“Go on. We’ll catch up to you in a moment.” Lovell waved them on, dropping limply onto another bench, his bad leg stretched out in front of him, muttering that he’d seen enough portraits to lasthim a lifetime.
So Samuel escorted his mother to the other end of the hallway, where Reynolds’s portraits of the Duchess of Devonshire were hung.
“Why, how charming!” Lady Sophronia exclaimed over the portrait of the duchess with her infant daughter on her knee. “Lady Georgiana Cavendish is such a lovely child! Don’t you think so, Samuel?”
Samuel could hardly tell one child from another, but he smiled at his mother’s pleasure. “She’s very pretty, yes.”
They went down the row, and after a while some of the tension eased from Samuel’s shoulders. He’d hardly seen his mother smile at all since his return to England, but she seemed to be taking great pleasure in their outing today.
It had been her idea to come to London for the season. She had great hopes of restoring Lovell to Lady Flora’s good graces, but she’d also delicately hinted that Samuel might pay a visit to Caroline Francis at the Pink Pearl while they were in town. That particular task had yet to bear fruit, but it would, and soon.
He would makecertain of it.
Samuel listened to his mother’s cheerful chatter and the moments slid by without his noticing, until nearly half an hour had elapsed without anysign of Lovell.
When it came to Lovell, half an hour was a lifetime. If he’d been seized with one of his freaks or whims, there was no telling what he might have gotten up to in that time.
“You must be fatigued.” Samuel tucked his mother’s hand through his arm and started down the hallway. “Shall we fetch Lovell,and have tea?”
They strolled back down the hallway, and found Humphries and Lady Adelaide lounging on the bench, whispering to each other, but Lovell…
Samuel’s gaze swept from one end of the room to the other, hisjaw tightening.
Lovell was gone.
* * * *
“Lord Lovell’s been at the Pink Pearl.”
Emma had been toying with the ribbons on her hat, waiting for Lady Crosby to appear so they might be on their way to the Royal Academy, but her fingers stilled at Daniel Brixton’s words, her heart crowding into her throat.“Lord Lovell?”
“Aye, lass.” Daniel held out a note with Lady Crosby’s direction written on the front in Helena’s familiar scrawl. “Read this.”
Emma eyed the note, unease coiling in her stomach. “We’re a single day into the season, and something’s goneamiss already?”
“Read it, lass.” Daniel pressed the noteinto her hand.
Emma was just unfolding it when Lady Crosby appeared in the drawing room. “Here I am, ready at last. Good afternoon, Daniel. Shall we…oh, Emma, my dear, don’t furrow your brow with such ferocity. It’s not good for your complexion. What have you got therein your hand?”
“It’s a note from Helena. It seems Lord Lovell paid a visit to the Pink Pearl two nights ago.” That in itself wasn’t so surprising. Gentlemen with the means to do so did tend to turn up at the Pink Pearl sooner or later, but Lord Lovell had hardly set foot in London before he was darkening Madame Marchand’s doorstep.
Lady Crosby’s eyes widened. “Oh, dear. He’s after Caroline Francis, already?”
Emma scanned the rest of the note. “It’s curious, but Helena doesn’t mention that. She says only that Lord Lovell is as pretty asrumor claims—”
Daniel snorted.
“—and that he behaved like a perfect gentleman.” Emma let the note drop into her lap.
“Hmm. Well, perhaps we’ll find out more at the Royal Academy. All thetonwill be there, and where thetonis, there’s sure to be gossip.” Lady Crosby drew on her gloves.“Shall we go?”
“Yes, but first I want to write a quick note to Helena, and ask her if anyone heard Lord Lovell mention Caroline last night.” Emma went to a desk in the corner, wrote a few hasty lines, then folded it and offered it to Daniel. “You’ll see Helena gets this?”
“Aye.” Daniel took the note and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Thank you. I’m ready now, my lady.” Emma snatched up her hat, and followed Lady Crosby out to the carriage.
It was the opening day of the exhibit. Lord Lovell would almost certainly be there, and his odious cousin likely with him, but this time Emma wouldn’t let Lord Lymington interferewith her plans.
