“Right,” she said, forging ahead. “Here is my request. This party should include the usual trappings, tea and cake, with droves of gossipy women and piles of gifts. So many gifts, in fact, I believe we will require several carriages for the purpose of conveying them home. I cannot imagine that grooms will not be part of this... transport.”
“The coachman mentioned this,” he said cautiously.
She planted her hands on the bench, sending waves of billowing fabric puffing in drifts down her body. “Well, because you are myprivategroom, I should like to have you there to attend me.Insidethis party.”
“Inside a ladies’ tea party?”
“Actually, it’s a garden party,” she mused. “That is, if the weather holds. Lady Canning’s garden is a great source of vanity. If it is remotely mild and dry, apparently we will be outside. Either way, I shall need your help, but certainly this will be easier done if we are in the garden.”
“Whatwill be easier? What is my objective?”
“Are you asking for your faux objective, or your actual objective?”
Declan swore in his head and turned away. He looked at the glow of moonlight through the window and thought of his jail cell. He thought of his father and the small, fogged window of his bedroom beside his tailor shop. He thought of his own bloody survival. She was like a dervish,but if he concentrated, if he really concentrated, he could just see beyond the cyclone.
“I’m asking forallobjectives,” he said slowly, turning back. “What can you possibly expect a liveried groom to do inside a society party?”
Lady Helena held up slim fingers and ticked off expectations. “One of my mother’s gossipy friends has been invited. This is a great stroke of luck, as she is my greatest hope for building a list of potential duchesses for the duke.”
Declan blinked, trying to dissipate the shadows. Was she asking him to be complicit? Was the question no longerAre you a spy?Was itHelp me run away?
He began shaking his head.
No. No. No.
No.
Lady Helena forged on. “The woman won’t rattle off the names outright, of course, but I feel certain I can dislodge them through gossip and flattery, et cetera.”
He gritted out, “And my role?”
“You will be assisting with my many packages and parcels—all the gifts I shall receive because I am Lusk’s bride-to-be.”
“There are footmen for this.”
“But only my personal groom can be trusted with our gifts,” she amended. “And while you are inventorying and guarding the gifts, you will also be standing ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For me to sail by rather quickly and—”
“Oh God.”
“—take down the names of the girls I learn from my mother’s friend. To record any useful gossip I discern. I could never take down these notes while I’m circulating. I couldn’t remember everything I hope to learn. I’m wholly unschooled in London gossip. These names and directions will have no value to me. It will be like a foreign language.”
“No.”
“But you’ve hardly considered it,” she countered. “The task is only to stand near the gifts, inventory them—or pretend to inventory, honestly, who cares—and I will whisper my findings to you each time I come ’round. We need only paper and pen, which I will provide in the morning. Think of your secret role as Girdleston’s nonspy spy. What better way to keep an eye on me than to be within the bounds of the party?”
He stared at her, disbelieving.
Finally, he said, “You are aware that grooms have no business inside parties. Nor do they take dictation. And even if they did, I am employed by Girdleston. You are actively trying to undermine him.”
“You cannot possibly have loyalty to Lusk or Girdleston or the dukedom,” she said. “That was plain to me in the library.”
Declan opened his mouth, then closed it. She was correct, of course. He’d recoiled at the sight of the unconscious duke. Looking back, he’dwantedher to see his disgust.
“Make no mistake,” she went on, “I know you have no loyalty to me either. We’ve only just met.” She raised an eyebrow and flicked the thick ropeof her braid over her shoulder. It hit the workbench with a thump. His gaze slid from her head to her boots. Desire surged like a falcon on a tether.
