A dull thud caused her to remember that her gun was inside her bag. She stilled for just a second, but remembered the horror the man had put her and Miss James through, and hit him again.
Strong hands suddenly seized her from behind, and she felt herself being lifted into the air. Her teeth clinked together when Theodore dropped her to the ground, and she winced when she saw the barely concealed fury in his eyes.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?”
She raised her chin. “I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?”
“You just attacked that man.”
“Indeed I did, and for good reason. You were right about those men following me back here.” She pointed to the man cowering on the ground, his hands still covering his head. “That, Mr. Wilder, is one of the men from the farmhouse. I’m hopeful you have some gadget at your disposal we can use to secure him, because I certainly don’t want the man to slip away, not after the effort it took on my part to capture him.”
“It wouldn’t have taken any effort on your part if you’d behaved as a lady ought to behave and told me who this was in the first place.
I
would have then taken measures to apprehend him.”
“It’s very unattractive when you sulk.”
Theodore opened his mouth, and his face turned a vivid shade of purple, but before he could get a single, scathing word out, the man on the ground suddenly rolled over and released a groan, even as he peered up at her through a small space between the fingers he had pressed over his eyes. “You’re crazy.”
She leaned over, peeled his hand away, and was about to give him a piece of her mind, but froze when she got a good look at the man’s face.
She’d never seen this gentleman before in her life.
She’d assaulted the wrong man. Not only had she knocked him to the ground, she’d also hit him with her reticle.
She could have caused the gentleman serious injury.
Her gaze traveled over him and lingered on a large rip in the man’s trousers.
She straightened, felt her cheeks heat despite the cold, and cleared her throat. “I must beg your pardon, sir.” A nervous laugh slipped from her lips. “It is somewhat amusing, in a strange sort of way, but I mistook you for someone else, a dastardly criminal if you must know, but . . .”
“This is not the man from the farmhouse?” Theodore snapped, interrupting her in mid-sentence.
“I’m afraid not.”
Right before her eyes, Theodore appeared to get larger. “Why, pray tell, did you not make certain he was the right man before you attacked him?”
“That would have been a little difficult to do since his back was toward me as I chased him.” She nibbled on her lip. “Besides, he was acting in a very suspicious manner. He did run from me, and if that doesn’t suggest guilt, I don’t know what does.”
The man on the ground suddenly sat up and sent her a glare. “The only thing I’m guilty of is being late for my mother’s dinner. She specifically told me she’s cooking a roast, and
she does so hate to serve a dry roast. That’s why I was moving briskly. Well, until I realized I had a crazy lady chasing after me. Then I started to run.”
“I really am sorry” was all she could think to say.
“‘Sorry’ isn’t going to stop my mother from ranting at me for being late, nor is it going to take away the pain in my head. I think we should call the authorities and allow them to straighten this matter out to my satisfaction.”
Being sent back to jail would be no more than she deserved.
Before she could apologize again, Theodore stepped forward and pulled the man to his feet, dusting off the dirt that stained the man’s jacket.
“I do understand your desire to see this lady held accountable for her ruthless assault on you, sir,” Theodore said. “However, I must point out the fact that this lady, unfortunately, appears to suffer from a severe mental ailment, which I believe is what provoked her attack in the first place.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his billfold, and pressed a wad of bills into the man’s hand. “I hope this will alleviate some of your suffering, and I would appreciate it if we could keep this little matter strictly between us.”
The man looked at the bills, sent her another glare, and then nodded to Theodore before he turned and limped away without speaking another word.
“I am not unbalanced.”
“Oh? Do you know of any other proper young lady who would accost an innocent gentleman, especially when said lady had a private investigator at her disposal to deal with such matters?”
She opened her mouth, but found there was absolutely nothing to say to that somewhat insightful statement, so she pursed her lips and took the arm he shoved at her. She soon found herself being nudged through a crowd of curious onlookers and felt a flicker of indignation steal over her.
“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t put the thought of those men in my mind.”
Theodore stopped in his tracks, leaving her no choice but to stop as well. “You cannot truly believe any of this is my fault.”
