Page 48 of Lady Gambit
“We do.” She reached into her reticule and removed a small scrap of paper. “The physician was warned not to mention Lord Meldrum’s secret visit.” She touched his hand when giving him the note. Her coy grin said it was deliberate. “We might use it as leverage.”
He scanned the barely legible script. “I’m impressed. You saw the importance of biding time.” He wasn’t sure if it was admiration causing his heart to gallop or the thought of how he might reward her for her efforts. “A good investigator knows not to question a witness until they have gathered more facts.”
“As Aaron is dealing with Lord Meldrum, I planned to give him the note, but perhaps there’s a reason fate left it for meto find. Just like there’s a reason we’ve been forced to work together.”
“I don’t doubt there’s an invisible force at play.”
This ineffable bond they shared transcended the ordinary.
Her mouth curled into a smile that could light the night sky. “You see how much easier it is when we’re both open and honest. Let’s make a pact not to keep secrets.”
He laughed. “Very well, though don’t ask me what I’m thinking unless you’re prepared to hear the answer.”
The carriage rolled to a stop in Nelson Square. To avoid warning Meldrum of their arrival, Gibbs parked on the east side of the square, though he still had a clear view of the impressive townhouse.
“I’ll move the carriage once you’re inside,” Gibbs said as they alighted. “After I’ve made sure we’re not being followed.”
Miss Chance placed a calming hand on her chest. “If only we’d been this careful the day my brother was shot.”
“It takes one mistake to change the course of fate,” Gibbs said. He had been spending too much time with Lucius Daventry because there was something of a wise scholar in his tone. “It might be years before you understand why the gods moved the playing pieces.”
Dorian suspected the gods had a small part to play. Daventry had forced him to take the case, to have Miss Chance as a guest at his house and work alongside her. Daventry had left them alone to explore their growing desires. Was it a coincidence Destiny and Daventry began and ended with the same letter and had the same number of syllables?
He was still thinking about the dramatic turn of events when the young butler greeted them at Meldrum’s door. As agreed, Miss Chance introduced herself as she was more likely to gain entrance.
“I shall enquire if his lordship can receive you.”
“I’m quite certain Lord Meldrum will want to see me,” she said with a winsome smile. “Please explain that I am here with my chaperone to discuss his recent proposal.”
The butler looked down his nose at Dorian and demanded to know his name. Then he bowed and said, “Please wait here.”
Less than a minute later, they were ushered into the opulent drawing room, where Meldrum sat cradling a glass of brandy and nursing a bruised eye.
He rose, albeit awkwardly, his good eye coming to rest on the enchanting woman who had no plans to marry him. “Miss Chance. What a pleasure.” Meldrum was trying to be charming, but the thread of fear in his voice was unmistakable. “I must admit, I am somewhat surprised to see you here. Indeed, I must ask how you knew where to find me?”
Miss Chance gave a charming smile. “I overheard Aaron cursing you to the devil, my lord. He told my brother Aramis that if he wished to question you further, he might find you at your sister’s abode.”
Meldrum visibly shivered. He was a short man of thirty, with a mop of golden hair and a cherub-like face. He was dressed impeccably in a dark green coat and beige trousers. Yet Dorian imagined him creeping into Miss Chance’s bedchamber at night, wearing a white nightshirt and a wicked grin.
“Does your brother know you’re here?” Meldrum’s bottom lip quivered.
That’s when he dared to look Dorian in the eye.
They knew each other, of course.
Meldrum was a coward who’d hidden behind the other boys at school until Dorian learned the importance of the termdivide and conquerand spent a week singling the bullies out. Meldrum had pissed the bed the night Dorian stuffed dirty stockings in his mouth and warned him not to join the fight again.
“Do you honestly believe he would permit me to come here alone? I asked Mr Flynn to accompany me.” She glanced at him over her shoulder, her eyes softening momentarily. “Mr Flynn is exceptionally skilled at locating missing persons. I have hired him to find my parents.”
Meldrum kept his tone even when he said, “I’m told you’ll soon be master of Helmsley Hall, Flynn. Your father was boasting at the club and said we’d read the announcement soon.”
Helmsley Hall was the gift the Marquess of Bexley had bestowed upon his illegitimate daughter, Miss Montague.
“You’re mistaken. My father does not determine who I marry.” He could feel Miss Chance’s intense gaze boring into him. “When the time comes, I shall choose my own bride, just as I’ve chosen my own profession.”
Meldrum snorted. “You’d rather live above the Old Swan than at Helmsley? I know men who would give their right arm to marry a woman as divine as Miss Montague.”
“What I choose to do is not your concern. I’m here in a professional capacity. As Miss Chance said, I’ve been employed to find her parents, and hired by the magistrate at Bow Street to catch the blackguard who shot Theodore Chance.”
