by C. J. Archer
Underwood sniffed. "Yes. Well. It was too late to cancel after I learned of his inability to attend."
"Never mind. You have told us now. I do hope no one leaves early because of it."
Underwood glanced around the room at his guests. "Everyone seems happy enough. And you, Julia? Are you happy?"
"I count my good fortune every day," she said, which we all knew was not an answer to the question.
Swinburn paused then offered her his arm. She accepted and he led her onto the dance floor. Her dancing was superb and her skill almost hid the fact her partner was something of a clod. At least he tried. Mr. Franklin still did not ask me, or anyone else, to dance. I would have to change tactic.
An opportunity presented itself when Lincoln melted away and Seth asked Miss Collingworth to dance again. Without the stern Swinburn there to order her not to, she happily allowed Seth to lead her out. They danced far away from Swinburn and Lady Harcourt.
Lincoln retreated to the window, but I felt his gaze on us. Hopefully Mr. Franklin did not.
"Your fiancé doesn't say much," Franklin said.
"He does once he gets to know people better." I nodded at Lord Underwood, flitting among his guests like a butterfly unable to decide which flower to settle on. "Speaking of which, how do you know these gentlemen?"
He clasped his hands behind his back, as if suddenly conscious of their size. "I've known Lord Ballantine all my life. He and Lady Ballantine are good friends of my parents. Sir Ignatius is a friend of his."
"And Lord Underwood?"
"Is a friend of Lord Ballantine's too. When I came of age, they included me in their circle. They've been very good to me. Very good indeed. And you, Miss Holloway? How did you meet Mr. Fitzroy and Lord Vickers?"
"Call me Charlie."
I waited, hoping my silence would prompt him to tell me his name, but he was too busy watching Seth and Miss Collingworth. Indeed, I doubted he even heard my response. He frowned as Miss Collingworth laughed at something Seth said.
"Do you and Miss Collingworth have an understanding?" I asked boldly.
"Of course not. I just don't want her to develop a tendre for Lord Vickers."
"Why not?"
He turned away from the dancers to study the trays of sweets and jellies being carried out by the footmen. "There's an understanding that she'll marry someone else."
"She's betrothed?"
He glanced past me and quickly shook his head. "Lady Harcourt, come and try a jelly," he said as she and Swinburn returned from their dance. "This one is in the shape of a leaf. Miss Holloway and I were just admiring them."
Lady Harcourt refused a jelly.
"A bonbon then," he said.
"I'm afraid there's nothing on this table that can tempt me." She spied a footman bringing in glasses of champagne. "Ah, now that certainly can."
"Mr. Franklin, fetch Lady Harcourt and Miss Holloway some champagne," Swinburn said.
A woman approached and curled her long fingers around Swinburn's arm. Her hand lightly skimmed his jaw. "Come dance with me, Sir Ignatius." She leaned into him, her breasts pillowed against his shoulder. "You know how much I adore dancing." She giggled and her eyes sparkled unnaturally brightly. Perhaps she'd already consumed some champagne.
"Sir Ignatius has promised me another dance," Lady Harcourt told the woman.
The woman whispered something in Swinburn's ear. He laughed and shook his head.
"A little later, my dear," he said. "Dance with my young friend Mr. Franklin for now."
Mr. Franklin handed a glass to me and another to Lady Harcourt. She took it and arched a brow at the other woman. The woman took Mr. Franklin's hand. I watched as my opportunity to find out his first name slipped away. It would seem he was capable of dancing after all, just not with me. Or perhaps only when ordered by his superiors.
Another woman approached, this one younger and prettier than the first. She stroked Swinburn's arm with bare fingers and batted her lashes at him. Swinburn's eyes turned smoky. He invited her onto the dance floor.
"You promised me another dance, Sir Ignatius," Lady Harcourt protested.
"Later," he said, bowing to her.
The young woman shot Lady Harcourt a triumphant smile behind Swinburn's back. She might have poked her tongue out if he hadn't turned at that moment to lead her onto the dance floor.
