“Good heavens.” Serena looked shocked. “I had heard whispers, but I never knew there was any truth in them.”
“What sort of whispers?”
Serena dropped her voice. “Everyone found out about his affair with Mrs. Hammond-Smythe, and she left London immediately. The rumor is that her husband stopped supporting her. Well, what else can you expect when you are so clumsy as to have a liaison discovered? She claimed that when she ended things with him, Mr. Harper actually sent her letters to her husband—but surely no gentleman would ruin a lady simply because she refused him?”
“I can confidently say his manner is not gentlemanlike. If you knew such things, why on earth invite him to your ball?”
“Lord Walter needs to cultivate his uncle.” Serena shrugged. “These things are all political, you know that. But—!” She turned to glare in the direction in which Mr. Harper had disappeared. “What a dreadful man. Should I ask Lord Walter to call him out? He would do it; he thinks of you quite as a sister. Though I am nearly angry enough to do it myself—and I am a good enough shot for that, you know!”
The mention of Lord Walter’s regard for her caused a pang of guilt to twist Lily’s stomach. “Thank you, but I managed to be sufficiently discouraging.”
“How did you do it?”
Lily felt her face heating. “I threatened to break his nose if he touched me again.”
Serena burst out laughing. Though the memory of Reggie Harper’s oily smile, and the way his face had flushed with rage, made it impossible for her to laugh along, Lily found herself smiling as other guests turned to stare, and it was in that manner that Jack found them.
“Lady Walter. Mrs. Adler.” He shook his head. “Hoydens, I see, no matter how much Mrs. Adler pretends otherwise.”
“Be careful, sir.” Serena fished out a useless lace handkerchief to dab at her eyes. “She is quite dangerous, you know.”
His brows rose as he gave Lily a questioning look, which she returned blandly, but he said gravely, “I am aware.” He bowed once more. “I believe the concert is about to begin. May I do you ladies the service of securing seats?”
“I fear it may be too crowded for us all to sit together,” Lily said, looking around.
“The captain shall manage,” Serena said breezily, looping her arm through her friend’s. “I insist on being beside you, as I despise sitting through a concert with no one to talk to.”
“You know, Serena, the point of a concert is to listen. I suspect the other guests came to hear Madame Catalani, not you.”
“Nonsense. Half of them shall whisper through it as well. And even if they do not—” Serena dimpled. “Do you think anyone will tell me to hush?”
“I might.”
“Then you will be speaking yourself and breaking your own rules.”
As Jack handed them into seats, he bent to whisper in Lily’s ear, “General Harper is here. During the interval, I shall take you over to him.”
“How will you manage that?” she murmured as he handed her a program.
“By introducing you, very properly, to my former commander.” He straightened and bowed. “Ladies. Enjoy the concert. I shall return at the interval.”
He left to prop up the wall with the other gentlemen who had not secured seats—a situation which, Lily reflected with cynical humor, would thwart many plans for discreet, scandalous conversation under cover of the music. Lady Jersey stepped to the front of the room, glowing with pleasure as she raised her hands to quiet her guests.
“My dear friends, what a delight that you could all join me this evening. And what a delight to hear so accomplished an artiste perform! I am pleased to introduce—but of course she needs no introduction—the marvelous Madame Catalani.”
The singer mounted the dais to truly appreciative applause. She was dramatically attired in deep-red satin and diamonds, her hair crowned with three dyed-to-match plumes that stayed impressively upright as she swept a deep curtsy to her audience. Taking a breath, Madame Catalani gestured to her accompanist, her eyes lifting heavenward, and a tragic expression settled over her face as she began to sing.
Lily sighed with pleasure. This was why she had returned to London. It felt wonderful to be surrounded by beauty once more, even if the piercing notes of the aria made her throat tighten. She was saved from an uncomfortable sweep of emotion when Serena poked her in the side. Lily turned to glare at her friend, who looked unrepentant as she leaned over to whisper.
“The program has the Italian, darling, but not a word of translation! Do tell me what this one is about.”
