This is for Lily.
The reminder helped quell his resentment of playing batman to the oaf whom Filminster had paired him with. He had attempted to question Lily about Trafford’s involvement, but she had cheerfully chattered about the new books she had ordered for their library, as if she had not faced death and injury less than a fortnight earlier.
“If Brendan trusts Trafford, then so do I” was the only response she had provided. Which must have meant she did not know the fop all that well.
Aidan cracked his knuckles, pacing behind Trafford while he awaited the oaf’s direction.
Suddenly, Trafford broke the silence. “I see my great-aunt, Gertrude, with her husband.” With that, he took off toward the Smythe home, his gold silk tails flapping in his wake. Aidan watched hesitantly before reluctantly following his now-constant companion. Trafford weaved through the line of carriages in the rounded drive, skipping up to an elderly couple who were descending from the carriage in front.
“Aunty!”
A wizened old lady with stooped shoulders in blue silk squinted up at her nephew before clapping her hands in excitement. “Julius, my boy!”
Trafford leaned down, and a trembling hand was extended from beneath an embroidered shawl. She pinched his cheek between arthritic fingers, beaming with pleasure. Behind her was the husband, an equally ancient man in old-fashioned breeches, white stockings, and buckled shoes, which did little to disguise the march of time in that his legs were spindly from insufficient use.
“What are you doing here, boy?”
Aidan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Trafford was anything but a boy. The man clearly had dallied with numerous women of theton, attired as a coxcomb with far too much allowance to waste on clothing. Only a nearsighted great-aunt could affectionately view him as a boy.
“I was just walking by with my friend.” Trafford gestured in Aidan’s direction, who gritted his teeth. They were on a small but elegant estate near the Thames—private property—which belied the notion that they happened to just be passing by. “Are you attending an event?”
“It is the Smythe ball. Frederick has a daughter he has been attempting to marry off for years. She is a dear girl, but the boys do not like her, I am afraid.”
“That is a pity. I was hoping to catch up, but if you are otherwise occupied …” Trafford trailed off with deliberation, baiting his great-aunt.
“Come with us, Julius! Frederick will be delighted to have such strapping young men in attendance.”
Trafford fell into place, joining arms with his relation and assisting her up the stairs into the lit entrance hall. Aidan puffed out a breath and followed them in reluctantly with the frail husband, fighting the impulse to hold out his own arm to help the aristocrat who doddered up the steps at a snail’s pace.
Soon they stood in the long receiving line, Traffordchattering with his great-aunt while the husband stared sightlessly about as if lost in the recesses of his elderly mind.
From his considerable height, Aidan could see over the heads of most of the nobles. Up ahead, his attention was caught by a statuesque redhead greeting guests next to the host, a tidy man in his fifties similar in height.
The young woman was breathtaking. Worthy of adorning the Elgin Marbles that Parliament had acquired for the British Museum in recent years, salvaged from the Acropolis in Athens. A veritable Greek goddess with Titian red hair, an elegant Grecian nose, and creamy skin. But it was the delightful spray of freckles across her glowing skin that disappeared under the edge of her bodice that made his thoughts turn to lascivious activities.
Aidan had always had a fondness for scarlet tresses, but he had never seen a woman of such magnificence before. Her small, high breasts were artfully draped in the current fashion inspired by the sculptures of the ancient world, her tall figure and slim hips beautifully suited to the flowing ivory silk that made him think of a divine carving come to life to converse with the mere mortals.
The thought of peeling the fabric from her warm skin sent a rush of heat through his veins, a sensation that he was unaccustomed to, but this woman was unique, a daughter of polite society without comparison.
Was this the so-called ape-leader destined for spinsterhood? Were the men of London afflicted with blindness?
Rubbing a hand over his shaven chin, Aidan’s spirits suddenly lifted at the realization that when he reached the end of the receiving line, he would meet the glowing deity gracing this earthly gathering with her presence.
“It is time to go.”
Aidan slowly comprehended that the statement wasdirected at him. Trafford was peering at him with a questioning look, clearly wondering what had Aidan so riveted but bobbing his head toward a side hall leading away from the receiving line. Disappointment made Aidan’s spirits plummet once more, the recollection of Lily’s situation a painful reminder that an introduction to the beauty at the end of the hall was not in the cards for this evening. For just a brief moment, he had been distracted from his recent troubles, but it was not to be. With a lingering sense of disappointment, he departed with Trafford from the hall of chattering guests.
Soon they stood together in a dimly lit library in silence.
“Do you have any notion how ridiculous you look in this—” Aidan threw his hand out at Trafford’s gold coat.
“Now, now, Little Breeches. There is no need to tell Banbury stories … I am unduly handsome in my brocade, which we both well know.”
Aidan snorted in disgust. It was a farce to be engaged in this investigation with the clownish Trafford, but he had no choice. Filminster’s other relations and close friends, the Earl of Saunton and the Duke of Halmesbury, had both departed for their country estates, which meant Trafford was the only other man Lily’s husband trusted to assist in securing her safety.
Considering Aidan had only recently returned from his Grand Tour, he was hardly in a position to present trusted associates for Filminster to consider for inclusion in their plot to reveal a murderer.
“Did a certain young woman capture your eye out in the hall? You seemed rather bemused.”
