“Indeed, Highness,” said Ian, bowing to her again. “I am an enthusiastic pupil of the birds. Royal visits, likewise, are rapidly gaining favor in my eyes.”
“We wouldn’t keep you, Highness,” Drew finally managed, curtsying again.
She glanced at the girls and they dropped, immediately, into passable curtsies.
“This visit has taken up too much of your day already,”Drew continued. “Thank you for receiving the girls and overlooking our tardiness.”
“It’s our pleasure, Drewsmina,” cooed Cynde. “How happy I am for all of you. I’ll call on you in Pollen Street very soon. Oh, but this cannot wait, I adore the new way you’ve done your hair.”
“Thank you, Highness,” Drew said and curtsied again. She gestured to the girls, setting off a second dip of curtsies.
And then, as Lady Tribble slowly shook her head, the five of them backed from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
An hour after they’d returned from the palace, Ian received a note from Rucker Loring.
Your Grace,
Come quickly. The usual place. As soon as you are able.
Unexpected but potentially disastrous development in Blackwall: Ten Avenelle tenants are en route to London with a caravan of wagons. They’ve brought a season’s worth of lace. Spools and spools, all of their work since summer.
My cousin learned of their plan and rode ahead to alert us. They are to rendezvous with the smugglers in Blackwall. Not Dorset—Dorset is finished for smuggling, apparently, too many patrols at the moment. They are coming here. They were told to come within three days’ time or not at all. The tenants panicked and set out.
They are to deliver the lace, packed in hollowed-out loaves of bread. Tonight. They’re due to meet the smugglers by dawn.
If you intend to stop the transfer, Your Grace, come now.
R.L.
Ian left his library at a run, searching for Drewsmina. He ran through the drawing room, the garden, the ballroom—nothing. His wife was nowhere to be found. Instead, he encountered Imogene at the foot of the stairs.
“What’s happened?” asked his niece.
“Imogene, no,” Ian said, his mind racing.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” asked Imogene. “I’ve not asked a yes-or-no question. I asked, What’s happened?”
“I mean, ‘no,’ nothing has happened and ‘no,’ it doesn’t involve you. Also, ‘no’ I don’t have time to explain.” He turned for the stairs, clipping up.
“You’re going out again,” she guessed, darting up the stairs on his heels. “Blackwall.”
Anothernowas on the tip of his tongue, but he knew from experience he didn’t have time to misrepresent the truth, not to her. He’d learned his lesson.
“Fine,” he said, pausing on the landing. “I’ve just had a note from my estate manager. The smugglers have lured my tenants to London. Apparently, they’re on their way here at this very moment, hauling carts full of lace. The exchange is meant to happen in Blackwall tonight, not in Dorset next month. If possible, I’d like tofoilthe deal before the tenants arrive.Thatis what’s happened.”
“Why not simply go to the tenants?” she asked. “How many roads lead in and out of Dorset? Likely, you could intercept them.”
“I don’t want to intercept them,” he said. “Their disdain for me burns bright enough already. I want to erase their opportunity to become fledgling criminals.”
“But how?”
“Imogene, I haven’t the time to explain.”
“Will you simply ask the smugglers to... go away?” she asked, undeterred.
Ian stopped. He took a deep breath. He turned back. “These are criminals, Imogene. If they’re any good at it, they’ll be easily spooked. They’ll want less complication, not more. They’ll want no hassle with an angry duke.”