"Little whore," Lady Harcourt muttered into her glass. She sipped, spying me over the rim. "Don't look so shocked, Charlotte. She is a whore." She huffed and her lips thinned. The tight smile was more self-deprecating than cruel. "As am I. Not by choice, you understand. Whores never throw themselves at men because they want to. Needs must, you see. Particularly now."
She drained her glass and signaled the footman for another. He exchanged her empty glass for a full one. The silence between us stretched, and I expected her to move away, since she could barely stand my presence. But she did not.
"Seth's right," she went on. "I am desperate. There. Another shocking admission. Pay attention, Charlotte, because I'm going to explain how life works. Or rather, my life. You see, the annuity my husband left me is no longer enough. I must marry again, and marry well, or I will become destitute. I can take in boarders, but once I do I'll be cast out by the friends I have left. No one wants to associate with a woman forced to become a pathetic landlady. My value is already hanging by a thread. That will cut the thread off, and I am not like Lady Vickers. I could never come back after being cast out. She was born into this, you see. These are her people, and they will take her back into the fold eventually. I don't hold as much currency." She shuddered and drank deeply. "Sir Ignatius is rich and available, so of course I hoped to catch his attention tonight," she went on. "What woman doesn't want him?"
She nodded at the couple clasping one another on the dance floor. Swinburn's hand sank low on the girl's back and his torso pressed against her. "He also has no children, and that is quite an attractive trait in a man, in my opinion." Her brittle laugh made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "You, Seth, Lincoln, even Andrew…you all judge me. Even those of you who ought to know better." Her eyes flashed in Seth's direction before looking away, somewhat sadly. "You think I've made some wrong choices. You all think you would do things differently. Well, perhaps you would, Charlotte, you self-righteous little bitch. But rest assured, without Lincoln you would still be in the gutter or dead. Am I so evil that I want a different fate for myself?"
I didn't bother to answer her. She didn't want to hear me tell her that I would never hurt people to secure my future. And, in truth, I didn't care enough to remind her. I wanted nothing to do with her.
I walked off and joined Lincoln as he strode toward me. "What did she say?" he asked, placing his hand on my back.
"Nothing of importance."
His gaze narrowed, and I suspected he knew there was more, but he didn't press me.
"This is quite the party," I said, watching as a gentleman and a woman with painted lips disappeared into an adjoining room guarded by a footman. "Now I see why the refreshments are being served out here and not in there. It would seem it has another purpose."
"Are you shocked?"
"I was warned. Is this the sort of place you found Seth at?"
He leaned closer, a small smile touching his lips. "You know you have to ask Seth that, not me."
"I'll take that as a yes. Thank you for clarifying."
He frowned. "That's not fair."
"I don't always play fair."
He grunted. "Did you discover Franklin's name?"
"Not yet. I'll try to get him alone again soon."
"Not alone."
"Why not?"
He paused before saying, "My methods may be more effective in this instance."
I didn't ask how he expected to extract information from anyone using his usual methods in a ballroom with dozens of onlookers.
"Did he seem like a killer?" he asked.
"No, but what does a killer seem like, any
way? I wouldn't have picked General Eastbrooke as a violent man, and yet look how he turned out."
His hand squeezed mine. "A fair point."
I watched as the dance ended, and Swinburn led his partner back to the refreshment table then moved off to intercept Seth and Miss Collingworth. She nodded demurely, a pained look on her face, and allowed him to steer her toward Mr. Franklin and Lord Ballantine. The two older gentlemen spoke sternly to their younger friends, who seemed to take the chastisement with contrition. More than one reproachful glance was cast Seth's way.
"You seem to have caused a stir by dancing with Miss Collingworth," I told him as he joined us.
"She's a lively girl." He glanced at the party of four as it broke apart. "What's so awful about dancing with me, I wonder?"
"She's intended for another man," I said. "So Franklin told me."
"Intended for whom?"
"He didn't say. I assume her parents arranged it."
"Or Ballantine and Swinburn," Lincoln said. "As leaders of their pack."