She shrugged, the action causing a lock of hair to fall in her eyes. She pushed it out of her face with her free hand, noticing she seemed to have lost her hat. She glanced over her shoulder, saw that people were still regarding her curiously, and decided that hatless was how she was going to have to travel home.
“. . . and granted, I did bring up the idea that those men might follow you back to New York, but they certainly weren’t on the train with us, and it’s not as if I expected them to be waiting for you at the train station.”
She drew in a breath, let it out slowly, and prodded him into motion. “If you would have explained that more thoroughly, I wouldn’t have reacted as I did. How was I to know you didn’t believe the men would have time to meet me here, and come to think of it . . . how would they even know where to find me?”
For some odd reason, Theodore’s hand tightened on her arm, but then he relaxed and continued moving forward without bothering to respond to her question.
“Is there something you haven’t told me?”
“What possessed you to hit that poor man over the head with your reticule?”
Arabella blinked. “I think we’ve already discussed that incident to satisfaction. I thought he was the criminal who’d tried to abduct me, so hitting him about the head with the only object I had on hand seemed the logical thing to do.”
“It wasn’t logical in the least. Ladies do not beat innocent gentlemen with their dainty reticules, and why in the world was your reticule actually causing the man serious pain?”
“Don’t you remember? My pistol’s inside.”
“Well, I suppose we can give thanks to God that you didn’t decide to use that pistol, or we might have had a dead man on our hands instead of a slightly bruised one.”
“I wouldn’t have killed him,” she muttered before she stumbled when Theodore came to another abrupt stop. She glanced in the direction he was currently staring and resisted the urge to sigh.
Gloria, Zayne, her brother, Hamilton, and a beautiful lady with red hair and sparkling blue eyes were standing before them, all with different expressions on their faces.
Gloria looked disheartened. Zayne looked amused. Hamilton, well, he might just be smiling because he was happy to see her, and the beautiful lady she assumed was Eliza was looking exasperated.
“Honestly, Theodore, you’re probably scaring old ladies and children with that scowl on your face,” the beautiful lady said as she stepped forward. “I told everyone it was not a good idea for you to run off and fetch Arabella, but did anyone listen to me? Of course not,” she finished before anyone had a chance to respond. She grinned, and a delightful dimple popped out on her cheek as she moved to Arabella’s side. She sent Theodore an arch look, which had him dropping his hold on Arabella, and then she pulled her into a hug.
“I’ve been so looking forward to meeting you, my dear sister. I’m Eliza.”
Arabella caught a scent of violets mixed with berries before Eliza gave her one last squeeze and stepped back. “I hope we’ll be the best of friends, and I also hope you’re not too put out that your brother and I got married without you in town.” She grinned. “I just couldn’t seem to wait.”
Eliza was completely delightful, and Arabella couldn’t help but fall immediately in love with her new sister.
“I’m certainly not put out with you for marrying my brother, Eliza. Hamilton was in desperate need of someone
to keep him in line, and from what I’ve heard so far, you’re perfect for that job.”
Eliza beamed back at her. “Why, thank you, Arabella. I think you and I are destined to get along famously.” She turned and gestured Hamilton forward.
Hamilton smiled and obliged his wife, reaching Arabella’s side and lifting her off her feet. He gave her an enthusiastic hug and then set her back down even as his smile widened. “You missed my wedding.”
“I could respond that you should have waited, but after meeting your lovely wife, I can understand why you didn’t.”
“We ordered you a dress from B. Altman’s
and
a special hat, but you never showed up, Aunt Arabella.”
She looked down and found Piper, her five-year-old niece scowling up at her. She glanced to Piper’s right and saw Ben, Piper’s younger brother, watching her with an almost identical scowl on his face.
That was rather odd. Normally she got along famously with her niece and nephew. She was about to ask them to explain their less-than-pleasant greeting when Theodore suddenly stepped forward, bent down, and opened up his arms.
Childish squeals of delight rent the air, and she could only watch in dumbfounded amazement as Piper and Ben threw themselves into Theodore’s arms.
