She metAugust in the early morning hours at the lamppost outside the house and discreetly handed him the missive. He tucked it away swiftly and pulled out a small leather pouch, which she gratefully accepted. Not only was food for the week secured but the rent as well. Lena heaved a sigh of relief.
“I know you’ve detailed everything in the letter, but just out of curiosity—who did you encounter there?” August pushed his hat back so she could see his clear, sharp eyes.
Lena told him about the interchange between Castlereagh and the King of Prussia.
He nodded. “Their difference in the matter is well known. Who else?”
“Talleyrand.” She cleared her throat, hoping her face did not betray anything about Hecki’s mishap. “He was speaking with another gentleman I couldn’t identify. He was of medium height, very handsome with dark blond curly hair, and a slightly receding hairline.” She recalled with indignation how he’d winked at her. She frowned. “He was rather preposterous and arrogant.”
And then there was the other, darker gentleman. Lena felt a chill down her spine merely by thinking of him. For some reason, she didn’t want to mention him to August.
“I wonder who he could have been,” she murmured.
August smiled knowingly. “Medium height, dark blond curly hair? Was he very charming?”
She felt a flush creep up her cheeks. “I wouldn’t know.”
August chuckled. “Of course he was. They call him the ‘Adonis of the Drawing Room.’ He is quite popular among women. Did he seem to recognise you?”
Lena threw him an astonished look. “How did you know?”
August smirked. “We know everything. That, my dear Frau Arenheim, was Prince Metternich—the man to whom our head of police reports. The man for whom, ultimately, you are spying.”
With a grin, he tipped his hat and sauntered down the road, whistling a tune.
Lena stared after him, utterly flabbergasted.
Lena wentto the market with Mona. Together, they planned to prepare the children's favourite meal: plum dumplings, lovingly rolled in buttered breadcrumbs and sweetly powdered with sugar. It was a delight to the senses.
“We must buy a lot of plums, Mama,” Mona said enthusiastically. “The boys always have a competition to see who can eat the most. I want to eat at least three myself.”
She had both hands in a bowl of potato dough when there was a sharp knock at the door. She heard the scuffling of footsteps in the house as one of the children hurried to openit.
A moment later, Theo appeared in the kitchen. “Mama, there is someone there to see you.”
Lena looked up with a frown. “Who is it? I’m in the middle of making dumplings.”
He shrugged. “They didn’t say. They look like very fine people, though. I think you should talk to them. I put them in the parlour.”
Lena dropped the dough into the bowl and wiped her fingers on her apron. She took it off, stepped out into the hallway and opened the door to the parlour.
Her eyes swept across the room to where two gentlemen stood by the fireplace, their top hats laid aside. She could instantly tell that they were people of Quality. Both men turned and stared at her.
One was of average height, dressed in a simple but well-tailored brown suit. His countenance held an air of open friendliness. When his gaze fell on her, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
But it was the other gentleman who truly captured her attention.
He was tall, impeccably dressed in beige pantaloons paired with a dark blue coat. His neckcloth, spotlessly white, was expertly tied around two stiff shirt points. He held a walking stick in one hand and gloves in the other. Dark hair framed his features, which, while not exactly handsome, exuded an air of arrogance and icy aloofness.
A tremor ran down Lena’s spine.
“You,” she stammered. It was the same gentleman who’d looked at her with such a penetrating stare the previous evening.
Their eyes locked. Once more, the man’s gaze piercedher soul. His jaw clenched and his lips thinned. He stood as still as a marble statue. He was also as pale as one. The only movement in his entire body was the ticking of a vein in his right temple.
Lena forgot to breathe.
At first she did not notice the third occupant, a lady sitting quietly in an armchair. She was elegantly attired in a fine walking dress, a cashmere shawl draped over one arm, her bonnet adorned with feathered plumes. She stood abruptly.
