Gail Ranstrom - The Rake's Revenge

“To kill you,” Charity said. “’Tis too dangerous. He will have the advantage because he knows that Zoe can identify him. But you will not know him. Oh, if we only knew more!”

Afton looked down at her closed fist. “There is more. I found this on the floor beside her.” She opened her hand to reveal a black onyx raven with a small diamond eye, mounted on a gold stickpin. The ladies leaned over her hand to study the object.

“Stunning,” Annica declared. “Quite valuable, unless I miss my guess. The murderer will be looking for Zoe, but he will also be looking for his lost pin.”

“I still cannot fathom how he gained entry,” Charity ventured. “I thought one was required to make an appointment with Madame Zoe through her factor. A man named Mr. Evans.”

“Auntie Hen had no appointments that night. The murderer either found her at her salon by chance, or stalked her until she was alone.” Afton’s voice tightened with anger.

Grace tucked a single stray strand of chestnut hair back into place and nodded. “We hope the murderer will be so mystified by Zoe’s survival that he will proceed with extreme caution. At the very least he will not be looking for Miss Afton Lovejoy from Little Upton, Wiltshire. But there will be undeniable danger when Afton is posing as Zoe in the salon above Madame Marie’s dress shop. Perhaps one of us should hide in the little dressing room whenever Afton is there.”

“I know!” Charity exclaimed. “We shall ask Mr. Renquist to install a bell rope in Zoe’s salon that rings in La Meilleure Robe’s sewing room downstairs. Then Afton could ring for help if something should go awry.”

Afton recalled that Mr. Renquist, Madame Marie’s husband, was the Wednesday League’s chief investigator and had a legion of Bow Street Runners at his disposal. She was comforted by the thought of having him within call. She might yet live through this affair.

Lady Annica leaned forward. “If you insist upon doing this, Afton, you will have our full support and assistance. I shall spread the story that Madame Zoe had an accident and cannot recall anything because of an injury to her head. Perhaps that will reassure the murderer that ‘Madame Zoe’ will not name him.”

“Still, I am uneasy….” Grace began. “Very well, but only until the end of the month, Afton. After that, we shall have to inform the authorities. This sort of villainy cannot go unreported.”

Afton took a deep breath. It was both more and less than she had hoped for—more help, less time. Thus, there was no time to lose. “I shall begin at once.”

London, December 12, 1818

C ould there be any greater contrast between these smells and sounds and the dank Moorish dungeon he had so recently escaped? Lord Robert McHugh, fourth earl of Glenross, shrugged out of his greatcoat and handed it to a waiting footman. The scent of evergreens mixed with spicy canapés and hot mulled wine wafted through the air. The soft strains of an orchestra and polite conversation carried from an adjacent room. Beside him, Lord Ethan Travis kept up a discourse on the many reasons Rob should reconsider attending this soiree tonight.

“You are not ready for this, McHugh. You are only a fortnight back in London. Give yourself more time before—”

“No time to spare, Travis,” he said. “It ran out in Algiers.”

“You need to reacquaint yourself with society. If you rush in where angels fear to tread—”

“Do you think society is not ready for me?” Rob could not help smiling at his friend’s concern.

Ethan shot him an exasperated look. “I’d find a barber, were I you. Your locks are beyond Byronic. And your emotions are as raw as a winter day. Diplomacy has never been your strong suit. Under the circumstances, no one could fault you, but why put yourself through the whispers, the pity….”

Pity? He’d have to squelch that. He’d rather be hated than pitied. “Why the concern, Ethan? The Foreign Office has kept me in isolation since my return. Two blasted weeks of picking my brains for any scrap of information I managed to gather during my…ah, residence at the Dey’s palace. It is too early for you to have had complaints of me.”

“That is what I am trying to forestall.”

“Has anyone complained of my manners?” he asked.

“Your manners, when you choose, are impeccable, Rob. Not so your reputation. And you’ve done little to mend it. Your single-mindedness and complete lack of a conscience when pursuing a goal are legendary. But I still wouldn’t be ready to toast debutantes and make polite conversation had I been through what you have the past few years, and worse these last six months.”

Rob pushed the ache of memories back into the dark recesses of his mind. He couldn’t allow his demons to divert him from his mission tonight. “Your concern is unnecessary, Ethan.”

“I know you want to find this ‘Madame Zoe’ person and bring her down, but this is not the time for it, Rob.”

“None better,” he countered. “But have no fear. I shan’t make a scene. To the contrary, I mean to keep my intentions secret. Bad hunting strategy to sound the horn and send the fox to ground.”

Ethan cleared his throat. “Mrs. Forbush is my wife’s close personal friend. She is introducing her niece, Miss Dianthe Lovejoy, to society tonight. She would be devastated if anything should go wrong.”

“You regret obtaining the invitation for me?” he asked. “What could possibly go wrong?”

“Good God, McHugh. Can you be serious?”

Rob gave a grim laugh. “Did the Foreign Office ask you to watch me? You sound just like Lord Kilgrew. He urged me to take some time before resuming my…obligations.” Rob tugged at the crisp curls at the back of his neck and permitted himself a small sigh. He supposed Ethan was right about one thing—he should have gotten a haircut.

But Ethan Travis needn’t have worried. Rob’s incarceration in Algiers had given him time to contain his cold fury at the forces that had set him on this path. Without that control, he’d be burning a path through London society in pursuit of the information he sought.

Ethan sprang a surprise of his own. “Your brother, now,” he said in an obvious attempt to turn Rob’s attention to a less volatile subject, “makes up for your social inadequacies. He’s been making an impression on London society since arriving six weeks ago. Did you know he’s staying at Limmer’s?”

“Douglas is in London?” This was a surprise. The Foreign Office had permitted no news of the outside world during Rob’s two-week interrogation.

Ethan nodded. “Your solicitor sent for him when the news reached us that the Dey had sentenced you to death, and that you…would not be coming back.”

“Hope he’s not squandering his inheritance.” Rob grinned. “Does he know that I’m alive?”

“Not yet. But my note should be catching up to him within the hour. Be warned—he’s got himself engaged.”

“Has he now? In a month? That was quick work.”

“You’ll like her, Rob. ’Tis the Barlow girl. Do you recall Beatrice?”

Rob nodded as they entered the Forbush ballroom. If memory served, Beatrice “Bebe” Barlow was a pretty, petite blonde of about twenty-one years or so. She had engaged his attention for about two minutes before he realized she was quite ordinary—even a little flighty. That soft vagueness would appeal to Douglas, though, and Rob wished his brother well.

He noted the short hush that fell over the assembly, followed by looks of pity or common curiosity, as he entered. It would appear the news of the outcome of his mission and his escape had reached the ton even before he had. A lightning flash did not strike with the speed of London gossip. What a pity the Foreign Office could not harness that force for foreign intelligence-gathering.