Lily sighed, but could not help smiling. “Hand me the program.” Her schoolgirl Italian was little better than her friend’s, but she knew some French as well, and between the two she managed a translation. That satisfied Serena for a while, and Lily was free to look around.
Jack was standing along one wall, watching the soprano appreciatively. That surprised Lily—she had not expected him to be a lover of music. A moment later, though, he looked over and, catching her eye, tilted his head deliberately. Following the direction he indicated, Lily realized he was standing not far away from where General Alfred Harper sat. The general looked much as she remembered—tall and broad, with a distinctive military bearing, a red face, and impressive mustaches. His expression was so stern he almost seemed to glare at the soprano.
Lily suppressed a shiver, looking away as the first song ended and everyone applauded. Madame Catalani bowed, and the room fell silent—aside from the many whispers—as she began her next piece.
Predictably, Serena leaned close, fluttering the program. “A translation, if you please?”
Luckily, Lily knew the aria and did not need to attempt a translation from scratch. “She is saying—” She broke off, the back of her neck prickling.
“What is it?” Serena frowned.
Lily didn’t answer as she glanced around the room, trying to discover what had set her on edge. It did not take long. Reggie Harper had chosen a seat across the aisle and several rows back from them. His gaze was fixed on her, not the stage. Anger rising, Lily stared back until he scowled and looked away.
“Lily?”
“A moment.” Lily kept her unruffled gaze on Mr. Harper as he turned back, found her still watching him, and looked away again, an ugly flush rising over his features. Putting her chin in the air as if there was nothing in the world to concern her, Lily turned back to her friend. “Her lover has just left her destitute.”
“How very shocking,” Serena murmured, fanning herself with the program.
“And very Italian,” Lily agreed, deliberately putting Mr. Harper from her mind.
* * *
They sat through three more songs after the first. When the audience grew restless and the whispers more pronounced, Lady Jersey announced a short interval and refreshment in the supper room. As the singer bowed to enthusiastic applause, Lily glanced around. It took only a moment for Jack to make his way back to them.
“If I may steal your friend away, Lady Walter, there is someone I wish to introduce to her. A former commander of mine, Admiral Folks.”
“An admiral! You do collect navy men, Lily,” Serena teased, already looking around the room for other friends. “Very well, you may abandon me for now, but Lily, do be sure to sit with me after the interval. I depend on your linguistic ability.”
Lily’s heart felt like it had sped up to twice its normal rate, but she smiled and assented as calmly as if she were promising to pick out lace. “Though you know my Italian is nearly as dreadful as yours, Serena,” she warned.
Her friend waved her off with a dismissive, “Bosh, you’ve a better memory than anyone I know,” before Serena caught the eye of the Mr. Grant she had been speaking to earlier and floated off through the crowd. That settled, Lily took Jack’s arm and allowed him to lead her to the admiral, hoping she looked calmer than she felt.
Admiral Folks was a large, ruddy man in his late fifties, with the energy of someone half hi
s age and the weathered look that came with spending a life aboard ship. Under any other circumstance, Lily would have enjoyed meeting him, as he was reported to be a very friendly man who, in spite of not particularly distinguished birth, was held in high esteem by the government and moved freely through the upper ranks of society. But beside the admiral stood General Harper, and Lily quivered with nervous excitement. Jack seemed to feel it, and he squeezed her arm reassuringly as they bowed.
“Captain Lascar!” Folks beamed with pleasure. “And with a beautiful woman on your arm, as always.”
Lily raised an eyebrow, both at the implications of that always and at the nickname, but Jack chose to answer only one question. “My brother officers all call me that.”
“Plenty of Lascars in the navy, but precious few of them made post captain, eh!” The admiral chuckled. “And what was it the Indian fellows began calling you in response?”
“Captain English.” Jack grinned, though Lily noticed the lines of strain around his mouth. “Forever betwixt and between, I am.”
