“I’m late for an appointment,” Phoebe explained before she could ask. “But I’ll see you at home!”
Marion called out something but Phoebe just raised a hand in goodbye. She would answer for her abruptness later. As Phoebe exited the school, she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Then andonlythen did she cross the street.
“Come this way,” she said to Will without stopping and headed away from the school.
“Is this how you always greet people?” he replied drolly as he followed her.
Once she rounded the corner and was safely out of sight, Phoebe came to a stop. She then discreetly looked back but no one seemed to have noticed them. She let out a breath and faced Will, who stared at her curiously.
“Worried about being seen with me?” He was clearly joking but Phoebe nodded.
“It would cause talk,” she explained. “My students all saw you from the window.”
“And you’d rather skulk about than just tell them the truth?”
“That I know aduke?”
Will narrowed his eyes. “I meant that I’m a friend—” The scoff erupted from her without warning. “Of the family,” he continued.
Phoebe’s cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine,” he said as he looked away to adjust his cuffs. “And you’re probably right to be so cautious. I don’t wish to make things difficult for you.”
Before she could reply, he continued on. Phoebe watched for a moment as he strode down the pavement, his smooth movements suddenlyachinglyfamiliar. But even if he had been a stranger, it would have been quite impossible for her not to notice such a dashing figure.
Will paused and looked back, his gaze now steady. “Aren’t you coming?”
A sense of familiarity washed over her. Back in Surrey he had always waited for her, even when she had been nothing more than the annoying little sister clambering after him and Alex, desperate to be included in their adventures. Phoebe’s heart clenched for one wrenching beat, then she trotted after him, suddenly feeling ten years old again. Once she was by his side, Will continued on. He fixed his gaze straight ahead as he addressed her:
“My secretary retrieved the location of the tenement house from Inspector Holland and from there was able to uncover the building’s owner.”
Phoebe brightened. “Oh? Who is it?”
Will glanced at her and shook his head. “It’s owned by a company. We’re trying to find out who is behind it, but that will be difficult. Usually people set up these companies to ensure their privacy. Whoever owns this flat also owns a few other properties in the area, including a music hall of ill repute.”
“Then perhaps it is someone with a reputation to protect.”
“Quite possible. But that doesn’t exactly narrow the suspects.”
Phoebe sighed. This was going to be even harder than she expected. She gestured up ahead. “There it is.”
They came to a stop across the street and took in the three-story structure. Like most of the buildings in this neighborhood it was verging on derelict. The front steps were in need of repair and the windows were clouded over from years of grime.
“Whoeverdoesown this place is doing a shoddy job keeping it up,” Will said, his words dripping with aristocratic disapproval.
“Most of my students live in places like this. The landlords don’t care as long as they have paying tenants, and no one holds them to any kind of standards.”
“Well, someone should.”
Phoebe let out a snort at his priggish tone.
The duke turned to her. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” she amended. “Only that ofcoursesomeone should do something. The deplorable living conditions of the poor isn’t exactly a new problem. There was talk of erecting something like the Katharine Buildings in this neighborhood,” Phoebe explained, referencing the East End apartments built for the working class by a philanthropic society a decade ago. “But whoever owns this block refuses to sell. Meanwhile, the people with the power to enact real, lasting change don’t care.”
Phoebe kept her eyes on the building, but she could feel his gaze on her.
“You mean people like me.”
