Gilbert ran up the steps of the Beasley residence full of anticipation for seeing Anna again after a tense meeting to complain about Albert Meriwether shadowing him. Meriwether was definitely acting without orders. He would be reprimanded and threatened with dismissal from the ranks of Bow Street in disgrace if he did not mind his own damn business.

The Beasleys’ modest townhouse was very pleasing to visit after the chaos of the Bow Street offices. The Beasleys themselves were kind and well-liked by society. He felt comfortable with Anna, not so much with her father as yet though. It was to be expected the man wouldn’t want to give up his only daughter to a near stranger, even if he was an earl, without revealing some doubts about the match.

He knocked on the blue-painted door and was let in immediately.

The butler looked at him expectantly.

“I am invited,” he promised, flourishing Anna’s note asking him to come to call.

“Indeed,” the man muttered.

Gilbert unbuttoned his great coat and handed it and his hat to the Beasleys’ butler, and then pocketed Anna’s note again so he would always have it as a keepsake.

“This way,” was all the butler said as he was led deep into the house.

He was brought to a small intimate chamber, a cozy sitting room decorated in shades of blue and gold. Anna was alone in the room.

When the butler began to withdraw, Gilbert spoke up. “A chaperone.”

“That will be all, thank you,” Anna announced firmly.

“Very good, Miss,” the man replied but his expression was disapproving.

Gilbert turned to Anna immediately. She did not smile at him, and his happiness at the unexpected summons diminished to concern. “What is going on?”

“Please sit down.”

Gilbert did but he was uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Where is your father?”

“I think the time has come for us to have a frank talk, my lord.”

That did not sound good. Not at all. “I thought we had already been doing that these past days.”

“Yes, of a fashion.” She took a deep breath and then seemed to square her shoulders before she spoke. “I cannot help but feel your proposal, whilst made with the best of intentions, was an ill-timed decision on your part.”

Was Anna Beasley about to refuse him? “Why do you say that?”

“Let me be honest. Despite the kisses we have shared, your interest seems to lie elsewhere.”

“My interest is with you,” he promised immediately. Entirely with Anna, in fact. He was already dreaming of bedding her, but he couldn’t confess that yet. She’d be embarrassed and blush again. He wanted her to be comfortable around him if they had any chance of being happy together. “What have I done to make you feel my attentions are insincere?”

“Surely you will not make me come out and say it.”

He sat forward. “I am doing all I can to convince you to marry me.”

She pulled a face and looked away. She sighed heavily before she spoke. “Whenever we are together, dancing and such, you’re often looking at everyone else in the room. Particularly at attractive young women.”

Damn, she was observant, but it wasn’t what she thought. He considered everyone he met a suspect and worried that any young, unmarried woman might be at risk of attack at a later date.

“It is you I’m interested in, I swear,” he promised. “I don’t mean to seem distracted and I’m sorry that you have misunderstood.”

“I don’t believe I’ve misunderstood anything, and I do know there are women more beautiful than I. You are new to your title, finding much in society to interest a bachelor after years buried in the country. It is perfectly natural for you to indulge your senses on the prettier sights to be found in Town. But I cannot compete, and I don’t want to.” She looked at him with a pained expression that tore at his heart. “The best thing to do is to end this here and now before hearts are broken.”

Gilbert’s stomach pitted. He might have blundered into offering marriage but that did not mean he didn’t want Anna. She was beautiful to him.

He cleared his throat. She was completely wrong about him—and her own appeal. “Before I accept your decision, I would have you know a little of why I am in London in the first place. I came because Carmichael begged me to come.”

“Begged?” She frowned. “I thought you were here on business.”

“That is what I needed everyone to think.” He’d come for the pleasure of Carmichael’s nuptials, but only found death. “I came to meet Carmichael, and I have stayed to solve a puzzle for him.”

“A puzzle?”

“It is complicated.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I cannot reveal very much to you about the matter. It is something he cannot do, but I have the requisite experience for the task, so here I am. I am looking for someone on his behalf.”

“Who?”

“I really don’t know yet. Carmichael does not know, either. That is why it seems to you that I might be interested in other people, particularly women.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Is Carmichael being blackmailed by some poor girl he led on?”

“What makes you ask that?”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “I know him, and I’ve noticed a change in him. He has become wary when questioned.”

“Then you know him very well indeed. He’s not being blackmailed, but he certainly feels threatened. I had asked him to do his best to keep the problem to himself but it seems those closest to him were not fooled.”

“Will you tell me what is happening?”

He couldn’t. Anna would worry unnecessarily, not for Carmichael but for herself and for her friends’ continued good health. She’d already alluded to having bad dreams after Miss Goldwell’s grizzly death. He didn’t want her to know of the other murders he’d connected to Miss Berry’s killer. “I don’t want to.”

She sat back, delicate jaw clenching and unclenching. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Now I am worried.”

