“I have several informants and have followed multiple leads, but I have yet to run Jackson to ground. He is elusive,” she said, blowing out an irritated breath that made her look like a frustrated child.
“He is that,” Jamie murmured. “But between us, we may succeed. We must.”
The words came out harder than he’d planned. He had no wish to spend his life chasing Kenneth Jackson, but feared now that he’d begun, only success, or Jackson’s destruction, would appease him.
“Does your father know what you are doing, Lady Alice?”
“He is in France, and has been for many years.”
Her voice cooled, shutters slamming down behind her eyes. Whatever had passed between Lord Smythe and his daughter was not for him to know, so Jamie let it drop.
They talked for another half hour. She was sharp and direct, and he found himself admiring her mind as much as her spirit.
Only later, when he rode away, did Jamie realize the true danger he had invited into his life. Not just Kenneth Jackson.
But her.
Because there was something about Lady Alice that made him forget every vow of caution he had ever sworn. And that, he suspected grimly, might prove his downfall.
The woman had nerve. He would give her that. But courage, no matter how admirable, could get her killed.
Jamie turned his horse down a quieter street away from hawkers and the rumble of carriages, with thoughts churning over and over inside his head.
Alice’s information had filled gaps in his own, and she had searched in places he had not, but still, they were no closer to locating Jackson.
Partnership meant trust, and trust was a luxury he rarely afforded himself with anyone but those closest to him.
When he reached his townhouse, he’d collect his sword and leave again immediately for Angelo’s. Jamie needed an outlet and exercise would provide that as it always did. Fencing would mean he could quiet the thoughts inside his head briefly.
He thought to protect Lady Alice Smythe from her reckless actions. Now, he was beginning to wonder who would protect him from her.
Chapter Nine
“Iam togo driving in the park today with Thaddeus and Eloise, Aunt Gwen,” Alice said to her aunt across the dining table.
It had been two days since Lord Stafford had called to see her. Two days of mulling over what she’d learned from him, which if she was honest, was not a great deal that she didn’t already know.
But one thing had come clear to her. Jackson must be stopped for those who had suffered at his hand in the past, and those like the children at the charity school who still could be harmed.
“Lovely, dear. Make sure you take a scarf. I fear there could be a chill in the air today.”
Her aunt was not a morning person. She rarely woke before ten and then stayed in bed drinking tea and reading until she was ready to face the world…namely, Alice, because she was a morning person who woke ready to start the day the minute her eyes opened.
They’d established a routine since Aunt Gwen had moved in after Charles’s death that was comfortable to both.
“There is to be a picnic at Lord and Lady Sinclair’s soon, dear. We shall go, as there will be plenty to do.”
“Lovely,” Alice said with the same enthusiasm she would have for eating pilchards—very little. If there was one thing she loathed more than a ball, it was a picnic. People sat about on blankets eating and chatting, while watching each other for theslightest indiscretions. Society fed on gossip, and thus far she’d managed to avoid being fodder for the more voracious members, but Alice was sure that given time, she’d slip up in some way.
“There will be croquet, and cards, I believe.”
Alice pulled off the crust of her toast and ate the middle so she didn’t growl.
“Crusts are good for you, and make your hair curl, Alice.”
“No, they are not,” Alice teased her aunt. “They’re just bread like the middle parts, and I already have a curl in my hair.” She’d never eaten crusts since she was little and choked on one. Charles had whacked her on the back, dislodging it.
“What plans do you have for the remainder of the day, Aunt?” Alice asked.
