Page 24 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
Allie pressed her lips together. This was not the time to point out that the countess did not care for her. Lady Wellingdon thought her too untamed. Too independent. And Allie thought Jo’s mother kept her daughter too tightly reined.
“Very well. I shall join you.” Jo stood too.
“Let me just tell Mr. Gibson.” Allie headed to the back room and rapped on the door frame of his workshop.
“So you’re finally going over.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “You resisted a good long while.”
“I did. I considered the matter before deciding, just as Dominic would have wanted.”
He turned and winked at her in reply.
“May I bring you anything?”
“I’m content with my tea, but do have a care, Miss Prince.” He tipped his chin and looked at her over his magnifying pince-nez. “Yesterday’s encounter seems to have unsettled you.”
“Which is precisely why I must go back and break its spell. Nothing can be allowed to separate me from Hawlston’s coffee.” She offered him a smile, hoping it would suffice to reassure him. “I promise to take care and return as quickly as I can.”
“Take your time. I heard Lady Josephine’s voice. Sit and enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you.” Allie patted Grendel, who was curled up on a chair in the back room, and slipped her scarf off its hook on the wall before heading out to meet Jo.
“Ready?”
Jo’s only response was a fretful look.
“What if that fearful man you saw is there?” She laid a hand on Allie’s arm as if to keep her from rushing out the front door. “Surely, he’d recognize you.”
“We don’t even know if he is there. I have a strong feeling he won’t be.”
The more she considered the man, the more Allie suspected he did not frequent Hawlston’s. He wasn’t typical of its customers. He was better dressed than most gentlemen who frequented the coffeehouse, the majority of whom were employed in shops and offices nearby.
“Besides, he doesn’t know I overheard him,” she pointed out. “Only that I stepped into the alley.”
“That is a good point,” Jo acknowledged, though she still made no move toward the front door.
“Don’t fret, Jo. I could go on my own.” Allie gestured toward their favorite stuffed chairs. “Sit and read, and I’ll make it a quick trip over and back.”
“No.” Jo shook her head firmly and the feathers on her pretty violet hat emphasized the movement. “What sort of friend would I be if I let you go alone?”
Allie laughed. “I go alone to Hawlston’s nearly every day.”
“Not since you may have encountered a band of dangerous criminals.”
“They mostly sounded like a danger to the royal regalia.”
“I suspect men who would undertake such a daring theftcouldbe dangerous.” Jo reached for Allie’s arm and wrapped it around her own. “But no matter. Let us go.”
“You’re certain?”
“I am.”
They walked arm in arm for the short trip along the pavement to Hawlston’s. As usual, the cafe was busy, though not as chaotic as it was in the mornings.
When Allie reached for the door, Jo gave her arm a tug.
“What’s the plan if by chance we do find them there?”
This had been a consideration much of the morning. “We remain calm, observe them surreptitiously, and get a message to Inspector Drake.”
