Page 37 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
She found a viscount by the name of George Holcroft, but among the brothers, uncles, and sons, she couldn’t find a single Thomas listed. If the black beard and dark glasses had been a disguise, perhaps the presentation as a haughty aristocrat had been too.
She rushed back into the shop to tell Mr. Gibson and immediately noticed that their watcher was gone.
“Where is he?”
Mr. Gibson scanned the opposite street and pointed. “He seems to be departing.”
Without hesitation, as if some inner force propelled her, Allie strode out onto the street. Mr. Demming hadn’t gotten far and twisted his head when the bell above their door sounded.
Spotting her, his eyes bulged under the low brim of his hat. He stopped and looked increasingly confused as Allie strode toward him.
“I wish to speak to you, sir,” she said as she pushed past other pedestrians on the busy London street.
As quick as a flash, Demming turned his back on her, tucked his head, and rushed away at a pavement-eating stride.
Allie picked up her pace and wished she wasn’t hampered by the length of her skirt and the weight of her petticoats.
At the corner, the thief cut right and disappeared from view.
An omnibus had just dislodged passengers, and a sea of people started down the pavement toward Allie, stalling her progress.
“To hell and rot.” Her brother’s favorite curse came out unbidden and an elderly lady nearby gasped.
Allie ignored the woman’s outrage because she’d spotted an opening. Like Demming had done, she tucked her arms in and pushed past the gaggle of new pedestrians. A moment later, she rounded the corner and found the cross street even busier, clogged with carriages and those making their way to and from shops along the busy thoroughfare.
Demming had disappeared into the crowd, and she couldn’t distinguish one burly dark-coated man from another.
Except for the one man who she couldn’t fail to notice.
Drake emerged at the end of the alley, and she felt a rush of relief to see him. His long cloak arced out behind him as he ate up the distance between them in his approach. His color was high, his dark hair wild. He looked breathless and frustrated, and when he spotted her, his expression transformed to ire.
“You vowed to wait for me, Miss Prince.”
“I didn’t vow anything. You insisted and I... changed my mind.”
“Of course you did.”
“You hadn’t appeared, and then Mr. Demming departed, so I pursued him.”
He scanned the street one way and then the other.
“Unsuccessfully,” Allie added, as if the fact wasn’t obvious. “I’m sorry.”
Drake closed his eyes, ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further and in a way that set a few curls free.
Allie felt a wildly inappropriate urge to stroke her fingers through them. Why could she think of nothing but touching the man?
“I lost him too. You’ve nothing to apologize for.” His voice had gone deeper, warm, almost reassuring. Then he shocked her by releasing a half smile. “Except, perhaps, for doing precisely the opposite of what I asked you to.”
“I was trying to be helpful.”
“I know. That’s why I cannot fault you.”
“And I did discover something.”
“What’s that?”
“I checkedDebrett’s. Lord Thomas Holcroft isn’t listed. The copy is only three years old. I suspect he may not be a true nobleman.”
