The weight of the foil in his hand, the slide of his stockinged feet across the floorboards, Jeremy’s grin as they fought, were familiar; they’d fenced together since they were boys. Adam paid no attention to the spectators gathering around the edges of the high-ceilinged chamber. If he was to win, he needed all his concentration. For all his foppishness, Jeremy possessed a wiry strength and lightning-quick reflexes.
The chamber echoed with the soft pad of their feet, the clash of blades, their panting breaths. Parry and riposte and—
“Damn!” Adam said.
Jeremy merely grinned more broadly.
“First point to Revelstoke,” Henry Angelo said. “En garde!”
They started slowly, circling, parrying and riposting, testing each other. Adam knew Jeremy’s style, his strengths and weaknesses, as well as Jeremy knew his. Sometimes it was an advantage; sometimes a drawback.
He won the next two points, and Jeremy the one after that.
“Last point,” Jeremy said, flexing his foil. “Want to bet on it?”
Adam wiped sweat from his face. He thought of the three hundred and ninety-eight guineas he had yet to give away. “No.”
Jeremy’s eyebrows rose in exaggerated surprise. “Afraid you’ll lose?”
Adam ignored the teasing. He brought the point of his foil up.
“Have you heard about Gorrie?” Jeremy asked, moving into position again.
Adam shook his head.
“Tom paid him a visit last night.”
“What?” Adam half-lowered his foil. How in the blazes had Tom found out about Gorrie so quickly?
“En garde!” Henry Angelo called.
Adam brought the foil up again. He tried to focus his attention on the match, but his concentration was broken. Jeremy took the fifth point swiftly with a redoublement. “Tut tut,” he said, grinning broadly. “Someone wasn’t paying attention.”
Adam grunted.
“Well done, gentlemen,” Henry Angelo said.
Together they walked off the floor. “Tell me about Gorrie,” Adam said, as they shrugged into their coats.
“I thought that might catch your attention,” Jeremy said, straightening his cuffs.
Adam glanced at him swiftly.
Jeremy met his look with an innocence that could only be suspicious.
Adam narrowed his eyes. “You were trying to distract me.”
Jeremy looked deeply wounded. “Me?” he said. “Would I do such a thing?”
Adam snorted. He pulled on one of his boots.
Jeremy shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?” he said with a grin.
“You are an unprincipled rogue!”
“No,” Jeremy said. “That would be Gorrie. And our dear Tom has punished him for it.”
Adam picked up his second boot. “Do you know what was taken?”
“Quite a haul, or so I understand. Jewelry, and several hundred pounds in banknotes.”
“Banknotes?” Adam said, astonished. “He’s never done that before, has he?”
Jeremy shrugged. “Who knows?”
Adam paused, his second boot held in one hand. “Did you tell anyone about Gorrie yesterday?”
“Lord, yes!” Jeremy said cheerfully. “Dozens of people.”
“When?”
Jeremy shrugged again. “At the opera. At White’s afterward.”
Adam frowned at the boot he was holding. If Tom had found out about Gorrie yesterday evening . . . would he have burgled the man that very night?
Somehow he doubted it.
He pulled on his boot slowly.
ARABELLA TOOK THE carriage to Kensington Gardens that afternoon—and then a hackney to Rosemary Lane. She glanced at the sky as she and Polly hurried through the filthy streets of Whitechapel. The clouds were low and dark.
In the little house on Berner Street, she handed her haul over to Harry and Tess: the money for Jenny, and Sir Arnold’s contribution to the school for girls.
The four of them discussed Jenny. “I want her out of London as soon as possible,” Arabella said. “In case Gorrie decides to look for his money.”
“It’s a lot o’ blunt,” Harry said, grinning as he fanned the bills out. “I’m sure ’e’d like it back.”
Arabella watched as he tapped the bills against his palm and laid them neatly on the scarred wooden table. “I’d send Polly but someone’s looking for Tom. I don’t want any connection between Jenny’s disappearance and me.”
Harry looked up sharply. “What d’ you mean, lookin’ for Tom?”
Arabella shrugged. “Someone wants to find out who Tom is. He’s been asking questions.”
“Does he suspect you?” Tess asked.
Arabella laughed. “No. He’s looking for a man. But . . .” her amusement faded, “he’s worked out Tom’s a member of the ton.”
“Should we be worried?” Harry asked, turning a tiepin over in his fingers. The emerald glinted dully in the unlit room.
“No.” Arabella shook her head. “But we need to be careful. Which is another reason why I’d like Jenny out of London as soon as possible.”
“I’ll get ’er tomorrow mornin’,” Harry said. “Take ’er out to Swanley, settle ’er in at the school.”
“I’ll come too,” Tess said, with a glance at her husband. “It’ll be less frightening for her.” Her hand rested briefly on her own rounded belly.
“Thank you.” Arabella cast a glance at the window and stood. “We’d better leave. It’s going to rain soon.”
INSTEAD OF ACCOMPANYING Jeremy to White’s, Adam went home. He found his sister in the blue parlor, going through the latest issue of La Belle Assemblée with Hetty Wootton. The girls’ heads were bent close together, fair and dark. “. . . puffings of reverse satin,” he heard Grace say.
Adam backed quietly out of the room. He went to his study, poured himself a glass of brandy, and sat at his desk, a clean sheet of paper in front of him. He dipped his quill in ink and began to write.
Grace
Miss Knightley
Miss Knightley’s maid
Myself
The four of them had witnessed the incident outside Hatchard’s on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon, he’d told Jeremy and Alvanley about it. That evening, Tom had paid Sir Arnold Gorrie a visit.
Adam rolled the quill between his fingers. He didn’t think Tom had heard about Gorrie from either Jeremy or Alvanley. The timing was too tight.
Somehow Tom had found out from one of the other witnesses.
Which one?
Adam was aware of excitement building inside him. He was getting close to discovering Tom’s identity.
He swallowed a large mouthful of brandy, then pulled another sheet of paper towards him. He began to list the men he’d seen at Almack’s last night. Each name was someone Tom couldn’t be.
AN HOUR LATER, Adam went back to the parlor.
