“Save the dalliances for later, Roddy. This is too important, and time is of the essence. Do you think you are both up to this? I should have thought it through better. Rod, you were right, Miss Lucy isn’t the best one to involve in this. Simmons will have my head if he finds out. But in the moment and with the seriousness and yet lack of time, I did what I thought was right. Do say I won’t regret it.”
“You can count on me, Gilbert, I swear it,” Lucy vowed solemnly, ignoring the chuckle coming from Roderick.
“Don’t be so patriotic about it, Lucy, or he’ll have you pulled into his shenanigans whenever the opportunity strikes.”
“And would that be so dreadful?” Lucy countered.
“What do you think your brother would have to say on the topic?” Roderick answered her question with one of his own. Lucy’s mouth, which had been opened to argue further, shut with a snap. Her protective older brother wasn’t likely to appreciate her involving herself in any sort of investigation or mission, or whatever this was. She didn’t even rightly understand it, but Gilbert said it was for the safety and security of their nation, so she was willing to do as he asked, despite her belief that he was likely exaggerating the matter considerably. Likely for dramatic effect to involve her. He likely thought the bored debutante wouldn’t agree just from his asking. She ought to be offended but she wasn’t. She couldn’t be sure that he was wrong.
“Is it likely to take very long?” was all Lucy ended up asking after that. “If we don’t want Robert to know, we ought to make sure I get home before too awfully long.”
“It shouldn’t take very long at all. Subterfuge is usually a very brief game.”
Again Lucy was at a loss for words. She knew she lived a rather oblivious life but she really had no idea. A part of her wanted to curl up and weep in reaction to the last ten minutes, but Gilbert’s urgency was contagious and she knew she didn’t have time to have a fit of the vapours.
Roderick’s gaze was on her and she tried to offer him a reassuring smile. She suspected it was wobbly around the edges, but it must have been sufficiently reassuring as he nodded and smiled in answer. Suddenly, despite her misgivings as well as her irritation with herself, her heart lifted and she felt useful even if she didn’t understand exactly what was going on. It was a heady feeling that made her want to hug Roderick for sharing the moment with her. This probably wasn’t the most appropriate response. Lucy chose to ignore the sensation and push on with the assignment she had accepted. It wouldn’t do to become missish at this juncture.
Before she could do more than twitch her skirts into place after the brisk walk and blink at the suddenness of it all, Lucy found herself staring at Roderick, who was gazing at her with an expression of significance upon his face. They were in another small park, a different one from where Gilbert had found them but quite similar in appearance. Roderick had positioned her next to a tree where she could lean against it to appear as though they had stopped to talk casually. Lucy’s maid, waited to the side, not really paying the least attention to the development. It crossed Lucy’s mind that the inattentive girl wasn’t of much use to her, but she dismissed the unwelcome intrusive thought. Roderick’s clever positioning put him with his back to a nearby bench. A quick peek showed Lucy that there were two rather scruffy looking men sitting there deep in conversation. Without further dithering and with a weak smile pinned in place, she launched into speech.
“My gown for tomorrow evening is the lightest shade of pink. It looks nearly white. You will know it’s not, though, because you pay attention to such details, but most will be deceived. It is the most darling gown I’ve yet ordered this Season. The cut and shape are very flattering. It is a new modiste I have just engaged for the first time, but already I know she will be a hit amongst theton. That is if I decide I’m willing to share her name. I thought I ought to keep it to myself, but that would be dreadfully selfish and really rather conceited on my part. Who am I to keep her information to myself, I thought. Although, I do believe I shall assure her she has to always save time in her schedule for me.”
Lucy prattled on for several minutes talking about nothing of import – her recent clothing purchases such as a new bonnet and ribbons, the latest novel she had been reading, she even carried on a one-sided discussion of the weather for far longer than one would consider humanly possible. To her shock, despite how inane her words became, Roderick continued to maintain an expression of enraptured interest on his face, nodding from time to time as though she had made some fascinating point on a topic of concern to him. If she weren’t so nervous, Lucy would have been vastly amused by the entire process.
When she was about halfway through recounting the plot of a recent visit to the theatre, Roderick interrupted her with his rich, deep chuckle.
“Lucy, my dear girl, you are far more skilled at artful conversation than even I gave you credit for. Your skills are wasted in your current position.”
Lucy stared at him with her mouth agape for a brief moment before she shut it with a snap as Roderick took her arm and began a slow stroll.
“You were absolutely brilliant, Luce, truly. I’m not just saying that to reassure your ego. I was only distracted because I do find you fascinating, but you chose perfect topics and kept your voice pitched low enough that it would be clear to onlookers that you were speaking, but no one would be able to overhear and know that I wasn’t likely to be as fascinated by your speech as I had to appear. Very well done.”
Lucy’s heart felt as though it had stalled over his words at one point when he said he found her fascinating but he carried on speaking, almost as though he hadn’t even said it, so that the moment passed and she couldn’t recall him to that moment without seeming unforgivably egotistical. And stirring up confused feelings between the two of them wasn’t going to benefit either of them. She knew he wouldn’t be interested in someone like her, no matter what he might have said, and she couldn’t allow herself to pursue her interest in him. It was a sad but very true scenario.
“Were you able to hear anything of import?” Lucy asked eagerly when she had herself under full control. She truly did want to know. She had barely been able to hear anything with her own chatter sounding in her ear, she couldn’t imagine that he had been able to do so, especially in another language.
“I was,” Roderick answered immediately. “And I can see why Gil was so concerned about us listening to that particular conversation.”
Lucy’s eyes widened in alarm. “Truly? What did you hear? Who were they? Are they people familiar to you? What is happening?”
Despite his evident concern, Roderick’s rich chuckle sounded low in her ear as he escorted her away from where they had been standing. She could feel his eagerness to hurry but he kept his pace steady.
“We have to maintain the appearance of two people enjoying a stroll,” he told her. “Try not to panic. If you could keep chattering, that would be ideal.”
Lucy tried not to stare at him in dismay, lowering her gaze to where her hand was tucked into Roderick’s elbow, underneath his other hand. She suddenly felt warm and secure despite her temporary nerves over what might have taken place with the people they had been listening to.
She launched into another inane, rather one-sided conversation, trying to appear as natural as possible, giggling and gesturing as though she were conducting a flirtation with the handsome Mr. Northcott. And why not?
She interrupted herself. “Why were you speaking with all those women last night?” she asked him, out of nowhere, not pertaining to anything she had already been chattering about. She didn’t think he would hear her as she didn’t think he was actually paying attention to her chatter.
“Why do you ask?” he countered, not answering. “You were doing so well. Did you think it possible there is no one else about to overhear?”
“There isn’t,” she replied immediately. “We’re almost scandalously alone, aside from those matrons on the other side of the park, and my maid who is keeping the appropriate distance from us. There is no one to hear what we say.”
He was quiet for so long that Lucy thought she was going to have to start chattering anew, just to fill the awkwardness that remained in the wake of her words.
“Were we not supposed to be offering each other advice? I already answered your question, in a roundabout way. I must wed. They were or are potential candidates. Is that not why you flitted about the room, speaking with every eligible gentleman present and even those who aren’t?”
“What do you mean by that?” she demanded, feeling hot and irritable.