“Done well for yourself in spite of all that.” The admiral’s tone turned affectionate. “I’m determined to see you make admiral yourself one day, you know, you’re that good with the men. Just need a little more politicking to see your future secure. But we’ll need to get you back out to sea for that to happen. Don’t want to miss out on all the action! But I see what has occupied your time here ashore, lad. Do me the honor of introducing me to your charming friend, who must be wearied of my sailor’s talk.”
“Mrs. Adler, I have the pleasure to make known to you Admiral Folks, my patron and a very great friend. He knew me from boyhood and was the first captain I sailed under.”
“A pleasure indeed, Admiral.” Lily held out her hand, smiling with real warmth.
“Mrs. Adler.” The admiral bowed over her head, then nodded to his companion. “Are you acquainted with General Harper?”
The general, who had been surveying the room with little interest in their conversation up to that point, turned back when he heard his name and bowed, his scowling expression subsiding into polite interest. “Mrs. Adler.”
“Sir. You may not remember me, but I went to school with your niece some years ago, and our paths crossed once or twice then. I was Miss Pierce at the time.”
“Pierce. Remember the name, yes.”
Bracing herself, Lily turned to Jack and said, “You met Miss Harper at the Walters’, do you recall, Captain?” Her tone stayed relaxed and casual, but she watched General Harper out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. “The general was the uncle she had misplaced.”
“Eh, what’s that?” the general asked, an edge to his voice that Lily did not miss. “What about the Walters?”
“Dashed terrible business with their party,” Admiral Folks put in with cheerful black humor. “But makes for a good bit of gossip, which Lady Walter will surely manage to enjoy! This is Jack Hartley, Harper,” he added. “One of the best captains we had.”
“We ran into your niece, sir, when she was looking for you.” Jack bowed. “She performed a very kind service for Mrs. Adler at the time.”
“Ah yes, a good girl, Isobel.” The general nodded, looking placated. “Always a helpful sort. I had to leave the party early, you know. No time to tell Isobel where I had gone.”
“Harper has business at Whitehall from time to time.” Folks smiled conspiratorially. “And they can be deuced cagey about interrupting an evening without warning!”
“Yes, well, no need to get into all of that.” The general’s jaw was stiff, and Lily had the impression he was fighting the urge to glare at his talkative friend.
“I hope it was nothing serious.” Lily opened her eyes wide. Talk of war and Whitehall, the command center of Britain’s military and spies, was enough to make anyone nervous now that Napoleon had escaped his island prison.
“No need to worry your lovely self, Mrs. Adler.” Admiral Folks gave her arm a friendly pat. “Wellington will have the Frenchies routed in no time, mark my words.”
“Amen to that, sir,” Jack said, and the group fell silent a moment in heartfelt agreement.
The quiet was broken by the general, who excused himself. “See an old friend I must greet. Folks, I am sure we shall meet again soon.” He seemed about to say something else to the admiral, but then his gaze fell on Lily once more, and he clenched his jaw shut. There was something unpleasant in his expression, and Lily had to fight to keep her own eyes wide and innocent as she met his. “Mrs. Adler, Captain. Pleasure.” With an abrupt bow, he moved off.
Lily watched him leave, hiding a shudder. Their conversation had certainly made him uncomfortable, but which part, and why, was less certain. And, she admitted to herself, it had made her uncomfortable as well. There was enough there to continue suspecting him, and though she was determined not to be biased in her search, Lily thought him a much more likely candidate for murder than quiet, amiable Lord Walter.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Admiral Folks. “I think, Mrs. Adler, that you must be the wife of Jackie’s boyhood friend I heard about so often.” His voice grew serious for the first time. “My sympathies, ma’am, on the loss of your husband. From all Jackie said, he was as fine a fellow as they came.”
“You are very kind, sir.” Lily’s voice caught only a little, and she smiled. “What brings you to London? Surely there must be ample occupation for men of the navy this spring?”
“Only too true, ma’am.” He nodded gravely. “I come to report to the War Office, but my wife insists on seizing the opportunity to make me practice my manners.” In a conspiratorial whisper, he added, “She says they grow unbearably coarse when I’m at sea.”
