“Now I’ve had a chance to think on it, I don’t think Helena said anything that would arouse Lord Lymington’s suspicions against Caroline.” Helena had mentioned something about Caroline having a lurid tale to tell, but neither she nor Emma had ever said Lord Lovell’s name. “And we were whispering the entire time, so there’s a chance Lord Lymington didn’t hear much of what we said at all.”
“The bawd will turn Caroline over to Lymington.” Daniel couldn’t abide Madame Marchand, and his lips pinched with disgust.
“Yes, there’s little doubt of that.” Emma glanced between Daniel and Lady Crosby. “But by the time Lord Lymington gets to Madame Marchand, Caroline will no longer be at the Pink Pearl.”
Lady Crosby frowned. “Where will she be?”
“With Lady Clifford.” Emma turned to Daniel. “I’m sorry to ask it, Daniel, but will you please go to the Pink Pearl, fetch Caroline Francis, and take her toMaddox Street?”
Lady Crosby touched Emma’s hand. “Oh, dear. Do you really think that’s necessary, Emma?”
“Yes, I think so.” Even now Lord Lymington could be on his way to the Pink Pearl, where he’d demand to see Caroline Francis. It was only dumb luck he hadn’t gotten to her two nights ago. “Please, Daniel?”
“Aye, I’ll get her. Don’t fret about that, lass.”
Emma breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Lady Crosby and I will wait here for your return. I’ll worry until I know Caroline’s safe at Lady Clifford’s.”
“Worry about yerself, lass. Lymington won’t take it kindly when he can’t get ’is hands on Caroline.”
“I can handle Lord Lymington.” Emma wasn’t sure that was true, but she was responsible for this mess. If she hadn’t gone to the Pink Pearl that night, none of this would have happened. Like it or not, Lord Lymington was now her problem to solve.
Lady Crosby abandoned her teacup to its saucer. “I daresay he won’t, but why should he come after Emma?”
“He, ah…hemightsuspect I’m behind Caroline’s leaving the Pink Pearl.”
Lady Crosby paled. “I don’t like this at all, Emma. Lord Lymington is a bit terrifying, and he’s a great deal largerthan you are.”
“Her ladyship is right, lass. It’s not safe, throwing yerself into Lymington’s way like that.”
No, it wasn’t. When Caroline went missing from the Pink Pearl, Lord Lymington would suspect Emma at once, and those gray eyes would go as dark as thunderclouds. But he wouldn’t hurt her. Emma wasn’t sure how she knew this, but she did. “We don’t have a choice, Daniel.”
The first rule of intrigue was that plans could change in the blink of an eye.
The best laid schemes of mice and men…
Robert Burns hadn’t spared a word for the schemes ofwomenin his famous poem, but Emma liked to think of it less as a careless omission than a testament to Scottish wisdom.
Once a lady settled on a scheme, it seldom went awry.
On the rare occasions Emma had been obliged to alter her plans, they hadn’t turned out the better for it, but every now and then, fortune smiledon the wicked.
She could only hope this was one of those times.
Daniel left at once to fetch Caroline from the Pink Pearl. Emma paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, while Lady Crosby sat on the settee and urged her to calm down until Daniel returned.
It felt like years before he reappeared, but when he strode into the drawing room at last, he had a thick letter in his hand, which he held out to Emma.
Emma took it from his hand with a frown. “Is thisfrom Caroline?”
“Nay, Helena sent it.”
Emma tore it open. It was written in a hand she didn’t recognize, but after she read the first few lines, she realized it was the letter she’d asked Caroline to write, detailing her affair with Lord Lovell. “Ah, yes. Thisis very good.”
The rest of Daniel’s news wasn’t as promising, however. “I couldn’t fetch the lass. She wasn’t there. The little lad, Charles, says as she went off with some lord or other last night, and no telling when she’ll be back.”
“What,again?” Emma dropped down on the settee. “Who is this lord who’s taking up all of Caroline’s time? Idon’t like it.”
“Do you suppose it could be Lord Lovell?” Lady Crosby asked.
