“Of course, Lady Katherine.” He bowed to his companions and moved aside with her. About them the music rose and fell, only to rise again. She felt Leam’s gaze still in her blood, warm and speaking so many things without a word. As always.
“Is your mother unwell?” Lord Chamberlayne asked. “I’m afraid I have lost her in this crush.”
“Oh, no, my lord. I sought you out on my own mission. You see…”
It was difficult to mouth the lies. His eyes shone clear gray, much lighter than her father’s. In his face was compassion too, she had never noticed in her father’s when he still lived. This man was kind at heart. If only there were another way. But nothing could convince her of the necessity of her pantomime if not Leam’s bedraggled appearance, his bearded jaw, and, most of all, the look in his eyes before she had caught his gaze. She must do this and discover the truth for her mother’s sake.
And for Leam’s.
Lord Chamberlayne tucked her hand into his elbow.
“Kitty, I hope you will trust me with any concern, large or small. You are like my own daughter, you know, if I’d had one.”
“You have only your son, of course.”
“Yes. And I see so little of him, as he prefers to remain at home in Scotland.”
“Yes.” She paused. “You see, I have come seeking advice—rather, assistance regarding a Scottish gentleman.”
“Have you an admirer you wish me to speak with? I know I am not your father, but I hope someday to be of such assistance to you.”
“Oh, well, yes, in a manner of speaking.” She plunged in. “But you see, my lord, he is not an admirer. I fear his attentions went a great deal farther than admiration and now I am in something of a quandary.”
His arm went stiff. “Has a gentleman insulted you?”
“Not—not without my consent,” she said hastily, the words slippery on her tongue. “You see, well, I am not entirely ashamed to admit that I expected more of him. But he has disappointed me.”
His face was stony.
“Do you wish me to call him out on your behalf, Kitty? If so, you may expect it of me. I consider your family my own.”
She nearly lost courage. How could a man of such fidelity to her mother be a traitor to his country?
“I believe,” she said slowly, “that will not be necessary. I believe, in fact, that he may be made uncomfortable in quite another manner entirely.”
His brow creased. “It would be simpler for my understanding if you named the man.”
So she did, naming him and pouring out the remainder of her false story, the ship and its stolen cargo and her trust that a friend like Lord Chamberlayne could help her reveal the Earl of Blackwood’s villainy to the proper authorities. She included the time and place the following morning at which Leam planned to meet an informant. Wouldn’t it be marvelous if government officials were there to apprehend them for their crime?
It astounded her how quickly Lord Chamberlayne’s eyes glimmered with interest, and how he asked her for details. Her heart ached. She reminded herself that her mother and Leam’s safety were both bound into this pretense.
Lord Chamberlayne patted her hand, his brow taut. “I will see to it that the gentleman is brought to task for his treasonous activities if such they are.”
“I will see it as well. I will be there tomorrow morning too.”
“I cannot allow that,” he said firmly. “These men are not playing games.”
“Kitty? Douglas?” Her mother appeared beside her. “The two of you have the appearance of plotters. I hope I am not interrupting.”
“Not at all, Mama. We were saying good night. I have danced myself into exhaustion and cannot remain a minute longer. Will you find another way if I take the carriage?”
Her mother regarded her through wise brown eyes and finally said, “Yes, dear. Of course.”
Kitty fled from the drawing room into the ballroom. But there she found no respite from her tumult of feelings either. Pressing through the crowd of guests merry now with wine and dance and the wee hours, she made her way to a parlor filled with revelers, then another chamber, and another. She descended the stairs of the mansion into the cool lower story. What had she done? Why had she trusted them? All she had truly wanted was to see him again, be with him, and now this dishonesty, this pretense once more.
She came into a corridor behind the stairwell, empty of all but a maid rushing from one place to the next. The girl passed by with a swift curtsy and Kitty pressed her back against a wall, trapping her unsteady hands behind her, and drew slow breaths.
A door opened at the corridor’s opposite end and the Earl of Blackwood came through it. Music trickled down the stairs from above, but the beat of her heart drowned it out. They looked at each other without moving, his eyes darkly shining.
“It—” The words tumbled from her lips. “It is my birthday today.”
He smiled, a sort of lopsided smile not entirely in control that turned Kitty’s insides out.
“Aye,” he replied in a low voice. “That i’tis.”
He did not move. She did not.
“They told you about the plan, didn’t they?”
“Aye.”
On the stair just above, voices sounded and feet descended. She had many questions, and unspoken needs better left unspoken. Tearing her gaze away, she went across the landing to the front of the house, to the foyer and out, to her carriage and home.
The footman greeted her with sleepy eyes. She told him to turn in and went to the parlor to pace.
She could not rest, not anticipating the morning’s assignation and what it could mean to her mother and to Leam. He would spend the night making a pretense of drinking and playing cards somewhere with Mr. Yale for the benefit of anyone who might be watching. Then in the morning he would go to the rendezvous place to await Lord Chamberlayne.
Stomach tight, she descended to the basement and set a pot of water on the kitchen stove. Better to await her mother’s return alone and confront her with the truth without fear of being overheard by curious ears. For she must tell her tonight.
The knocker clanking on the front door made her jump. She set down the teapot and went to the stair, nerves on end. The footman appeared.
“I said you might turn in, John,” she murmured as he moved toward the front door.
“Yes, mum.” He wore a nightshirt, and a wig dropped over both his hair and nightcap. He threw back the bolts and opened the door. A boy stood on the stoop.
“From milady,” he piped cheerily, as though it were broad daylight. John took the missive, dropped a coin into his palm, and bolted the door once more.
“Milady, can I be making you a cuppa?”
“No, thank you.” She unfolded the missive. “I can do so my—” A knock sounded on the tradesman’s door at the rear of the house. Kitty and the footman looked at each other, then she shrugged. He passed her on the stairs and moved along the basement corridor lit only by a single candle in a sconce. Peering into the gloom, she read the note. Her shoulders fell.
Apparently her mother would not be returning tonight. Mere weeks from her confinement, Serena felt unwell again; the dowager would stay at the other house.
Kitty could not bear it, this waiting for everything. She felt as though she had already waited a lifetime.
She put her hand to her face, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again Leam stood in the doorway, the sparkling dark of the rain-speckled night casting him in silhouette.
“Milady?” John asked, presumably surprised to find an earl standing in her basement corridor in the middle of the night. Perhaps not quite as surprised as Kitty; John hadn’t any notion why the earl should not be there, after all—except for the most obvious reasons.