That was a little too close for my liking, James thought, as he hurried Sarah back through the streets of London. He had known there was a chance that Lord Andrew might be in town but had not truly believed they would come across him in the five minutes they intended to be outside. Glancing down at Sarah as they walked, James felt a sensation he had never expected so early in his acquaintance with the lady.

Happiness.

He felt true happiness at the thought of marrying Sarah. She was beautiful, yes, but he had felt a connection with her the moment he had seen her sitting in his drawing room. It was not that there was just a sympathy for her, which, of course, he could not deny, but there was also a gentle fondness for her. He had been honest when he had told her he was certain there would be affection in their marriage, given time. There was certainly an undeniable attraction between them, given that he had just kissed her and given how eagerly she had responded.

“Where have you been?” Lord Higgs blustered, the moment they stepped into the shop. “This man has been waiting. And I had to pay for the locket as well as the mirror since I was certain Miss Weston would want it back.”

James chuckled, feeling Sarah’s fingers tighten on his arm. “Thank you, Higgs.” He turned his attention to the pawn merchant, who had a somewhat smug look on his face. “I presume you have the information?”

“I do,” the man replied with a grin. “Here, you can see it for yourself if you wish.”

James turned to Sarah and gestured for her to go ahead of him, seeing her quick smile as she silently thanked him. He watched as she leaned over the book, reading carefully where the pawn merchant showed her.

Her frame tightened, dismay beginning to curl in James’s heart.

“What is it?” he asked, walking over to her. “Who handed it in?”

She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. “Lord Andrew Fairley.”

The news stunned him. “Lord Andrew?” he repeated, looking down at the page where she pointed. “That cannot be so.”

It was undeniable, written there in ink. The description of the pendant, the date, the name, and signature of the man who had brought it in.

“That does not make any sense,” he said slowly, looking back up at Sarah and seeing the paleness in her cheeks. “Why would he retrieve it only to put it under your pillow in Little Mybster?”

She swallowed and shook her head, looking up at him helplessly. “I have no idea.”

Lord Higgs cleared his throat, drawing James’s attention that the pawn merchant was watching them with interest.

“Perhaps we should discuss this back at the house,” he said calmly, offering his arm to Sarah again. “Thank you very much for your help.” He turned to go, only for Sarah to remain exactly where she was. Looking back at her, he saw her frown.

“Where is Mrs. Avis?” she asked, her voice filled with confusion. “I thought she would have made her way back here by now.”

“Mrs. Avis?” Lord Higgs repeated, looking at James in puzzlement. “I thought she was with you. I thought perhaps you had left her in the carriage, knowing that we would only be a few minutes in here.”

Sarah went sheet white, both hands now wrapped around James’s arm. “Oh, no,” she whispered, her eyes widening. “Do you remember what we heard in the alley?”

James swallowed hard, thinking quickly. “That could not have been her,” he breathed, hardly able to comprehend it. “How would she know Lord Andrew?”

“You are not talking about the older woman who came in behind you, are you?” the pawn merchant asked, almost lazily.

James rounded on him at once, anger bursting through him at his own foolishness, his own lack of thought. “Do you know her?”

The man shrugged. “I know who Lord Andrew Fairley is. I mean, who doesn’t, given his reputation?” His smile spread across his face—in stark contrast to the anger and frustration that was building in James’s heart. “That man was often in this place, giving me this and that so that I would pay out. He kept coming back here since he knew I would give him a decent price. What he did not know was that I used his reputation to sell off his things at twice the price. You would be surprised the number of gentlemen that want to purchase something of a man who has fallen as far as Lord Andrew has.”

James thumped the counter hard, startling Miss Weston. “Get to the point, man. How do you know Mrs. Avis?”

The man’s smile faded, his expression hardening. “I do not,” he said with a slight shrug. “I do not know her. All I know is that she was in here with him very often, although she was always forced to stand at the back by the door. Lord Andrew sold off lots of things that I was sure did not belong to him.”

“What kind of things?” Miss Weston asked, her voice thin and pained.

The pawn merchant looked at her, and James saw the way his hard expression softened just a touch. “Lady’s things,” he replied quietly. “Pearls, earrings, that kind of thing.”

“The pendant?”

The pawn merchant nodded. “I was surprised she did not come forward herself to tell you that she was present when I bought that from Lord Andrew. Not that it is my business, which is why I did not say anything.”

James felt his heart still in his chest. “Mrs. Avis was present when Lord Andrew gave you that pendant?”

The man nodded, his lips thin. “Lord Andrew was in some state that day, I can tell you. Staggering about all over the place. It is a wonder he managed to sign his own name. He had to lean on the lady, as he made his way out of the shop.”

“He was drunk?”

The pawn merchant’s eyes flickered to Lord Higgs. “Yes, just as I said. Now, is that all you want to know? I got business to see to.”

“Do you know anything more about her?” Sarah begged, reaching for the man’s hand. “Please, she is a very dear friend of mine. Anything you can tell me would be a great deal of help.”

