by Jo Goodman
"What hints?" Elizabeth asked, seemingly out of nowhere. In truth, she had been mulling over the puzzle for the better part of the morning, or at least the part of the morning that was not made better by North's lovemaking. "Last evening you said I presented you with hints about my identity as the thief. Do you think I meant to give myself away?"
"It has occurred to me," he said. "Perhaps it was not your willful intent, but rather a more subtle wish. There was the matter of the snuffbox, for instance. Not only did you take an immense risk stealing it back from the baron, but you skillfully maneuvered the treasure hunt so that either Southerton or I would find it. It settles the question of who helped whom on that occasion. You led South and me around by the nose, I think. I imagine Battenburn was furious."
"More so Louise. I returned the gold fob and ruby pendant to her, but she would not be placated. I suppose it was then that she conceived of the plan to place her diamond necklace in your trunk. I knew nothing about that."
North nodded. "So I gathered." Over the rim of his teacup, he watched Elizabeth brush out her hair. It crackled with each long stroke. "You also climb trees."
Her hand paused mid-stroke. "What?"
"It was another clue," he explained. "At Rosemont you were climbing trees with Selden. He said you promised to teach him. I should have thought that your injury would have prevented you. Indeed, when we were at Battenburn you made some remark about a fear of falling. It was all so much smoke and mirrors. Very effective, though. I did not see through it."
Elizabeth resumed brushing. "There is no satisfaction for me in having fooled you," she said. "It was done of necessity."
"I know that."
"My infirmity was Louise's idea. She was persuaded that a limp would make me an even more unlikely suspect. I suppose the fact that I was a woman was not enough." Elizabeth set down the brush gently and turned on her stool to face North. "My back began to ache from the pretense. Even now, after weeks of resting here at Stonewickam I find there are times when my hip stiffens. The longer I practiced the deceit, the more it interfered with my ability to climb. At Battenburn no such skill was required of me. I could use the secret passages to move about, but once we returned to London..." Elizabeth could only shake her head at the position in which she had found herself. "As difficult as I found spending time with Louise, it also offered some respite. When I was with anyone else I had to maintain the sham of my physical limitations. The night South escorted me to the duchess's ball I was very nearly caught out because I was so stiff."
"Bloody hell," North said softly. He banged the back of his head lightly against the headboard. "That was you."
Elizabeth looked at him oddly. "Of course it was me. Isn't that what we've been discussing?"
"Yes, but..." Closing his eyes momentarily, North ran his fingers through his hair. "Bloody hell," he said again. In his mind's eye he could see her just as South had described, hanging off the lip of the roof, pulling her leg up at the very last moment so she could escape over a succession of rooftops. "You might have been killed."
"It was not such a narrow thing as South would have you believe," she said quickly.
North grunted, not so gullible as that.
"I admit my situation would have been improved if someone had confided South's plan to me. I don't think you can properly appreciate my surprise when he appeared in the duchess's bedchamber."
North simply banged his head again.
Elizabeth fought down a smile. "Perhaps it would be better if we said no more about that particular evening, though I suppose you must wonder how it was all accomplished."
"Believe me when I say I wish it were otherwise."
"Then I shall say it all quickly." Elizabeth proceeded to do just that, racing through her explanation with barely a breath while she ticked off the major points on her fingers. "Battenburn arranges a change of clothes for me if we believe one will be necessary. The location of the jewelry is known beforehand because Louise always discovers it. Sometime during the evening I excuse myself from the dancing, usually completely unnoticed, and find the host or hostess's valuables. At the duchess's ball I did not go to another rooftop as South suggested. I merely dropped to the other side of the house, entered by a window I had left open for just such a purpose, and—"
North held up a hand. "If you have any feelings for me, you will stop this recitation. I am still seeing you hanging by your fingernails from Lady Calumet's hip roof."
"It was not—" She cut herself off because he lifted his hand a fraction higher. "Very well." Under her breath she added, "Not so very different from what you did at Battenburn."
He pretended not to hear that. "What about the times jewelry was taken from necks, ears, and wrists that were wearing them?"
"I am afraid you will think me immodest, North, but it is not so difficult after one learns the way of it."
"I take it there was a great deal of practice in the beginning," he said dryly.
"Hours and hours."
"Louise and Harrison taught you?"
"They hired... tutors, I suppose you would call them."
"I would call them thieves."
"They were that. Very accomplished."
North was finding it hard to credit he was having this conversation. He realized he was shaking his head a lot. "The baron and baroness are not always present when the thefts occur."
"That is true. Over the years I would say perhaps a third of the time."
"I will have to share my information regarding dates with you, but that would likely correspond closely to those events where documents were stolen. Who is the more probable thief? Battenburn or his wife?"
"I could not say. You must allow that it may be neither. There could be yet another person engaged by them."
North considered it possible, though not likely. The nature of the stolen papers was such that the thief would have to be astute and discriminating in order to make the correct choices. It was not the sort of thing well left to others. "We have to return to London," he said, watching her carefully.
"I know." Her voice was wistful. She was already missing Stonewickam. "I should like to visit your grandfather again soon."
