*
Almost an hourlater, Damian’s thorough search had once again proven unsuccessful, and he returned to the ballroom, where dancers performed a gavotte. Other friends soon joined him, and while they stood conversing, he watched Lady Diana’s elegant form as she performed the steps. To his relief, she now had a different partner. Damian turned to single out Montgomery and found him standing alone, with a slight, almost proprietorial smile, as he watched Lady Diana. Disquieted, Damian wondered why the man had become so interested in her. It would not be for anything good.
A half hour later, a waltz was called. Damian wasted no time approaching Lady Diana and her grandmother to invite Diana to dance.
Grandmama looked him over with observant eyes, but she permitted it. He offered his arm to the duke’s daughter, glad her chaperone appeared aware of the dangers befalling a vulnerable, young woman. But he doubted the older lady could guard her against someone of Montgomery’s ilk.
On the dance floor, her deep-blue eyes searched his. “I hoped for a chance to speak to you. The gunshot Monsieur Moreau heard in the garden. Did you hear it too?”
He slipped an arm around her waist. With her hand on his shoulder, and breathing in the sweet scent of roses, he swept her into the waltz. “I saw you dancing with Lord Montgomery.”
“That is not an answer,” she said sharply. When he glowered at her and failed to respond, she sighed. “Papa introduced him to me. He’s a widower whose wife died several years ago.”
So her father considered Montgomery to be a suitor? A heated warning burned through him, tightening his stomach. “How is it that Montgomery has come to your father’s notice? Might he be a family friend?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe Papa knows him well.”
“You brought this about,” he accused her.
“Don’t scowl at me.” She pursed her lips as she glanced around the room. “People will notice.”
“I’d prefer it if you had nothing to do with him, Lady Diana. I suspect he is a dangerous man.”
“You left the ballroom. Did you search his room?” she whispered.
He cast her what he hoped was a quelling glance. “Have I said something to make you believe I need to have you as my partner in this?”
Her delightful lips pouted as she frowned. “How ungrateful.”
“Lady Diana, I warn you…”
She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “Was that gunshot meant for you, Ballantine?” Her smile faded. “I couldn’t bear it if they shot you.”
His heart gave a strange throb when he saw the concern in her eyes. “Why?”
Her lashes lowered. “Because… Because I have a job in mind for you.”
It wasn’t the answer he’d expected, and he found himself absurdly disappointed. “What kind of job?”
“To help me find my friend, Lady Anne Daintith.”
It would prove a fruitless undertaking. At the stark pain darkening her eyes, he struggled with the desire to hold her closer. “After her father paid the ransom and Bow Street made a thorough search,” he said, “they concluded she had been killed. They’ve never found any sign of Lady Anne. It’s been months…”
“Only two,” she amended angrily, her delicate, arched brows lowered. “Only a few weeks after it happened, Anne’s mother died. Her father, the marquess, has given up looking for her. But I won’t. I intend to find her.”
He turned her in the dance. “How?” he asked when she came back to him. “You don’t know where to look for her.”
“I have an idea,” she said as the music died away and the waltz came to a close. Dancers around them laughed and chatted as they left the floor. “Can we meet somewhere quiet, away from the guests tomorrow? I shall explain my theory to you.”
“I don’t see how I can…”
Her eyes implored him. “Please.”
“If you promise to stop meddling in my affairs,” he said, deciding at least something good might come of it.
“I promise. If I can.”
“Make sure you do. I’ll meet you by the lake. What time will you be free?”