The infuriating gentleman of only a few minutes before was nowhere to be found as he tickled and laughed with Piper and Ben. He finally released his hold on them and straightened, but still reached out and patted Ben on the head and pulled Piper’s pigtail.
It was not something she’d ever expected to see him do. Who would have thought he’d have a way with children?
It was disconcerting, that’s what it was, and it made him seem almost . . . likable.
“What took you so long to find Aunt Arabella, Mr. Wilder?”
Piper asked. “Ben and I thought you’d be back in plenty of time for the wedding.”
“Your aunt seems to have the unfortunate habit of being hard to find.”
“I heard Daddy tell Mama that Aunt Arabella got arrested,” Piper said before she turned and sent Arabella another scowl. “Did you murder someone?”
Arabella released a snort. “What a thing to ask, and no, I didn’t murder anyone, although I have recently been tempted.”
If anything, Piper’s scowl intensified. “You were glaring at poor Mr. Wilder, and he helped save me and Ben from a horrible, horrible death.”
Theodore hadn’t mentioned anything at all about saving Piper’s and Ben’s lives. She opened her mouth to lecture Theodore on his insufficient storytelling abilities, but before she could speak, a whistle rent the air and the sound of a lady’s voice followed.
“Mrs. Beckett, yoo-hoo, Mrs. Beckett.”
Arabella turned and found Mrs. Murdock, one of New York’s most colorful society matrons, rapidly approaching and tugging her daughter Felicia by the arm as she set her sights on them.
“I cannot believe what a lucky circumstance this is, running into all of you here,” Mrs. Murdock exclaimed. “Felicia and I just saw my dear aunt off on a train bound for Ohio.” She beamed at Arabella. “It’s so lovely to see you’ve returned home, Miss Beckett, but . . . good heavens, what have you done with your hair? Your pins are falling out and . . . dear me, is your hair lopsided?”
How to explain?
To her relief, Zayne stepped forward and grinned at Mrs. Murdock. “My sister has always been one to embrace the latest fashions, and I assumed her unusual look was a new rage she’d picked up in California.”
“Or jail,” she heard Theodore mutter behind her.
She stepped back slowly and brought the heel of her shoe down right on top of his toes.
A soft
umph
was his only response, but it was enough . . . for now.
“How . . . interesting,” Mrs. Murdock said slowly. “I’m not certain that particular rage will catch on here, Miss Beckett, so you might consider letting your hair grow out again, only that might take some time.”
“Well, it was delightful seeing everyone,” Felicia said, suddenly speaking up. “I fear the weather is beginning to turn, so Mother and I should be on our way.”
“But I haven’t seen Gloria in forever,” Mrs. Murdock said. “Or Arabella, for that matter. And Eliza and I haven’t had a proper talk since that disaster at my ball.”
Gloria stepped forward. “Then you simply must agree to come to the small dinner party I’m holding tonight in honor of Arabella’s return. We’ll catch up then.”
“I would adore that,” Mrs. Murdock said.
“Do bring Felicia and your husband, and if any of those charming sons of yours aren’t busy tonight, by all means bring them as well,” Gloria said with another telling wink.
It would seem her mother wasn’t exactly particular anymore about which gentlemen she shoved into Arabella’s path.
“I’m afraid my sons have already made plans to attend the opera this evening,” Mrs. Murdock said. “I’ll be certain to tell Jeffrey, though, that your daughter has returned to town. He’s always spoken very highly of her.” She sent Arabella a smile, but then her eyes widened as she glanced to Arabella’s right. “Mr. Wilder, I didn’t see you there. Is something the matter, dear? You’ve got a most peculiar look on your face.”
Arabella shot a glance at Theodore, and once again the man was scowling. But then he blinked, the look disappeared, and a charming smile spread over his face. “I was
just contemplating why all of us are standing around when we’ll soon be together again at the dinner party I had no idea Gloria was hosting but am certainly looking forward to attending.” He nodded to Felicia. “Miss Murdock, you’re looking lovely today.”
Felicia turned red, grabbed her mother’s arm, and began pulling her away.
“Felicia, what has gotten into you?” Arabella heard Mrs. Murdock mutter before her voice drifted to nothing and they disappeared from view.