Page 108 of The Truth Serum
Every man she knew measured every aspect of his life in gains and losses. Every man except Nate. What they had shared was love. It was as pure as it had been ten years ago, but with the added perspective of maturity.
She just had to get through tonight. Then she’d—
Where was Fletcher going?
She’d been getting some lemonade because she was parched. Dancing took a lot of work. Then she’d looked for the baron, only to find him with Fletcher. The two shook hands, the baron clapped her brother on the back, and then Fletcher departed.
Not to the card table.
Not to the garden to get some air.
He’d left the ball and Rebecca wanted to know why. He was her escort as Mama had elected to go to a different fete tonight. He wasn’t supposed to abandon her in the middle of a ball. She could go home with Kynthea and the duke, but that wasn’t what was important. Why would he leave?
She made her way to the baron, careful to keep her expression neutral. He was in the middle of speaking effusively with an MP in the House of Lords. She waited, listening with interest to his political views. They were measured, thoughtful, and very typical when speaking with a conservative member of the Tory party. But she’d also heard him expound on the exact opposite views when speaking with a Whig.
She stifled an internal sigh. She already knew she couldn’t point out his double-dealing. Ladies weren’t supposed to weigh in on political matters. So she waited as every good maiden must, and then when he finally turned to her, he had something else entirely on his mind.
“Is it time for our waltz already? Goodness, don’t say I’ve forgotten the time!”
“No, no! But…I just saw Fletcher leave. Do you know where he’s going?”
“Oh that. Don’t worry. He shall be back in time to escort you home. And if not, then I shall be happy to—”
“That’s not appropriate yet, sir,” she said, feigning an embarrassed giggle. She’d learned that he loved it when sheplayed the coquette, but damn it turned her stomach. “He didn’t say anything to me about leaving.”
“Nonsense. He’s merely doing me a favor. Won’t take long.” He turned away from her, smiling at another MP who loitered near the liquor. “You go on and enjoy yourself,” he added over his shoulder. “The next set is about to begin.” Then he seemed to remember he was supposed to be courting her, so he turned back and gave her an elaborate bow. “Don’t concern yourself with men’s matters. He’s only doing a quick errand for me at the docks. Then he’ll be right back. Has his eye on a young lady and he won’t miss his chance with her, I assure you.”
She knew how he expected her to answer. He thought she would pursue the identity of whatever woman had caught Fletcher’s eye. She couldn’t care less, but she used the excuse to peruse the ballroom floor looking for Kynthea or the duke.
“Oh,” she said in a sweet voice. “Which girl?”
Damn it, both the duke and his fiancée were caught in discussions. It wasn’t surprising. People were always trying to sidle into their orbit. They were, after all, duke and future duchess. But that didn’t help her any.
“Why don’t you see if you can guess?”
She gave the baron a vacuous smile. “What a fun game,” she drawled. “All right. I will.” Then she gave him an outrageous wink. “You think you have outwitted me, but I am smarter than that. I don’t think the lady is out here at all. I believe she is in the ladies’ retiring room, and that’s where I shall be quizzing all the girls about my brother.”
The baron grinned. “Clever girl.”
She all but danced away as if to show her delight. In truth, she needed to be out of his sight. And out of Kynthea and Ras’s as well. Because she very much feared exactly what errand her brother was doing.
He had to be handling the gun exchange for the baron. After all, it couldn’t be trusted to any underling. And what better way to inextricably tie her family to the baron’s except by a shared crime?
The very idea made her sick. Her brother was many things, but she’d never believe he’d turn traitor.
And now she had a difficult problem. If it truly was her brother who was going to sell the baron’s rifles, then he would recognize Nate and know it was a trap. But even more important, Nate would recognize Fletcher, and her brother would be caught as a traitor.
He would be drawn and quartered for that.
She wanted her brother stopped, not killed. Which meant she had to halt the exchange. They would just have to catch the baron some other way. She could not have her brother hung nor Nate’s secrets exposed.
She ought to grab the duke or Kynthea. They would help her get to the docks, but they would also turn Fletcher in. They had no family loyalty to her difficult brother. So she had to go alone. And she had to go now.
She slipped out through a side door, mentally calculating the time. The front lane was clogged with carriages. It wasn’t a simple thing to leave a ball and climb into one’s carriage. The driver needed to be notified, and a carriage brought round. And her brother did like travelling in comfort. There wasn’t any crest on his carriage, but it was well appointed and very comfortable inside. Plus, he and his driver were thick as thieves. She’d noted it on several occasions.
Which meant her brother would not have bothered with a hackney but would take his own carriage to the docks. In fact, there it was! It was hard to be sure in the dark, but it was the best guess she had.
Making some quick calculations, she ran past the line of carriages, ducked through an alleyway to the next road, and hailed the first hackney she found, directing it to the docks. Then she settled against the squabs and tried to calm her racing heart.