“Perhaps that is her excuse, Admiral, to keep you by her side. It must be hard on a wife to be so much separated from her husband.”
“Aye, you’ve the right of it there, Mrs. Adler.” The admiral winked at her. “Louisa was often at sea with me when we were younger. But, now our children have little ones of their own, she keeps closer to home.”
“You shall soon be resigning if you are not careful, sir,” Jack said.
“Impertinent scamp, as always,” Folks laughed. “Though I fear you’re not far off the mark. Always gets her way, Louisa does,” he added fondly.
They talked for several more minutes before Lily remarked that the concert would soon be restarting, and they parted amiably. She waited until they were out of earshot before saying quietly, “That was quick thinking, introducing me to your admiral so we might speak with the general. Though I would have appreciated the introduction even if it had not helped our investigation. He seems a very kind man.”
“He is.” Jack grinned. “When we’re not at sea, at any rate. I shouldn’t recommend putting his kindness to the test if you’re ever on shipboard with him. Best man I ever sailed under, but he’s the law on his ship and no mistake.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Jack waited until they were out of earshot before saying in a low voice, “That was a clever way you managed to bring up the Walters’ ball.”
The corners of Lily’s eyes crinkled up with pleased humor. “It was, wasn’t it? And the general certainly did not like the turn of our conversation.”
“Do you remember the voice of the man you overheard?”
Lily sighed. “Not well enough. There was nothing to make me think it could not have been the general. But when you overhear a man whispering, and under such strange circumstances, it’s hard to say for certain what he sounded like, especially several days later.”
She sighed again, and Jack gave her arm a comforting squeeze as Lily returned to her seat. Serena was still absent, so Jack took her place for the moment. “We are making progress, Mrs. Adler. I have every faith you shall manage to unravel this tangle.”
“With one of the best captains of the navy to help me?” Lily’s lips quirked as Jack bowed in his seat, grinning. “Jackie, was it?”
Jack laughed. “He’s the only one who still calls
me that, at least since Freddy’s death.” Lily felt her throat tighten, but she didn’t let it show on her face as he continued. “Makes me feel all of fourteen again, though I cannot really mind it, coming from him.”
“Is that worse than Captain Lascar?”
Jack grimaced. “They called me that from the moment I got my first ship. It is mostly meant well, though.”
“But still bothersome?” she asked quietly.
“It is …” Jack frowned. “It can be difficult to be reminded that you are different from your fellows, even if it is meant in fun. You always wonder if someone sets more stock by it than they let on.”
“I can understand that,” Lily said, nodding thoughtfully. “And do you truly wish to be back at sea, now that the war is in full force again? Being ashore must be dull in comparison.”
Lily was genuinely curious. Jack had gone to sea when he was fourteen—a common age for sons of the gentry, though later than sailors from the lower classes, many of whom joined when they were boys no older than ten—but that meant more than half his life had been spent in the navy, in one conflict or another.
“The food is better here,” he said, making her smile. “It is hard to be on land when I feel I am needed elsewhere. But my men are glad for the time with their families. And I would hardly call my time here dull.” He grinned. “You have seen to that with your murder.”
“Murder?” Serena caught the end of the conversation as she floated over on the arm of a handsome young man. “Good heavens, Lily, what are you talking about?”
“Opera.” Lily held out the program. “The next selection is Italian as well, I fear.”
Serena sighed as Madame Catalani took the stage once more. “Why can’t they sing in English from time to time?”
CHAPTER 14
The next day, Lily was determined not to think about murder for at least twenty-four hours. Serena was hosting an “at-home” tea for all their schoolfellows who were in town—“I had not thought of it before, but there are quite a number of Miss Tattersy’s young ladies in London these days! I shall even include Mary Forsythe, who is Mrs. Wilbur Green now; even if she did marry into rather a shabby family, I am sure she will be delighted to receive the invitation”—and Lily had agreed to arrive early to make sure everything was in readiness.
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