Watching them together, it was easy to see the two older men as leaders, but I wasn't convinced they belonged to a pack. For one thing, we weren't even sure if they were shape shifters. They bore no evidence of it.
Lord Ballantine joined a group of whiskered gentlemen who stood aloofly separate from the women and other men, while Swinburn took the hand of Lady Harcourt's young rival and kissed her daringly on the neck. She tipped her head back to reveal more white flesh and smiled dreamily.
Lady Harcourt watched them too, her knuckles white around the stem of her glass. Then, with a sudden spin on her heel, she marched off toward Lord Underwood with a look of fierce determination.
"They're leaving," Lincoln said.
It took me a moment to realize he meant Miss Collingworth and Mr. Franklin. No one seemed to notice them exit together except us.
"Damn," Seth muttered. "Want me to follow them?"
"We both will, in case they separate," said Lincoln. "You too, Charlie. I'm not leaving you here."
"What about Swinburn and Ballantine?" I asked.
"We're more likely to get answers from their friends."
I set my glass down and hurried out alongside them. We reached the door, however, and stopped as Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales's brother, entered, a heavily rouged woman clinging to each arm. Whispers quickly spread around the ballroom as the guests recognized him. Lord Underwood glided across the floor to greet the new arrival, forcing his way past us. He bowed deeply.
"Your Royal Highness, this is a pleasure," he said with slippery smoothness. "I'm so glad you came."
The duke gave a regal nod before looking past Underwood to Lincoln. "Mr. Fitzroy, this is an unexpected encounter." He disengaged himself from the two women and held a hand out to Lincoln. "Come. Join me for a drink and conversation."
Bloody hell. It would seem we weren't going to chase Miss Collingworth and Mr. Franklin after all.
Chapter 9
"My apologies, Your Highness, but we were just leaving," Lincoln said, moving past the duke as he spoke.
The duke's two female companions looked horrified at Lincoln's audacious response. The duke himself stiffened. I worried he would demand Lincoln stay, but I worried more that Lincoln would refuse him again.
"Don't mind him, Your Highness," Lord Underwood said, bowing again. "He's nobody."
"It's not Mr. Fitzroy's wish to leave yet," I assured the duke in a loud voice for those nearby to hear. "He's only thinking of me, you see. I feel quite faint." I touched my forehead and fluttered my lashes. "Mr. Fitzroy is concerned enough to take me home."
The duke's gaze slid to Lincoln, waiting for me just beyond the door, then to Underwood. "It is rather hot in here." With that declaration, he signaled to his two companions to walk with him across the room.
Underwood followed a step behind and signaled wildly to a footman. "I'll have the doors to the balconies opened immediately, Your Highness."
Lincoln and I rushed down the stairs to the entrance hall. We grabbed hats and coats from the footman and joined Seth outside.
"They went that way on foot," he said, nodding to the north. "We won't be fast enough to follow if they change into their animal shape."
"Then we must hope they don't decide to go for a run tonight," I said, lifting my skirts and trotting down the front steps. "It would be difficult in their evening finery, anyway. They'd have to find somewhere to undress and store their clothing to retrieve it later. Take it from me, dressing into and undressing out of evening gowns are an ordeal best left for the home where skilled maids can assist."
We walked quickly up the street, passing well-lit terraced houses, some with footmen standing by the door. Music and laughter spilled from open windows above. Lord Underwood wasn't the only one hosting a party tonight.
I huddled into my coat as a gust swept down the street. I didn't bemoan the breeze as it kept our scents away from the two people we followed. Our brisk pace warmed me soon enough. Despite my tight corset and heavy clothing, I kept up with Lincoln and Seth. Our two shape changers maintained a steady pace too. We were still in Mayfair but would soon cross into Soho.
Miss Collingworth and Mr. Franklin stopped in front of a house. Lincoln hissed a command to retreat into the dark shadows just as our suspects glanced around. Mr. Franklin appeared to sniff the air and stepped in our direction.
I dared not breathe. Dared not move. His superior senses would easily detect us. He might already be able to smell us, despite the breeze.
