Charlotte did not even have the grace to look abashed. “Youknow I didn’t mean anything disparaging, and you cannot deny that you had a powerful effect on the man. He bowed. To. A. Parrot.”
That bit of whimsy had charmed Hannah—and blast Malbarry for beguiling her. An heir to a dukedom had no right to possess such an impressive array of muscles. His height and broad shoulders were entirely lost on a man who never had to do a lick of physical labor. In his rough attire, he’d looked exactly like a prizefighter… and precisely the type of man who appealed to Hannah. But it turned out he was just a damn nob in a laborer’s linsey-woolsey.
“I do not wish to speak of it anymore,” Hannah said tartly. “May we please return to the original conversation?”
The teasing glint immediately vanished from Charlotte’s grass-green eyes as she obliged Hannah’s request. “What have you learned about the Aucourtes from your own inquiries?”
Hannah sighed, but the expulsion of air did little to alleviate the frustrations building inside her. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Every so often, we ask our contacts in the stews if they’ve heard a new rumor, but nothing is ever reported,” Sophia explained further.
“Perhaps because there is nothing to discover?” Charlotte said softly, but her understanding tone didn’t feel like a balm to Hannah. It only aggravated her.
“No.” Hannah released the mug she was washing into the tub and slammed her fist into her other palm. “The Aucourtes are hiding something. I feel it in my bones.”
Sophia gave her a friendly nudge with her hip. “I didn’t know your bones were prophetic.”
Hannah delivered another one of her best glares, this timein Sophia’s direction. Her cousin ignored the look entirely as she dried off a saucer and handed it to Charlotte.
“I am not soothsaying,” Hannah said defensively. “Don’t you find it suspicious that there is not a single murmur about the Aucourtes—not even about what brothels the men visit?”
“I doubt Malbarry ever visited one,” Charlotte piped up. “He’s much too somber and pious.”
“But his uncles surely have,” Hannah countered. She did not believe that Malbarry was particularly saintly, but she did not want to think of him engaging inthat. Because if she did try to picture him, then she’d imagine his muscles on full display, his biceps extending as he held his body above…
Bloody hell!
“My point,” Hannah practically shouted, her voice so loud that it startled Sophia into almost dropping a dish. When Hannah spoke again, she lowered the volume considerably. “My point is that the very lack of noise indicates that there is a great deal of clatter that a powerful person is suppressing.”
“As much as I teased Hannah, I do agree with her reasoning,” Sophia said. “Rumors about the Aucourtes are too hushed.”
“Hmmm,” Charlotte said thoughtfully as she nestled a cup inside another. “Perhaps instead of investigating the Aucourtes in the back alleys, you should try the ballroom. With their public scandals, they have little clout left to stop gossip there.”
“It is not as if Sophia and I can just don a gown and stroll into a nob’s house,” Hannah grumpily pointed out.
“My brother and I would be happy to collect rumors,” Charlotte said.
“That would certainly be helpful, but I want to look into the Aucourtes myself,” Hannah said.
“Well, one option may be…” Charlotte suddenly trailed off and whirled to focus on the stacks of dishes. “Never mind. That is an ill-advised plan.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes on her cousin’s back. “Often ill-advised plans turn out to be the best. What were you thinking?”
“Nothing,” Charlotte said quickly. Too quickly.
“Please tell.” Hannah gently released the dish that she’d been scrubbing and turned to advance on her cousin.
“Hannah, it might be best not to press Charlotte,” Sophia said in that calm, logical manner of hers.
Through the years, Hannah had learned to listen to Sophia’s thoughtful advice, but right now she couldn’t. Not when it came to the Aucourtes. Hannah had spent too much time solving other people’s mysteries. It was time to delve into her own.
“Charlotte, this is a matter of grave importance to me. If you have thought of a scheme—no matter how outlandish—you must tell me.”
Charlotte worried her lip, and Hannah grabbed her hand. She plastered on her most pleading look, and she could visibly see when her cousin relented.
“I’ve never seen Lord Malbarry interested in anything before. He’s always terribly aloof. But in your presence, he was like a tightly wound bobbin that had finally unspooled,” Charlotte said cautiously.
“You want me to seduce the man into spilling family secrets?” Hannah asked, not knowing if she should be aghast or intrigued.
