the others had dispersed. It had been dawn before Daniel finally returned to his home and fallen into bed. Now it was midafternoon, and he was scrambling to get to Jocelyn’s.
    At last, he was making his way downstairs when he heard his butler talking with someone in the foyer. He turned onto the landing and saw Jocelyn standing in the middle of his marble floor. Garbed in a pale yellow dress with an ivory spencer and a comely bonnet, she was the picture of vibrancy and beauty. He increased his pace down the last few stairs.
    And then stopped short.
    She didn’t look nearly as happy to see him as he was to see her. Yet she’d come here.
    “My lord, Miss Henwick is here,” Goring, his aging butler, intoned.
    Henwick ? Daniel wouldn’t correct the man. “Yes, thank you,” he responded with a touch of irony.
    Goring inclined his head. “Shall I see her out?”
    Not for the first time, Daniel worried the man might be ripe for retirement. He’d discuss it with his secretary.
    Daniel gave his butler an encouraging smile. “I think I’ll just take her along with me.”
    “Of course, my lord.” Goring took himself off, likely to nap in a chair tucked under the stairs. Yes, probably time to broach the subject of retirement. For the thousandth time, Daniel reflected on the responsibility he now carried and how it had all come to pass.
    Then he focused on Jocelyn and was grateful it had. “I’m pleased to see