He smiled. "I am not certain which one of you is more enamored of the other. He likes you immensely."
Elizabeth rose and walked toward the bed. She held out her hands to North and when he took them, she pulled him to his feet. Standing on tiptoe, Elizabeth slipped her arms around his neck. "I like him also," she said, her mouth just a moment from his. "But I love you. No one will ever love you so well as I do."
He remembered saying much the same thing to her once. She was tipping her head back, watching him, the sweetest emotion there in her eyes. She remembered it, too. "Ah, Elizabeth," he whispered. He kissed her then. Their mouths lingered tenderly, and when the kiss dissolved they did not move apart. North's cheek rested against her hair. Her fingers ruffled his.
"I do not know if there will ever be a right moment to say this," he said, "so it may as well be now—while you are feeling charitable toward me." Before she could guess at what it might be, he continued quickly. "There was a time not so long ago that I thought the colonel had been your lover."
Elizabeth's head reared back and she looked up at him, eyes wide, her mouth gaping. "You are quite serious," she said.
"Well, yes." When she simply stared at him, he felt compelled to explain. "You love him. You've said so. And he is only your mother's cousin. The difference in your ages is not so great and he was credited to be quite handsome when—"
"He is still handsome," she said. North reluctantly acknowledged that was so. "It seemed that you wanted to avoid him. You were not pleased to see him at our wedding, and then—"
Elizabeth set one finger to his lips, halting him. "He is like an uncle to me. It was always that way, nothing more. I began writing him less when I became involved with Louise and Harrison. I did not want them to know he was important to me because they would have tried to compro
mise him also. They are trying to do it anyway, in spite of what I've done to protect him. It is likely they were the ones who encouraged him to come to our wedding. South may have penned the invitation, but Louise or the baron, or both together, prompted it." She moved her hand to North's shoulder. "But that is not the only reason I have not wanted to see him. He confronted me with the other truth at West's. He knows that my reluctance has been because he is ill. He is more like my mother than you can imagine, and being in his company is as extraordinarily sweet as it is painful."
Elizabeth touched North's cheek, tracing the line of his jaw. "I am not sorry you told me this, for I plan to see much more of the colonel in the future, and I would not want you to have any doubts about the place he has had in my life." She lowered both her hands and took his, drawing them toward her heart. "Adam's father is dead, North. In January it will be five years. It was in a place called New Orleans. There was a battle there. A senseless thing, really. The war with the United States was already ended, but word had not reached either side."
"I am sorry, Elizabeth." And he was. He meant the words most sincerely. "How did you learn of it?"
"Louise. My naive confession to her left out nothing, not even... not even his name. She made inquiries and eventually found what had become of him. It was not a kindness that she did this. She would have used him in some way if he had not been killed." Elizabeth's eyes darkened. "I hate her, North. I hate her and her husband and I hate what she has encouraged me to become. I hate that I did not say no to them, that I have always believed I could not." Her voice dropped to a mere whisper, yet remained intense and clear. "Sometimes I think I could kill them both."
It was only partially to comfort Elizabeth that North held her close. He did not want her to see that he shared this same thought.
* * *
"So you are returned." Louise looked Elizabeth up and down. She made her assessment as if from a superior height, although it was Elizabeth who stood and she who reclined casually on the chaise. "Open the drapes, dear," she said. "It is rather gloomy in here, is it not? I fear the day will not be improved by sunshine."
Without a word Elizabeth crossed the sitting room and fixed the dark green velvet drapes with tiebacks. Fog pressed against the windowpanes. The houses across the square were visible only as a vague outline. Immediately below she could see her driver hop down from the carriage to tend to the grays. When she turned away, Elizabeth was unsurprised to find Louise still watching her closely.
Lady Battenburn idly smoothed the fabric of her robe over her lap. "I confess I am surprised by the hour of your arrival. Am I to assume that you are eager to see me?"
"I thought it was you who were eager," Elizabeth said without inflection."My husband said you came to Merrifeld Square to inquire after me."
"And a most unsatisfactory interview it was. Northam would have had me believe you had gone to Rosemont. I told him that could not be true as I had reason to know differently. He was quite unpleasant about it."
Elizabeth's brows lifted fractionally but she said nothing.
Louise picked up her teacup. "Do not express yourself so to me, Elizabeth. I assure you it is the truth. I can excuse his behavior because I believe he was not well. He certainly did not look well. I remarked to Harrison later that it seemed to me Northam did not know where you were and that accounted for his surliness."
It was difficult to imagine that Northam had been surly. Elizabeth considered it said something about the state of Louise's nerves that she thought it was so. "I am here now," she said.
"And feeling a bit too full of yourself. I cannot like it, Elizabeth. You must set the matter straight. Were you running from your husband or from me?"
Elizabeth had known the question was coming. She managed to look surprised while still giving the answer she had practiced on her way over. "Both of you, Louise. And neither of you. I required time for reflection and I could only find that by leaving London. Northam, however, knew precisely where I was. I imagine his decision not to tell you had to do with his respect for my privacy."
"And where were you?" she asked suspiciously.
"At Stonewickam visiting Lord Worth, Northam's grandfather."
