Free Whitechapel Wagers 02 - Wanton Wager by Christy Carlyle Page A

him.
    “Hello. Might I speak with Miss Ada Hamilton?”
    Will was shocked when the child smiled at him, a wide, genuine expression that lit up her small face.
    “You’re the man with the pleasant voice.”
    “Vicky, come away from the door, dear.”
    Ada did not look as though she had been crying. She looked lovely, and the gaze she directed at Will set his body alight—the same sizzle of heat he always felt when she was near.
    “Please come in, Mr. Selsby.”
    Will was surprised at the ease with which she invited him into her home. He had feared she might turn him away.
    He entered the same family living area where he had first met Ada. She shooed her sister off into another room and offered him tea before they seated themselves at a table in the corner. A delicately woven white doily covered the table and a small vase of wildflowers, blue cornflowers, added a homey touch to the space.
    She looked at him expectantly with eyes as vibrantly blue as the flowers and Will began.
    “I spoke with Lord Ashdowne. If your sister was determined to find him, it seems she may have gone to—“
    “Derbyshire.”
    “You already knew.”
    She grinned but he saw no amusement in her now greener than blue eyes.
    “My mother told me today that Beth confided in her regarding her relationship with Lord Ashdowne.”
    She paused and Will could sense her weighing how much to say to him and how much she should shelter her sister.
    “Beth told my mother that she was with child.” She looked down as she said the words, as if shame for her family prevented her from meeting his gaze.
    Will longed to reach for her, to reassure her, but he knew propriety demanded he keep his urges to himself.
    “Mother says Beth intended to seek out Lord Ashdowne in Derbyshire, at his family’s estate. She cannot recall the name of it.”
    “Wythorpe.”
    “I must go there. I must find out what’s happened to her.”
    “Then let me accompany you.” The words were out of his mouth before any thoughts of propriety or decorum could restrain them. His desire to be near her, to help her, overrode every other impulse.
    She had been sitting beside him, leaning toward him, but upon hearing his offer she stood and began pacing the length of the narrow room.
    A gentleman would apologize. But propriety be damned.
    “The Samaritan Hospital has dismissed me.” She stopped pacing to gaze at him, as if waiting for his reaction.
    “I called there. I spoke to Ashdowne and wanted to share my suspicions with you immediately. Matron Marley informed me of your dismissal. I fear I might have made the whole matter worse by calling on you.”
    She sighed, concern creasing her brow.
    “Did she tell you why?”
    “She would not.”
    He could not imagine what she might have done to merit such treatment.
    “Lady Harriet is a patron of the hospital, it seems. She sent a letter to the administration requesting my removal from the nursing staff.” Ada pulled a folded piece of paper from her skirt, unfolded it, and held it out to him.
    Will reached for the paper, expecting to read Lady Harriet’s letter, to learn what the woman might have written to lose Ada her position at the hospital. Instead he read a letter addressed to Ada informing her that she had passed her examinations.
    He looked up to find her watching him intently.
    “The letter arrived in the post today.”
    “Well done, Miss Hamilton.”
    She smiled and the beauty of it lit up the room. At least for a moment, the pleasure she felt at her accomplishment outweighed any disappointment over the loss of her position at the Samaritan.
    But curiosity nagged at him.
    “Lady Harriet. What could she have said?”
    Will was sorry to have spoken the words, for Ada’s smile faltered, and she shied again, unable to meet his eye.
    He approached her, and she finally tilted her head up to look at him. His breath came faster and his heartbeat hitched, sounding the tattoo of a drumbeat in his ears. She affected him like no