“Then what are we waiting for?” Tommy flung open the carriage door and bounded out onto the cobblestones. She motioned to them impatiently. “Come on, come on. Don’t worry, I memorized the interior distribution of the house.”
Of course she had. That’s why she was leading the reconnaissance squad.
Jacob gestured for Viv to exit the carriage next. His voice was chagrined. “I’d give you my arm, but you’re supposed to be a chambermaid, not my client.”
Did all clients receive such gallant attention?
“I wouldn’t want your arm anyway,” she lied. Viv thought way too often about Jacob Wynchester’s arms. And the rest of his body. The sight of him alone could make her purr.
Viv joined Tommy on the pavement, followed by Jacob.
“Look humble,” Tommy warned.
“Trust me,” Viv muttered. “I know what people like this expect from people like me.”
When she’d escaped the plantation on Demerara, she’d vowed never to behave as though she was worth less than anyone else ever again. Viv tried to tell herself that this time, she was just pretending. But the prickly, unwelcome sensation felt far too close to her early life for comfort.
As the two teams united on the walkway, the trio exchanged secret glances with Chloe and Faircliffe before falling behind the regal duke and duchess in faux subservience.
The butler welcomed them in at once. If he was surprised that his aristocratic visitors paid morning calls flanked by multiple servants, he gave no sign. Perhaps this was normal behavior in the world of the nobility.
More likely, servants were simply invisible.
“Please,” said the butler. “Come this way. My master and mistress are expecting you.”
Chloe straightened the most hideous bonnet Viv had ever seen in her life. The duchess looped her arm through the duke’s and sashayed importantly down the corridor.
Viv would have sworn a headpiece so garish must be part of a costume, but apparently Chloe always strolled about town with two dozen ugly silk flowers and five yards of mismatched ribbons glued to her head.
“The parlor is just ahead,” said the butler.
Mr. Olivebury’s respected position as the most influential man in the House of Commons was clear at a glance. Although not a titled aristocrat himself, he lived amongst the haut ton. His house was as full of marble and gilding as the Wynchester residence.
Was that related to why he’d been targeted by the thief?
“The Duke and Duchess of Faircliffe,” the butler intoned as they reached the parlor.
Mr. and Mrs. Olivebury scrambled to their feet. The ladies bussed each other’s cheeks, while the gentlemen merely inclined their heads rather than bow.
No one remarked upon Viv, Jacob, and Tommy’s presence, much less glanced in their direction.
Chloe engaged Mrs. Olivebury in bright chatter about fashion andtheater. Faircliffe and Mr. Olivebury launched straight into talk of politics, and the prevalent issues with each of their respective houses of Parliament.
Viv could practically hear Jacob in her head:Everything is going to plan.
The Faircliffes had long been political allies of the Oliveburys, but today they hoped to gain their personal confidence. Perhaps in an unguarded moment, they could learn directly from the source what had been stolen. As a contingency, Viv, Jacob, and Tommy were to nose about where they didn’t belong.
Assuming the trio couldgetwhere they didn’t belong.
Viv had written Chloe’s next line herself and was itching with impatience for the duchess to get on with the show.
Or maybe her anxiousness had nothing to do with the Oliveburys at all, and Viv simply was eager to hear someone, anyone, perform something she had written. Even if it was just one line of dialogue.
On cue, Chloe glanced over her shoulder and made an exaggerated expression of shock to see her three “servants” hovering against the wainscoting.
“This isn’tyourholiday,” she said coldly, just as Viv had scripted. “I suggest you make yourselves useful if you wish to remain employed.”
Viv, Jacob, and Tommy bobbed in chastisement and scurried from the parlor before anyone recalled that this wasn’t their place of employment, so of course there were no tasks they ought to be performing.
