Page 58 of The Scoundrel's Daughter
Alice wasn’t going to argue with that. Lucy was playing her own deep game, as was Gerald. “At least now that we’re getting more invitations to balls and parties, she’s starting to meet suitable gentlemen at last.”
“Does that mean you no longer have need of my services?”
“If you were in the least bit serious about it, I would, but since you seem to want to make a mockery of my difficulties—”
“I’m not.”
Alice merely looked at him with brows raised.
“Oh, very well. I might not have chosen the more suitable of my acquaintances for Miss Bamber, but—”
“They were, I have no doubt, theleastsuitable, and if you are determined to waste our time, I beg you will desist. Now, how have you been doing with your search for Lucy’s father, or have you been spending all your time on finding ridiculous matches for Lucy?”
Gerald grimaced. “I’ve made inquiries all over, but it’s as you said: the man seems to have no permanent address. He’s as slippery as an eel. I’ve tracked him to several different addresses, but at each one he’s been long gone. Have you thought about hiring a Bow Street Runner?”
“Are you mad? Word would be out in no time. No, we need to make discreet, private inquiries, not have it on public record.”
“Then may I share the problem with Lord Tarrant.”
Alice looked at him in horror. “Lord Tarrant? No! Why on earth would you want to tell him my private business? I barely know the man.” Bad enough that he haunted her thoughts with his offer offriendship. She didn’t want him involved any deeper in her life.
“No, butIknow him very well,” Gerald said. “And there’s no one I’d trust more with my problems.”
“It’s not your problem, though, is it?”
“You’re family, Aunt Alice, and your problems are my problems.”
“That’s all very well, but Lord Tarrant—”
“Has connections.”
Alice eyed him cautiously. “What sort of connections?”
“There’s a fellow in the Horse Guards who runs the most extraordinary network of investigative agents. They’re famed for efficiency and discreet inquiry. They don’t usually do private work—the network was built during the war to gather wartime intelligence—but there’s not as much work for them in peacetime, and there might be a possibility that one of the agents could track down Bamber’s whereabouts on your behalf. If anyone can swing it, it would be Tarrant. He’s a friend of the fellow who runs it.”
Alice didn’t like the sound of it. She didn’t want Lord Tarrant to be involved. She hardly knew him. She didn’t want him to know she was being blackmailed, didn’t want him to think badly of her. And she would die if he ever read those dreadful letters.
“You can trust Tarrant, Aunt Alice. He’s the most honorable, capable, trustworthy man I know.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t want him to—”
“Don’t youwantBamber found?”
“Yes, of course I do. It’s just...” She took a breath and tried a different tack. “What would you do to Bamber if you found him?”
“Force the swine to give up those letters.”
“Yes, but how? You wouldn’t hurt him, would you?”
“What do you care if I did? The man deserves a dam—a dashed good thrashing.”
“Yes, but it could get you into terrible trouble. People go to gaol for that kind of thing. Besides, scoundrel as he is, he’s also Lucy’s father.”
Gerald gave a derisive snort.
“And none of this is her fault.”
“It’s not yours, either. Now, may I tell Tarrant about the problem or not?” She hesitated, and he added, “It’s the best chance we have, and if Miss Bamber is refusing to have anything to do with lords, you’re effectively breaking your agreement with her father. Finding him and getting the letters back is your only hope, and for that we need Tarrant and his connections.”
