“Do you think Stamford knows who the real villain is?” Chen queried.
“Probably not,” Lady Fayne said thoughtfully. “The scoundrel has hidden his tracks well. If Stamford tells us his delivery point, however, we could stage an ambush.”
From Chen’s expression, Ben could tell his friend was impressed with the Society of Angels. As was he. These ladies were uncommonly shrewd.
Suddenly, Ben remembered something else from last night.
“This might be unimportant,” he said slowly. “But Thorne did mention that the Horsemen had solved some kind of riddle to figure out where to pick up the Devil’s Bliss.”
“Five men.” Livy blinked. “Five delivery points. And fivelines.”
She rushed back to the coffee table, snatching up a piece of paper. Standing behind her, Ben read over her shoulder. It appeared to be a nonsensical verse:
A favorite of pirating swaps,
And mannered grocers,
I am the cause of a nightdress furor.
To find me, head on yonder towards snails
And swim with the fish beating gills.
“Where did you get this?” Ben asked.
“The villain’s desk. Hold it, will you?” Livy shoved the paper at him. “I’ll be right back!”
Watching her dash from the room, Ben felt his lips quirk. Some things never changed. Inside his beloved’s alluringly adult body still beat the heart of his bold little queen…and he hoped that she never lost that exuberance of spirit. Hoped that she would pass it onto any children they might be blessed to have together.
The notion of siring offspring had once filled him with ambivalence. He hadn’t known if he had anything worth passing on…had begun to think it would be better for the title to be passed down his sister’s line. The idea of having babes with Livy, however, led to heady elation. Their children would be as bright and beautiful as their mama, and what fun he and Livy would have raising—and making—them.
Livy was back in moments, breathless and clutching a small velvet bag. She plopped into one of the chairs and emptied the satchel onto the coffee table; her anagram tiles spilled out. She lined up the letters, spelling out MANNERED GROCERS.
Having been crushed by Livy during their games, Ben was used to the nimble speed of her fingers as she rearranged the letters. The result made his breath catch nonetheless:
CREMORNE GARDENS.
“That one I saw straight away since I knew Cremorne Gardens was one of the delivery points.” She was already working on the next words, PIRATING SWAPS. “I believe each line contains a location.”
She triumphantly revealed the next site: WAPPING OLD STAIRS.
Torn between amusement at her smug expression and pride at her intellect, Ben chucked her under the chin. “Should I offer to help…or will I be in the way?”
Her grin was impish. “Yourmoralsupport is appreciated.”
Within minutes, she had unscrambled the anagrams into five locations: Wapping Old Stairs, Cremorne Gardens, Hungerford Stairs, Old Swan Stairs, and Billingsgate.
“The delivery tonight is likely to be at one of these places. But which one?” Livy mused.
“We could split up, monitor all of them.” Lady Fayne looked at Chen. “If Mr. Chen could offer assistance, we may have enough numbers.”
Chen inclined his head. “It would be my pleasure, my lady. My team and I could take two of the locations.”
“Why don’t you monitor Wapping Old Stairs and Cremorne Gardens?” Lady Fayne said. “The Angels and Hadleigh can take Hungerford, Hawker and Mrs. Peabody the Old Swan, and I will call in some of my associates to help me patrol Billingsgate. How does that sound to everyone?”
Ben leaned over to whisper in Livy’s ear. “Be honest, love. How do your fighting abilities compare to your riddle-solving skills?”
She gave him a demure look. “They’re better.”
