True to her word, she remained in the library perusing the books until Grandmama reappeared. As they went to the dining room for luncheon, Diana was glad to see the drawn look on her face had gone.
The afternoon passed without incident, and with no sign of Ballantine. During dinner, the Frenchman Monsignor Moreau, seated opposite Diana, mentioned hearing a shot in the gardens when out walking the previous evening. Some said it had woken them. Everyone talked at once. It was decided that it could only have been someone out hunting.
Diana swiveled to catch Ballantine’s reaction. He merely drank his wine as the talk flowed around him.
He knew!Had the shot been meant for him? Her blood seemed to run cold in her veins.
As soon as the ladies had left the gentlemen to their port and retired to dress for the ball, Diana hurried upstairs. She must speak to him.
Tims did up the clasps on a ballgown of primrose-colored gauze over a white satin slip, with matching yellow silk slippers. Grandmama sent her lady’s maid, Fisher, in to Diana with a delicate diamond pendant and earrings for Diana to wear, and Tims deftly arranged Diana’s hair in a flattering style.
“Don’t wait up for me, Tims,” Diana said as she left her room. “It will be a very late evening.”
“Very well, my lady.”
“How pretty you look, Diana.” In her bedchamber, Grandmama fussed over the powder pot and trinkets on her dressing table. Her powder and familiar lilac perfume filled the air. Diana remembered that scent from when she’d been a small girl; it brought memories of a happier time when her mother had still been with them.
“The diamonds are perfect, Grandmama, thank you.” Diana wished she would hurry. She hoped to have words with Ballantine. Perhaps they would dance together.
Her father’s smile of approval when she entered the ballroom meant a good deal to her, but only made her feel more guilt-ridden. She thought she’d stopped caring years ago when she’d realized she was a disappointment to him because she was not the son he wished for. But dare she hope his feelings toward her were softening? Some sign of genuine affection? It would not last when she refused yet another suitor, she realized sadly.
Diana eagerly searched the crowded ballroom for Ballantine, wishing to gain his attention, but failed to find him. Lord Montgomery smiled and nodded, and she steeled herself for the difficult evening ahead. Why had she chosen to go down this road, which could end badly for her? She admitted she was impetuous. Her mother had told her so when she’d been small, although Mama had called her “intrepid” when Diana had ridden her pony into the woods without a groom to accompany her. It was true she had never been intimidated by potential consequences.
*
After a thoroughsearch of the Frenchman Moreau’s chamber, Damian came away empty-handed. Even if Moreau were involved in this, his companions had not entrusted the documents to him. It was too large to conceal on his person andextremely difficult to hide it anywhere in Holland House, with the enormous staff attending to every room with scrupulous care. That meant one of the other men still held it in their possession. But who were they? Was Montgomery one of them? His would be the next chamber Damian would search, he decided, as he entered the noisy, brightly lit ballroom where musicians played a country dance by Haydn, and guests danced. As Damian stood watching them, Lady Diana danced into view. In a frothy gown of yellow and white net, she looked a vision. His pleasure at watching how gracefully she moved abruptly ended when her partner turned in the dance to join her. The last man he wished to see anywhere near her.Montgomery.
Lady Diana smiled at Damian over Lord Montgomery’s shoulder. What the devil was she up to? Was the minx planning something? It wasn’t to be borne. But it gave him a chance to search the man’s chamber. Damian slipped out through the ballroom doors and hurried toward the staircase.
*
Diana’s father smiledfrom the edge of the dance floor as she danced with Lord Montgomery. The reverse seemed true of Ballantine, who frowned, his arms folded across his chest as he watched them. It delighted Diana to have stirred some emotion in him. She preferred to believe he was jealous, despite her good sense telling her it was more annoyance when she continued to encourage Lord Montgomery against his advice.
When next Diana looked, the earl had left, and she prayed he had taken advantage of Lord Montgomery’s distraction to perform a search of the man’s rooms.
As she and Lord Montgomery moved over the floor, she plied him with questions. The sort a woman might have asked a prospective husband. His casual replies were evasive andrevealed little about himself. Instead, he turned the conversation back onto her with effusive flattery. Diana considered it a ploy, a means to distract her. It silenced her, fearing he might suspect something more serious lay behind her questions.
“You seem lost in thought, Lady Diana,” Lord Montgomery said when the dance brought them together again.
“I am concentrating on the steps, my lord. If you distract me, I shall lose my place.”
He laughed. “I don’t believe it. You dance divinely.” His disturbing eyes searched hers. “May I join you for supper?”
“Certainly, my lord.” Diana had already decided she’d learn nothing useful from Lord Montgomery and now that she was sure she had given Ballantine enough time to perform a search of Lord Montgomery’s rooms, she needed to extricate herself before it became more difficult. Besides, it would be unseemly to continue dancing with the same gentleman for more than two dances. “I am interested to hear your thoughts on the war. We are all keen observers of Wellesley’s successes.”
His sandy eyebrows rose. “It will soon come to a glorious end. We must be patient.”
“I hope it will be soon. To see Bonaparte vanquished, and England at peace again. What is your opinion of the latest news to reach our shores?”
A tick formed in his jaw. “Ladies ought not concern themselves with the war, Lady Diana.”
His answer irritated her, and she fought not to show it. Did she sense a slight cooling in his manner? The war seemed a touchy subject. As the dance ended, she decided Lord Montgomery was far more adept at deception than she was, and she could be right in thinking him a spy.
In the supper room, they filled their plates from the selection of delicious dishes spread over long tables covered in white linen cloths, along with sparkling silverware and fine chinadinnerware. Lord Montgomery drew out a chair for her and joined her at a table, while Diana deliberated on how she might proceed. As she cut into a slice of ham, she wondered if Ballantine had searched Lord Montgomery’s chamber. He had been absent from the ball for half an hour or more. The sooner she dampened any interest Lord Montgomery might still have in marrying her, the easier it would be.
“But politics interests me greatly, my lord,” she said gravely as she sipped her ratafia. “I read the newspapers and periodicals, and confess if I hadn’t been born a woman, I would have become a politician.” Diana sighed heavily. “How marvelous if one had the power to change things for the better.” She leveled a glance at him. “I intend to write pamphlets for any cause I support.”
Pushing away his plate of white soup, he narrowed his eyes but merely nodded, and they spent the rest of the meal in relative silence.
