At that moment, Marianne reentered the chamber with Lady Harteford at her side. Ambrose noticed that both women had blotchy cheeks and red smudges beneath their eyes. The marchioness, however, came toward him with her usual warm smile.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Kent? I must apologize; in my haste earlier, I did not even inquire into your health," she said.
"Kent here has a stronger constitution than most," Farraday intervened. "I daresay all that running along the Thames does a man good. A few days abed and he'll be as good as before."
"Thank you, doctor." Marianne bestowed a dazzling smile upon the Scotsman.
The hapless man turned red beneath his sideburns. He made a precise leg, and muttering something about cleaning up, he departed.
Marianne approached the bed and, to Ambrose's astonishment, took his hand and held it, right there, in front of her friends. Yearning spun out inside him, and though he knew he had no right to want what she was giving, he grasped on tightly.
The marquess came to put his arm around his wife's waist. Oddly enough, the two did not look shocked or put off by the fact that their well-born friend was currently holding hands with a policeman. Instead, Lady Harteford beamed at him.
"Marianne has told me everything," she said, "and you are to be commended, Mr. Kent, for your efforts in locating Primrose."
"We haven't found her yet," Ambrose said grimly. "We must start the hunt for Gerald Coyner straightaway."
"Sir Gerald Coyner, the Bow Street magistrate? He has Lady Draven's daughter?" Harteford said, frowning.
"We'll fill you in," the marchioness told her husband, "but first we need to interview our host. Pendleton was previously a suspect in Primrose's kidnapping, and Marianne believes he is hiding something."
"I came to Pendleton's party because of an invitation I found in Coyner's desk. Pendleton has some connection to the magistrate," Marianne said.
"Pendleton may be able to tell us something important about Coyner," Ambrose agreed. "In the meanwhile, Lord Harteford, could you send word to London to have Coyner arrested? Your influence will hasten the process."
"I'll contact the magistrates immediately," the marquess said.
Removing her bonnet, the marchioness patted her brown curls and smoothed her pink gown. Despite her delicate appearance, her hazel eyes shone with a fierce light.
"Now we have an earl to interrogate," she said. "Wait for me here—I shall return with Pendleton directly."
* * *
When Pendleton entered the chamber a quarter hour later with Helena on his arm—or, more accurately, with his limb within the lady's firm grip—he ignored Marianne completely.
"Harteford, I just ran into your wife. Well met," Pendleton said with a stiff nod, "though, of course, one regrets the circumstances."
Expression aloof, the marquess inclined his head.
"Now Mr. Kendrick, is it?" the earl said.
"It's Kent," Ambrose said flatly.
"Whatever. I do hope you are feeling more the thing." The earl's thin lips curled into what was possibly supposed to be a smile. "Would have come by earlier—but duties as a host and all that. This is, after all, my largest hunting party of the year."
"I'm sorry my getting shot inconvenienced you." Marianne could see the muscle ticking along Ambrose's jaw.
Pendleton frowned. "No need to get testy, sir. Need I remind you that you were trespassing on my property? Not my fault you got in the line of fire—the meadow is prime hunting ground. You should have watched where you were going."
"'Twas no hunter who took a shot at me," Marianne intervened coolly. "Mr. Kent saved my life and in doing so risked his own. We intend to bring the shooter to justice—so you may as well cooperate and tell us all you know."
"Me?Involved in some sort of crime?" Pendleton shot her an affronted look. "What the devil are you talking about, you ill-bred jade?"
"I believe Lady Draven is referring to the fact that you know a man by the name of Sir Gerald Coyner," Helena said.
"So what if I do? The upstart's made a name for himself these days," Pendleton said in a nasty tone. "Self-important magistrate of something or another."
"We are investigating Sir Coyner for kidnapping and a possible murder attempt. In the course of our investigation, your name has cropped up time and again," Ambrose said.
