Jenna Petersen: The Secrets of a Lady

“Audrey, you’ll be pleased to know Ellison is enamored of you. He sent a letter before we left asking when we would arrive in London and if he could call on you.” Noah held up a piece of paper with a nod. “So all the work we did in Avonblithe has apparently paid off.”

All Audrey’s playful feelings faded. “I’m pleased my ruse to gain his attention is working, but I wish I didn’t have to be quite so close to Ellison.”

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Hannah reassured her. Lowering her voice, she added, “And I have a feeling your Viscount will be watching out for you, as well.”

The blood drained from Audrey’s face as she looked up to make sure Noah wasn’t listening. Audrey’s girlhood infatuation with Griffin had been the topic of many a conversation between the two friends.

“Somehow I doubt that,” she whispered back. “He isn’t very happy about this whole arrangement. I can’t say I am, either.”

“You’re worried about living in the same house as the man you once loved?” Hannah’s green eyes sparkled with teasing.

A blush warming her cheeks, Audrey nodded. “Or believed I loved.”

“Do you remember our first meeting, Audrey?”

“Yes.” Audrey thought of how scandalized she’d been when she realized her partner was a former lady of the evening.

Hannah smiled softly. “You were so frightened, so unsure of yourself. Do you feel that way now when you start a new case?”

“I do feel some nervousness, but more excitement,” she admitted.

Hannah nodded. “And do you still think I’m nothing more than a lightskirt?”

Audrey squeezed her friend’s hand. “Of course not! I love you like you were my own sister. I know you’re so much more than circumstances forced you to be in your youth.”

“That’s right. You have changed, have you not?” Hannah pressed.

She shrugged. “Yes.”

“Then don’t fear Griffin Berenger. He’s a man, not a legend. And you aren’t that child who worshipped him anymore.”

Audrey nodded as the truth of Hannah’s words sank in. “I know that, my dear friend. But when I look at him, I can’t help but feel like that girl who was so filled with love and sorrow all at once. My tongue gets tied and my stomach goes fluttery.”

“Hmph.” Hannah wrapped a ringlet of glossy brown hair around her fingertip absently. “Well, he is a handsome man. All of London is screaming for his return to Society, and no wonder.”

“Yes, no wonder,” Audrey murmured.

“Are you two finished talking about Griffin as if I weren’t sitting right here?” Noah shut his file with a swish. “May we get back to business and forget about the giggling and nonsense?”

“And him the king of nonsense!” Hannah burst out with a saucy wink for Noah.

“Aye, but not when it’s traitors we’re dealing with, my dears,” he said with laughter in his tone.

“My brother is right.” Audrey shoved her worries about Griffin aside. “We do need to concentrate on matters at hand. What is our first step once we arrive in London?”

“We can’t appear overly eager,” Noah answered. “After all, you’re offering Ellison all the advantages here. If you chase after him, he may become suspicious.”

She let out a bitter laugh. “Don’t forget, I’m a hopeless old maid with no prospect of a husband on the horizon. He may simply believe I’m eager for any offer.”

Noah’s face softened as he brushed the top of her hand with his fingertips. “You found Mother’s letter, didn’t you?”

Audrey bit her lower lip. She hadn’t realized she’d quoted directly from her well-meaning mother’s latest missive. The one her older brother had so kindly tried to hide from her.

“I wasn’t snooping.”

He laughed, but his eyes remained full of worry and the slightest hint of pity. Not much, but enough to sting Audrey’s pride.

“Of course you were! It’s in your nature, and a good thing, too.” He frowned. “But I’m sorry you had to read that. You know Mother is only concerned for you.”

Audrey sighed. “Yes, I do know that. She would have been happier if I’d married Squire Teetle when I had the chance and been done with it. She’ll never forgive me for that.” She pulled back the window curtain and glared out at the Thames as it rushed by. “But we’re straying from the subject. I know my role, to distract our dear Mr. Ellison by whatever means necessary.”

Both Noah and Hannah looked at her with wide eyes at that declaration.

“Within reason, of course. Remember, when we play these little spy games, I’m the perfect lady. I would never be expected to go too far.” Audrey winked. “But the horrified looks on your faces were well worth the hideous image that popped into my head at the thought of doing anything more than taking Ellison’s arm.”

“You shouldn’t tease about such things, Audrey,” Noah admonished with a glower. “You never know when a dire situation might arise, and I doubt you would find it funny then.”

Though the carriage was warm, Audrey shivered. She had to make jokes, at times it was the only way her situation didn’t terrify her.

Noah paused as the carriage passed through the gates to Griffin’s city estate just off St. James Street. “The rest of our discussion will have to wait.”

Audrey nodded shakily. She was happy to be off the subject of their dangerous work, but uncertain if she was ready to face Griffin again.

As the footman helped her down, she looked up at the large house. She hadn’t been here since she was a little girl. Anything had seemed possible then, as Noah, Audrey and Griffin had raced down the hallways. When she’d stumbled on the back staircase, Griffin had been the one to help her up. Her little heart had skipped a beat for her savior.

And now, at the ripe age of twenty-three, it skipped again as Audrey looked up to the doorway to see Griffin step outside to greet them. He was far too handsome for his own good. And she was far too aware of it for hers.

He smiled as they exited the carriage, but it seemed forced. “There you are. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming after all.”

“Good afternoon, my lord,” Audrey said. He caught her gloved hand gently in his own to place a light kiss on top of the fabric. Though his lips barely grazed her, she felt the touch through her every fiber.

“Good afternoon, Audrey ,” he said with a playful wink as he stressed her given name.

She was stunned at the change in Griffin. Back at Bentley Square he’d seemed broken to the core by his wife’s death. Here he was lightened, lifted, even if it was just a little, from the fog of pain.

The group stepped inside the foyer and waited as footmen appeared to take the luggage up to their respective suites. Hannah nodded knowingly to Audrey, then dutifully followed another servant up to begin unpacking her trunk.

“Audrey?” Griffin tilted his head to catch her attention.

“Hmm, I’m sorry. Just woolgathering,” she said with a weak smile. “What were you saying, my lord?”

“I was asking if you two would like a bit of tea. I’ve had a tray put in the South Parlor. Unless you’d prefer to go upstairs and rest after your long journey?”

She nodded. “No, tea would be fine.”

Griffin moved to take her arm, but Audrey took Noah’s before their host could touch her. He frowned slightly but then motioned them down the hallway toward the sitting room.

As Audrey settled onto an ottoman in the parlor, she stared around her. The house hadn’t changed much.

“Your parents used to come here quite often, didn’t they?” she asked.

“Yes.” Griffin grinned. “Although as Earl Father had a much grander house in the city, I believe he and my mother were nostalgic for the days when they first married and he held the title I now hold. They loved this place.”