Gilbert sighed and sat forward. She needed to believe him. He needed her not to worry. He and Carmichael and Lord Wade and Bow Street’s Runners were investigating. “There is nothing for you to worry about. It is a matter for Carmichael and I and others to sort out.”

“I do still think—”

“That I rushed my proposal.” Her eyes widened. “I believe so, too. If I had waited until you knew me better, you might not feel so uncertain about your future as my wife. I should have taken more care of your reputation but what is done is done, and I cannot and would not change one thing.” When she frowned, he rushed to add, “I noticed you even before we were introduced at Almack’s.”

She looked astounded by his confession. “You did?”

“Carmichael saw my interest, if you don’t believe me. That’s why he introduced us. I couldn’t stop looking at you…even if I told him later that I was only impressed by how you managed to gracefully carry your long bow.”

“Carmichael and I do not share confidences,” she muttered. “If you were so interested in me, why did you not ask me to dance that night?”

“It was late, and I imagined I would have no chance of securing a dance with you. I also thought the timing of a romantic pursuit wrong. I still do, I’m afraid, which is why I am happy with your desire to take your time. A long engagement would suit me, too. I’m a stranger to society. To help Carmichael, I must make the acquaintance of a great many people I should have known all my life. I might not, I’m ashamed to say, be the most attentive suitor in London in the next week, two at most.”

She shook her head, scowling. “This is beginning to sound very far-fetched.”

He took up her hand. “What I do is very important but secrecy is vital at this delicate juncture. I cannot have anyone else know the other reason I linger in London. Not yet.”

She frowned. “But you said you are helping Bow Street in the hunt for Miss Goldwell’s killer too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course I am helping with that as well,” he promised. The two situations were certainly entwined. He couldn’t tell her of the other deaths, all young women robbed of their lives before they’d truly had a chance to live and love.

Anna’s fingers curled around his suddenly. “Am I in any danger?”

“No. Quite the opposite, we think, if you were to accept my proposal.”

“We?”

“Carmichael and me. I don’t keep secrets from him, nor him from me, so he knows I am courting you, and that I compromised you.” He loosened his neckcloth, remembering the altercation in the carriage. “Just about strangled me for kissing you.”

“Carmichael has no right to interfere in my life,” Anna exclaimed.

Carmichael would interfere regardless. “You may not seem to get along, but to him you are family, and you should be protected from scoundrels. You have other defenders, too. Apparently, Lord Wade feels protective of you, although he swears to a purely platonic interest.”

She shrugged. “He says I’m interesting to talk to.”

“And he is right. You are very interesting. I noticed that right away.”

“People usually notice my blush first.”

He sighed. “Give me a chance, Anna. We’ve only just started to become acquainted, but I swear I will reveal all my secrets as soon as I am at liberty to do so.”

When she stared at him, he saw uncertainty in her eyes, and skepticism, too. She might continue to think they would not do well together if he remained completely untruthful though. She might not think she could even love someone she’d only just met. He wasn’t yet willing to admit he might be halfway in love with her already. He needed time to convince her to place her trust in him. He was determined to earn it.

For now, all he could do was nurture and encourage the attraction blossoming between them. There was one way to deepen their acquaintance here and now…if she wasn’t against the idea or the risk. “Kiss me.”

Her gaze darted toward the door but it was still closed against intruders.

When she turned back slowly, he could see he’d said the one thing that interested her most. She was attracted to him. He could press that advantage and offer himself up without any expectations of acceptance. “Kiss me, and stop when you’ve had enough of me.”

She frowned and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Would you use such a lapse to ensure we married?”

“No. Not if it remains our secret. I’ve no wish to trick you into matrimony.”

She considered that and then her eyes flew to his. “You have too many secrets, Lord Sorenson. I happen to have none.”

He smiled quickly. “I’d hope if you had any, you would feel comfortable telling me of them one day. I will not keep secrets from you for long. I need a little time to help Carmichael then my life will be an open book. Do you believe you can trust me?”

“I… Yes, I think that might be possible.”

“I trust you, and I’m willing to wait for you.” He drew breath. “If we were to marry, we could live a long life together. It is important that we know each other inside and out. The good and the bad. I will tell you anything you want to know about my life. I will keep nothing back from my wife, and I hope she will do the same.”

A hot color had filled her cheeks and he smiled quickly, glad to see that reaction.

“Marriage where there is a lack of feeling, of desire, is something I would like to avoid. I want my wife to desire me, and I think you might…though, of course, those emotions can take time to feel natural.”

“I agree with all you say,” she said, eyes softening.

He moved to sit on the settee where there was more space for kissing and whatnot.

He patted the spot beside him and then set his arms wide—one hand on the armrest and the other arm draped along the back of the settee. “I’m all yours for the next twenty minutes. My hands will remain right where they are now so you may examine me, and your own desires, at your leisure, with my promise your virtue is perfectly safe for the duration of the experiment.”