“What’s that?” Freddie turned to him.
“I recognize one of the debutantes.”
“I suppose you’ll have to dance with her then,” Freddie said with a slight shudder. He clapped Ash on the shoulder. “I’m for the gaming tables. Coming?”
“Later. I believe I’ll stay awhile.”
“Don’t get yourself engaged while I’m away.” With a devilish laugh, Freddie turned and made his way to the door.
The musicians took their place on the dais for a country dance. Gentleman crossed the floor to claim a lady.
Miss Tothill did a very odd thing. As the gentlemen sought partners, she rose from her seat and hurried from the ballroom.
Ash watched a fellow pull up and change direction.What was this impish young lady about?She didn’t wear glasses when she so nimbly climbed down that chestnut tree, offering him a tantalizing glimpse of endlessly long slim legs.
He put the incident out of his mind and retreated to the games room. He played faro with Freddie and two of his friends, Brandon Cartwright and the baron, Gareth Reade, both engaged in similar work as himself. Both happily married, they often teased him about his single state.
“A friend of my wife wishes to be introduced to you,” Cartwright said with an amused curl of his lips.
“Please tell Letty that the last young lady she foisted on me at that garden party decided I was hers for the evening and damn near followed me into the gentleman’s convenience. Extricating myself proved a decidedly tricky endeavor.” Ash tossed down a card. “Can’t you control your wife, Brandon?”
Reade chuckled. “The answer to that is no.”
“I don’t see you having any better success with your lady wife,” Cartwright observed with an amused lift of his eyebrows. He studied his hand. “But the trouble arises when we make rash promises which enable us to continue our work for the Home Office, which the ladies consider too dangerous.”
“Exactly,” Reade threw in his hand. “We will do or say almost anything to keep the hearth and home running peacefully.”
“And you want me to marry.” Ash grimaced and laid down his cards. “Mine, I believe.” He gathered up the coins. “I’ll stick to my guns. I’m only twenty-seven. I am enjoying my freedom and have no need to look for a wife until well into my thirties.”
Reade grinned. “Can we make a bet on that?”
“Count me in,” Cartwright said. “And deal another hand, will you, Ash?”
Ash pushed back his chair. “Forgive me, gentlemen, extremely bad manners to win and run, but I promised my grandfather I would dance at least twice. I’ll survey the ladies here tonight.” He grinned. “And no, Brandon, not Letty’s friend. Once bitten, twice shy.”
He couldn’t help thinking of his grandfather as he left the card room. Grandfather’s heart had never recovered from the terrible loss of their family. Ash’s father and mother and grandmother had been traveling together on their way to Ascot in a carriage. A careless boatman had crashed his boat into the struts of a bridge, weakening it. Not long afterward, Ash’s father’s carriage had fallen into the river. They had all drowned.
Ash and his grandfather were following behind in his curricle. They arrived just after the accident. The view of their loved ones fished from the cold waters returned to haunt him at night, and his grandfather suffered it, too, having lost his beloved wife, son, and daughter-in-law. The loss robbed him of his love of life. He became a virtual recluse. And now concentrated on Ash, the only member of his family left.
Ash was to take care not to drive too fast or ride recklessly and expected to marry and produce an heir. But the tragic accident had the reverse effect on Ash. He tended to ride too fast and drove his curricle at high speed. As if to tempt fate. It was the reason he now did dangerous work for the crown. And he did not want to fall in love and marry. His dalliances were brief and light-hearted, and that was the way he intended to keep it for many years to come. And while that worried his grandfather, he seemed powerless to change. So, he played the game, dancing with debutants at balls he’d rather not attend to pacify his grandfather until the time came when he would have to tie the knot.
They announced a quadrille as he entered the ballroom. Not wishing to insult a lady by approaching her at the last minute, Ash leaned against a pillar and watched Miss Tothill. Sure enough, as a gentleman made a move in her direction, she was off. And this time, it wasn’t toward the ladies’ retiring room.
Intrigued, Ash left his position and strolled after her. To his surprise, Miss Tothill, with a nod at the footman, passed through the French doors at the far end of the ballroom.
Ash followed, stepping out onto the deserted terrace where a stiff, chilly breeze blew. He expected to find her here, but there was no sign of the intrepid young lady.
He descended the steps onto the lawn. The rustling bushes alerted him to her presence. Was this an assignation? If so, he would turn about and leave the lovers to it. But she appeared to be alone, where she lingered in the shrubbery beneath an open window.
Tobacco smoke drifted out the window above them, along with men’s voices. Ash moved closer and listened. “We shall have to decide tonight,” a man said. “When he returns to London, we must get him while he’s alone. It’s his practice to walk along Cheyne Walk beside the Thames before retiring. A simple matter to cut his throat and toss him in the river. Remove anything valuable. The magistrate will view it as a robbery.”
“Good grief, Farnborough, that’s decidedly bloodthirsty,” another said, his voice vaguely familiar.
“Nor will it be so easy,” said a third man Ash couldn’t identify. “Let me close that window. Someone might overhear us.”
A shadow loomed at the window.
Miss Tothill, in her white dress, stood out among the greenery.
