Toby perched on the old rocking horse. Gripping its moth-eaten mane, he rocked gently, his knees almost under his chin. “Ham sandwiches, cake, and scones? Good, I’m starving. Pour me some tea, would you, Helen?”
“Toby, would you like to play shuttlecock on the lawn tomorrow?” Diana brushed cake crumbs from her muslin skirt.
Dismounting, Toby sat down on the patched wing chair beside the low table. He piled his plate high with everything on offer. “We haven’t played for ages. Why now?”
“I have a yen for it,” Diana replied.
Toby’s freckled nose twitched, reminding Helen of one of those inquisitive red squirrels in the park. “I remember you saying it was unladylike to launch yourself around the grass after you’d turned seventeen, Diana.”
“Well, I’m eighteen in two weeks and much more mature. A lady can change her mind.”
“Tomorrow then. After breakfast.” He took the teacup and saucer from Helen. “I’ll have to make do with you for entertainment, I suppose, now that my Eton pals have gone off to the country.”
“Fool!” Diana grinned, leaned across, and poked his arm. “Not after breakfast. Helen and I have an appointment with the dancing master and after that a French lesson. About three o’clock.”
Eyebrows lifted, Toby looked from Helen to Diana. “I suspect an ulterior motive.”
Diana dissected her cake with her fork. “We have little enough to do while Papa is engulfed in the depths of some Eastern library. He won’t return for weeks. And there’s a mystery to be solved.”
“A mystery?” Toby turned to Helen. “What’s afoot? Has Diana been reading one of Papa’s books on Ancient Greece?” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “Or, worse, Mama’s Gothic novels?”
“You’d best tell him, Diana.” Helen rose to add hot water to the brown china teapot from the decorative gold and white samovar their father had brought back from his travels in Russia.
Diana frowned. “As you well know, I don’t read Greek. That’s a privilege only available to you and Harry.”
“I doubt Harry is interested in ancient history while discovering the joys of Paris.” Toby wrinkled his nose again. “You can attend my lessons for me, anytime. Well? Are you going to tell me about this mystery or not?”
“It’s merely an instinct. There’s not much to tell.” Diana described the intriguing gentleman she’d been watching in the park. “This is the third time he’s been there.”
“I say!” Toby jumped up, rushed to the window, and threw up the sash. “No one down there now. Anyway, there are always people strolling the Queen’s Walk to the Queen’s Basin and back again. Queen Caroline had that reservoir built to provide water for St. James’s. She had the library erected too.”
“Heaven knows what will happen to them now. It’s said that the king wishes to divorce her,” Helen said.
“Well, the gentleman disappeared from the park some time ago. A good thing too.” Diana gave a huff of disgust. “You’re so mutton-headed you would have scared him off. You’d make a dreadful spy, I must say. But he’s the reason we need to be down there tomorrow. If he comes again, we can confront him.”
“What if he’s a thief working out how he can break in and rob us?”
“He’s not.”
“How do you know that?” Toby asked, his mouth full of ham sandwich.
“He’s too well dressed to be a thief.”
“Well, if he is a rook, I’ll plant him a facer!”
“My goodness, Toby. As if you could!” Helen said with a huff of dismay. “Your imagination is worse than Diana’s.”
The door opened, and the nanny came in, holding the hand of their young brother. “Here is Lord Alexander, Lady Helen. If you could just watch him for an hour until milady returns from the lending library.”
“Please give our best wishes to your mother, Miss Prince,” Helen said. “I hope you find her in better health.”
When Diana and Toby added their best wishes to Helen’s, Miss Prince smiled. “Thank you. I must hurry or I’ll have little time to spend with Mother. And I plan to buy her some of those wonderful scotch eggs Fortnum and Masons make.”
As the door closed, Helen opened her arms. With a joyful cry, the chubby four-year-old boy climbed into her lap. She stroked his copper curls as he struggled to reach the food on the table. “You may have a sandwich and a slice of cake, Zander. I’ll be in trouble if you don’t eat your dinner.”
“Thank you, Helen,” Alexander said in his endearing baby voice. He took the sandwich and slid off her lap to investigate the toy chest in the corner.
“Do you intend to find a husband this Season, Helen?” Toby asked with his usual lack of tact.
