“I doubt that would be any more comfortable.”
“Clearly you haven’t visited the finest hotels.”
“If some are more luxurious than here, you tempt me!” Kitty sipped her chocolate, considering whether to speak her thoughts. She saw no reason not to. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I can assist you with your duties, Braydon, but I hope you know I will if I can.”
“I do, and I thank you.” He’d eaten and drunk efficiently and was finished. “A moment.” He left and returned with some banknotes, coins, and a key. “To the house. You shouldn’t have any difficulty in gaining entry, but take a key in case. I suggest sending a note to alert the servants there. Mrs. Grant is the housekeeper, and she has two housemaids and a manservant to help care for the place. As best I can tell, she’s excellent, but it’s better not to surprise.”
“Some would say it’s better to surprise.”
“Only if expecting problems. You remind me that the viscountcy has theater boxes, which are rented out by the night when not needed. I’ll see if any are vacant while we’re here.”
“That would be delightful! I’ve never been to a London theater.”
“Never?” Again, she’d surprised him. He had no conception of her London life.
She wouldn’t be ashamed of it. “We couldn’t afford a box,” she said, “and Marcus couldn’t have sat for hours in the pit.”
“Then we will certainly go to the theater.” He came around the table, raised her hand, and kissed it. He didn’t press his lips, but they touched and perhaps lingered. “Please forgive a neglectful husband, Kitty. I hope to do better.”
Did she imagine a silent “tonight”?
He left before she could properly respond, so she stroked the place he’d kissed and imagined. What a lustful jade she was....
Enough of that. There were at least twelve hours between then and now, and she had things to do. She did need to order new clothes more suited to her station, and she should visit the viscountcy’s town house. She hoped it wasn’t another ice palace.
Chapter 28
Braydon was surprised to realize that he would rather have spent the day with Kitty, even if it involved inspecting the town house and visiting upholsterers and wallpaper manufacturers.
Unexpected, and peculiar.
As it was, he had a dangerous situation to investigate, and he needed allies. Hawkinville had a coterie of gentlemen with a variety of skills, but who would be in Town in December?
One he could count on. Major Hal Beaumont was married to a Drury Lane actress, and the theater was open. Braydon had known Beaumont in the army years ago, but met him again earlier in the year, during another dramatic episode. Despite losing an arm in Canada, he’d been cool and effective. He’d already sent a note asking Beaumont to meet him at Hawkinville’s house in Peel Street.
It was a fine gentleman’s residence, but three rooms were set apart for Hawkinville’s secret administration, disrespectfully dubbed by some as the Hawk’s Nest. Braydon found four ex-military men engaged in routine work, collecting and dealing with information from London and around the country, and sending out messages as necessary. There was a pigeon loft in the attics.
Braydon asked what news had leaked about the attempted assassination.
“Only rumors, my lord,” Bob Adams said. He was a stolid, middle-aged man who’d been an undistinguished corporal in the army, but Hawkinville had somehow spotted his cleverness. In fact, Hawkinville had said a clever man was wise to be undistinguished in war. Adams now ran these offices.
“One version,” Adams said with a wry smile, “has it happening in Carlton House.”
“Rather difficult to roll a barrel of gunpowder in there undetected.”
“Easier to roll it to the moon, sir.”
“What villains are active at the moment?”
“If you meanactiveactive, sir, no one. There are people writing handbills, and some suspect private meetings, but it’s as if rabble-rousing’s gone into hibernation.”
“We’ll hope it doesn’t emerge till spring. Keep alert for anything that might have bearing on the princes’ affair, and set a watch on the house where it happened. See if you can discreetly discover the whereabouts of Mrs. Courtenay, and find out if Waller Brothers delivered ale there on Wednesday. The answer is almost certainly no, so what we really need to know is if any of their carts could have been used, and, if so, how. As it happened, the footman never saw the cart, but the villains might have been thorough.”
“Right, sir.”
Beaumont arrived, and he and Braydon went into Hawkinville’s office. Braydon told the story.
“Dashed odd,” Beaumont said. He was a handsome, dark-haired man with an easygoing manner that Braydon knew could be deceptive. His empty sleeve was pinned to his chest.