Holding his breath, James saw the pawn merchant look down at the way Miss Weston had clutched his fingers, his instincts telling him that this man knew a little more than he was saying.

“I will make it worth your while,” he murmured, pulling some notes from his pocket. “Please do not hold anything back.”

The pawn merchant’s greedy eyes flickered to the notes in James’s hand before returning to Miss Weston.

“There is only one more thing I know,” he said, as she released his hand. “Lord Andrew never referred to her as Mrs. Avis.”

Sarah stared at him, holding his gaze. “Then what was her title?”

He shrugged. “I only ever heard him refer to her as ‘my dear’ or some other kind of affectionate term. The kind a man might use to refer to his wife.”

James sucked in a breath at the very moment he heard Miss Weston gasp with shock.

“Thank you,” he managed to say, wrapping one arm around Sarah’s waist and pulling her to him, as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. “You have been very helpful.”

Not caring how much he gave the man, James threw down the pile of notes, and gesturing to Lord Higgs to hurry ahead of them to the door, he helped Sarah to walk to the door.

“We must return home to discuss this,” he whispered in her ear, as her head dropped forward in despair. “Come to the carriage, my dear. Lean on me if you need to.”

Within the hour, they had made it back to the townhouse and were now sitting quietly by the fire that crackled in the grate. It was not usual for James to have a fire lit in the middle of the day, but given how pale Miss Weston appeared to be, he had thought it best.

His mind spun with questions, his heart thundering with guilt and pain, as he cursed himself repeatedly for never once assuming that Lord Andrew was talking to Mrs. Avis.

“Do not blame yourself,” Lord Higgs said, the moment the maid left the room, leaving the tea tray in front of Miss Weston. “None of this is your fault, Thorndyke, nor yours, Miss Weston.”

“Sarah, please,” she said in a broken voice. “I cannot be dealing with titles now, not when everything else is so very confusing.”

“Sarah, then,” Lord Higgs replied kindly. “You must not take any blame onto your own shoulders.”

“I was there,” Sarah whispered, hoarsely, looking up at them both with pain written in her eyes. “I could have seen him; I could have tried to stop him.”

“And put yourself in danger?” James interrupted, shaking his head. “No. I would never have allowed you to.”

Sarah looked at him steadily, her lips trembling just a little. “But he was not there for me,” she said slowly. “Remember? He said something about looking all over London for Mrs. Avis. It is she he has been searching for, not I.”

James leaned forward, his head in his hands. “It does not make sense,” he muttered, his thoughts dark and clouded. “I cannot understand what any of this means.”

There was nothing but silence for a long time, each one occupied with their own thoughts. Try as he might, James could not let go of the fact that Lord Andrew still posed a threat to Sarah, unable to believe that it was just Mrs. Avis the man had been searching for.

“She is Lord Andrew’s wife,” Sarah said, her voice breaking the quiet that had settled over the room. “That is the hardest thing to believe. Why did she never say anything? Why set herself up as my companion, knowing that she was the wife to the man I was trying to avoid?”

“It was purposeful, obviously,” Lord Higgs said slowly. “She wanted to be your companion. Perhaps to protect you somehow?”

James looked up; his eyes fixed on Sarah as an idea hit him. “Perhaps she was the one to put the locket under your pillow?”

He waited as Sarah opened her mouth to refute this, only to close it again. She sighed heavily and passed one hand over her eyes.

“I do not know what to believe,” she said eventually. “I thought she truly cared for me.”

“And she does,” Lord Higgs said firmly. “Just think about this carefully, Sarah. Mrs. Avis came into your life at a time when you needed a companion. She has never once taken you anywhere dangerous, never encouraged you to go out and about, but has rather urged you to be careful, has she not?”

Sarah nodded slowly, her color slowly returning. “She appeared to be very relieved when I told her I was to marry you, Thorndyke.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, her eyes wide. “In fact, I believe she mentioned Lord Andrew even though I had never spoken his name to her.”

“In what context?” James asked quickly, his fingers knotting together.

Sarah gave him a small, sad smile, her eyes glazing with tears. “She told me she was glad I was to marry you—for you would be able to keep me safe from him,” she said slowly. “She wanted this. Perhaps she knew that Lord Andrew had found me and was, therefore, trying to encourage the marriage.”

“That might explain why she put the locket under your pillow, if it was her,” Lord Higgs said quietly. “If Lord Andrew had discovered your presence somehow and she knew what he intended, then she must have done all she could to protect you without revealing herself. She could not risk you knowing the truth all at once, for you might never have believed her.”

“Or done something reckless that could have put you in danger,” James added, feeling as though they had hit on the truth. “Mrs. Avis, I believe, was trying her best to keep you safe from Lord Andrew by directing you towards London so that you might marry me.”

He saw Sarah nod slowly, color now rich in her cheeks. “Then that only leaves one question,” she said slowly with a little more determination than James had expected. “How are we to get her back?”