He stepped off the pavement in our direction, but Miss Collingworth caught his arm. She said something and shook her head. A moment later, they both approached the front door to the house. Mr. Franklin knocked and they were let in by a man who greeted them with smiles and a friendly handshake for Mr. Franklin, a kiss on the cheek for Miss Collingworth. He wasn't a servant then. What grandiose Mayfair mansion kept no staff to greet visitors?
I let out a breath. Seth removed his hat and dragged his hand through his hair, causing it to flop over his forehead. "Now what?" he asked.
"We wait," both Lincoln and I said together.
"If either of them leave the house alone, we intercept them," Lincoln said.
Seth tugged on his white bow tie, stretching his neck out of his collar. "I feel conspicuous out here in my tailcoat and top hat. The damned streetlamp is too bright. Ha! Never thought I'd say that about a miserable London light."
Lincoln handed me his hat and coat then shimmied up the lamppost.
"I wasn't expecting him to do that," Seth said, watching.
With one arm wrapped around the post for support, Lincoln opened the glass case and moved the lever to turn down the gas then slid down again. While we weren't invisible, we weren't easy to spot in the dark either. Not that many people passed us by. The occasional carriage drove past or stopped to let out passengers, but the houses nearest us were closed up and silent, and it was much too late and cold for a stroll.
When it became clear the wait would be long, Seth sat on the pavement, his back to the wall. Lincoln laid his coat on the ground beside Seth and indicated I should sit.
"It's a little awkward in my gown," I said.
He put out his hand and I used it to steady myself as I sank to the pavement in the most ladylike fashion I could manage. Lincoln remained standing, even when I rested my head on Seth's shoulder. He noticed, but didn't say a word.
Seth tipped his head back against the wall. "Wake me when something happens."
I must have drifted off to sleep because Seth's jerking movement startled me. I sat up. "What's wrong?" I asked, squinting into the darkness.
"He kicked me," Seth whispered. "Something happening, Fitzroy?"
"Don't move," Lincoln whispered back.
The front door to the house was still closed and the building shrouded in shadows. I couldn't see what Lincoln had seen—or sensed. Nothing seemed to be happening at all.
Then somethi
ng rose out of the service area below street level. The silhouette was animal, not human. It walked on all fours and its body looked muscular even from a distance. Its giant head sported pointed ears. I'd seen enough shape shifters to know what their other form looked like from afar.
It emerged cautiously, hunkering low to the ground. I couldn't see but I imagined it sniffing and watching, trying to detect if anyone was nearby.
I held myself still and thanked God the breeze had all but vanished so my skirt didn't rustle. Both Seth and Lincoln froze too.
Another creature joined the first and they moved off, with two more following. They slunk along the street like prowling cats. Then, when they reached the corner, the first sped up to a run. The other three followed. There was no way we could keep up.
Seth let out a breath. "More waiting?" he asked.
"Take Charlie home," Lincoln said. "It's late."
I shook my head. "You need Seth here."
Seth groaned. "If this becomes another fight, we're not going to fare well. There are four of them and two of us."
I cleared my throat.
"No offence, Charlie."
I stamped my hand on my hip.
He sighed. "Three of us."
"The plan hasn't changed," Lincoln said. "We're still going to wait for Collingworth or Franklin to leave in human form."
"What if they live here?" Seth asked.
"They can't remain in the house forever."
"We can't remain out here forever!"
"Have Lord Ballantine or Sir Ignatius come?" I asked.
Lincoln shook his head. "No one else arrived or left after you fell asleep."
"I didn't sleep. I merely closed my eyes."
"Me too," Seth said around a yawn. "That's why I'm so tired now. I definitely haven't slept a wink."
We continued our wait. My coat was no longer enough to keep me warm but I didn't dare tell Lincoln. He would make me leave, taking Seth, and that could render him vulnerable. My legs felt somewhat numb too, curled up beneath me and to the side in a manner that allowed me to sit on the ground. I got up to stretch them and yawned.
