The Secret in East End [Agents of the Crown #1]

Chapter 13

"Have you enjoyed your time here on Avondale, Miss Elle?"

His voice was a curious mix of baritone and interest. The timbre of it shook her core, yet Elle could not put a finger on why did the Earl of Greystoke actually had such an effect on her. Was it not Fabian who made her blood rush, her cheeks warm? So why was it that Lucan Stefford made her fidget with her dress nervously, almost dropping the apron she held in her arms as they exited the door to the herb garden.

"So-sort of. I still aren't really used to the-the size of the place."

"But you seem to assimilate quite well, Miss Elle. I have to say, your manners and behaviour are impeccable, for someone who supposedly have been in the rookeries all this while."

"Oh, I... well, Lacey always said I picked up very fast. Maybe that's it?" Elle nervously responded. She had picked up on the rather meaningful undertone with Lucan's words. "Are you curious, Lord Greystoke? You've been quite curious since yesterday."

"Not curious, per say. Just... were you unwell yesterday though, Miss Elle?"

Elle paused as they got to the garden, with Lacey nowhere in sight. "Not unwell. But... I just remembered stuff."

"What do you mean?" His serious tone had Elle turning to look at him. She almost immediately regretted her decision though, when her brown eyes met his. The intensity in his gaze was almost as if he could peer right through to her soul. "I-I mean... I don't remember what ha-happened to me before Lacey found me in East End."

She fidgeted with the edges of the apron she's put on, when the Earl didn't reply her. Why was his gaze so unwaveringly fixated on her? And why did his eyes brim with curiosity and a certain yearning Elle wasn't sure how she should interpret? While Fabian made her skin warm, her throat catch and her fingers itch to hold him, Lucan Stefford was... different, but Elle wasn't sure how. Most of all, why does the sight of him make the back of her head pound?

"Miss Elle, your.... did you come with nothing, on the day Miss Turner found you in the streets?"

"That I wouldn't know, Lord Greystoke. Lacey's brought me up all her life."

"Does this seem familiar to you, Mi-"

"Miss Elle! Miss Elle!"

A maid suddenly ran up, panting and huffing and interrupting what Lucan was about to say, gripping Elle by her arm. "Miss Elle, Miss Turner is packing her bags, and saying she's going to leave right now."

Lucan was granted a brief look of panic and worry in the other's eyes. Elle didn't even look at him as she picked up her skirts and ran in, leaving Lucan with little other choice but to follow.

---

For a previous ducal heir, now Duke of Avondale, catching a pair of bloomers upon entrance to a female's room was something he had never considered would've been something he would need to do. Of course, he never considered he would have a rookery-raised, boy-cut girl invading his thoughts day and night either, but Fabian was unwilling to dwell on that for now.

Instead, he merely stared at the pair of off-white, frilled edges bloomers which had flew in his direction upon entrance to the room Elle was situated in. Caught off guard, Fabian blinked, his jaw dropping before he noticed the rest of the room was in a similar disarray. In the midst of it all, Elle was curiously dragging things out of the travelling suitcase as quick as Lacey seemed to be placing it in.

"Oh, Lacey, you can't leave me here all alone, do ye mean to?"

"I can't stay for long here, Ellie girl. The duchess has hired you, but I'm... I'm a doxy. Besides, Madame would be wondering where I've gone for the week."