Louise was not at all mollified. "It was wicked of you to leave with no word." Her rounded chin was thrust forward. "What is it that you needed to reflect upon? Am I to assume you have had doubts about the wisdom of continuing our arrangement?"
Elizabeth sat in a Queen Anne chair near the foot of the chaise. "I have always had doubts. I have never been quiet about those. Now I also have doubts about my marriage." She raised one slim hand to ward off Louise's interruption. "You can set yourself easy, for I see no way out of either short of leaving this life altogether. Yes, I considered it, and no, it does not appeal. I am well and truly caught, Louise, you and the baron on one side and my lord husband on the other. That is what I had to come to terms with. And I have."
Louise regarded Elizabeth closely, weighing her words and her sincerity. "Then there will be no more of this nonsense," she said finally. "You will not leave again without a word. I must be able to depend upon that, Libby. It was most distressing that I could not find you. Even your father and Isabel could give me no word, and I know they would not have withheld it. Pray, do not look so startled. Naturally I sent someone to Rosemont. How else could I have known Northam was lying? I cannot like it that you would tell Northam your whereabouts and he would conceal this fact from me. He must be brought in, Elizabeth."
"Brought in?" she asked.
"Included."
"Oh, I cannot believe that is necessary. It has worked well thus far. You know it has. I have been so careful to give no hint to him of our arrangement."
Louise's generous mouth thinned for a moment. "Do not be disagreeable, Libby. I assure you, I am quite set on the matter. Harrison is of a similar mind. If, indeed, you have given nothing away, it is only a matter of time before North learns the truth. I should rather it be on my terms, not yours. You can understand that, can you not?"
She could. It was precisely what she and Northam had expected of Louise."I do not think it is a good idea, Louise. He is not so easily caged as I was. You cannot hope to control him."
"You caged him, m'dear," Louise said sweetly. "What is marriage if not that? He may pace from time to time, chafe against his confinement like some great tiger, but he is satisfied with his lot. All men are. They do not manage very well when they are left to their own devices. Gambling. Affairs. Intrigues. War. You must see that. Your husband is no different."
Elizabeth was sincerely happy to be sitting down. She felt an urge toward hysterical laughter and managed to quell it by not looking at Louise directly but at a point just past her shoulder. "I do not think Northam knows he is caged," she said after a moment.
"Of course he doesn't. Not now. That is what must be changed." Louise reached for the teapot, poured Elizabeth a cup, and held it out to her. She warmed her own cup after Elizabeth was served and contemplated the problem Northam presented as she sipped her tea. "Your absence from London caused us to miss an opportunity at the Langham rout. The countess has a sapphire bangle I have long admired." Louise sighed dramatically. "But it is not to be mine."
Elizabeth said nothing. If the baroness was anticipating an apology, she was sadly out of it there.
Louise raised one eyebrow. "So that is to be the way of it. No remorse for your behavior."
"My presence here speaks well of me, Louise. Depending on your point of view. Northam would be appalled to know the nature of our discussion."
"Then it will be all the more delicious when he is included. I confess, I look forward to it."
"I take it you have a plan." Elizabeth imagined Louise had had one for a very long time, probably conceived when she first saw the direction of North's interest at the picnic. "I must warn you, Louise, Northam is not so easily led about."
Louise waved this concern aside, confident that what she had in mind could be accomplished. "It
is only that you must not be too clever. It would not go at all well if you were to choose your husband's side against me. There is Selden, after all. And your dear papa."
Elizabeth felt herself pale. She nodded shortly. "What is it I must do for you?"
"For yourself," Louise reminded her. "Protecting a secret such as the one you have becomes a complicated affair, does it not?" Not requiring a reply, Louise went on. "You are aware of the French ambassador's winter ball?"
Careful to give nothing away, Elizabeth nodded.
"It has every indication of being a most coveted invitation. The prince will surely be there. And Wellington, naturally. There is no better way for the ton to show our goodwill to the French than by our attendance at the ball. Why, your own father will certainly be invited."
"And you, Louise? Have you and Harrison received your invitation?"
"I am certain it is to arrive any day." She paused, lifting an eyebrow to be sure Elizabeth understood. When Elizabeth nodded, Louise continued, "Good. I am hopeful you have already responded favorably."
"Northam did."
Louise did not trouble to hide her pleasure. "I thought that he would. How very good of him. You will see, Elizabeth, how well this turns out for all of us."
* * *
Elizabeth tossed her bonnet and gloves onto a chair as she marched into Northam's study. North looked up from his writing and saw the butler hovering in the doorway while Elizabeth removed her own pelisse and threw it carelessly aside. Her agitation was so high that she did not notice North dismissing the man or hear the doors close behind her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright. Had she not just come from Lady Battenburn's home, North would have been moved to comment that she looked quite pretty. Such an observation now would likely be met with pointed silence.
Elizabeth went to the fireplace and held out her hands. "It is not warmth I crave, North, but cleansing," she said quietly. "I suppose I did not truly want to believe that you could be right about Louise or, more correctly, that I had been associated with the theft of private papers." She paused, glancing in North's direction. "That seems to be the way of it, though. Louise requires an invitation to the French ambassador's ball."
