Theodora kept thesmile upon her lips, though she knew Alexander was already entering the Godfreys’s foyer. It had been nearly a week since their argument in the garden. Her father had said Alexander had been investigating Amgen House, learning its rooms and identifying a house across the street where the British agents might watch the comings and goings of the Honfleur household.
Yet, Xander had not called at Duncan Place in all that time, essentially removing her from his life. Theodora would be required to marry soon, for not only would she occasionally encounter Alexander Dutton in London society, but the Dutton home estate marched along her father’s English estate in Derbyshire. She could not bear constantly meeting the new LadyMarksman regularly at church and community events. Theodora knew herself not strong enough to view another woman heavy with Alexander’s child.
“I have never been to a masque before,” Mr. Hartley said.
“Not even as part of your service to my father?” she asked politely.
“No, it is only of late that Lord Duncan has treated me as something other than his secretary,” he said, and immediately took back his words. “I did not mean to have you think I am not deeply grateful for all your father has done for me and my family. My father would have permitted the barony to have slipped into abeyance, not claiming it, and continued to serve his church if Lord Duncan had not convinced him that the aristocracy required godly men to govern their place in society. Even now, a masque would be a step into Hell, itself, if your father was not considered by many to be an upright man. Everyone admires how he took in five children to raise as his own. His patronage has opened new doors to me.”
“Then let us go in, Mr. Hartley,” Theodora said with a nod of her head. “This is also my first masque, and we should enjoy our ‘firsts’ together.”
“Might I claim the first set, my lady?” he asked as they moved forward in the waiting line.
Theodora attempted to keep the frown from her lips. “Customarily,” she said quietly, “I dance the first and last sets with Lord Marksman, but I am not confident how that might work this evening, for he is to attempt to meet Lord Honfleur’s daughter or niece, or whoever that woman is on the marquis’s arm. I do not know what to expect, you see.”
He politely patted the back of her hand. “Then, if Lord Marksman does not meet his obligations to you, we might instead walk the room together and you will permit me to introduce you to those you may not know already, and you maydo the same with me. Afterwards, we will dance the second set. Is that acceptable, my lady?”
Theodora agreed, “I would like that very much. Thank you for understanding.”
“Place your eyesback in your head.” Beaufort said from somewhere off Alexander’s right shoulder. For the life of him, Alexander could not withdraw his gaze from the woman who had been introduced to the room as “Miss Moreau.”
“It is not as you assume,” Alexander protested. “There is something about her which draws the eye.”
Beaufort snickered. “Perhaps such is because the woman is dressed as a lady found in a sheik’s tent rather than somewhere in the English countryside.”
Alexander smiled easily. “She is a bold one.”
“And you are thinking of enjoying ‘bold’?” Beaufort asked in warning. “I understand you consider this instant attraction as part of the assignment, but your obsession is being played out before the one person who has always been your greatest champion. Our Dora is your most loyal companion, and you are exacting harm upon her. You have an assignment to perform for the British union, but do not burn all your bridges at the same time, Marksman, for some day you may find yourself on the wrong side of the rising water and have no place to land.”
Alexander’s eyes searched for Theodora in the crowd milling about the ballroom. She was still on Mr. Hartley’s arm, and a lurch of pain hit his heart. Alexander knew Duncan would approve of such a match. Hartley had no title now, but someday, the young gentleman would be a baron, and Theodora would be a baroness.
Although he and Theodora had never actually spoken of a future together, an odd understanding, of sorts, existed between them. They were very much inseparable—had been so since the time when Alexander had inherited the Marksman earldom—since the time Theodora’s father, Lord Duncan, had become one of Alexander’s guardians. Lord Duncan had paved the way for Alexander’s rise from abject poverty to one of the most influential earldoms in the realm.
“I will not purposely harm Theodora,” he promised. “As to the girl on Honfleur’s arm, I do approve of boldness, as do you.”
“Hopefully, the daughter is equally as bold and as beautiful as the niece,” his friend said. “Otherwise, we are switching assignments.”
Alexander’s eyes returned to the woman, who everyone watched, but he felt Duncan’s presence before the man came close to where Alexander waited to claim the girl’s hand for the first dance.
“You know you have thoroughly irritated my daughter, Marksman,” Duncan’s voice said from somewhere off Alexander’s right shoulder. “I do not approve when Theodora is sad. Elsbeth would not either. Do not make me regret permitting you to take the lead in this investigation.”
Although Alexander wished to ask if Mr. Hartley meant to court Theodora, he knew he held no right to inquire of their relationship, for he was not yet ready to speak a proposal to Dora or to any woman. Matters of a personal nature, along with his work for the Crown, took precedence. Times were too turbulent to speak words of “forever” to another, nor could he think of claiming a wife and begetting children when he was still learning how to survive in a world in which he had not been born. “For now, have we learned anything new about the Marquis of Honfleur?”
“Not much,” Duncan said in quiet tones. “We’ve men verifying his legitimacy, but haven’t heard back from those in France. Honfleur’s supposed marquessate is quite removed from France’s more populous areas, as the port of Honfleur has not seen popularity since the rise of Le Havre.”
Alexander nodded slightly in understanding. “So, we are blind in this matter?”
“Been blind more than once,” Duncan remarked.
“And the young woman at his side?” Alexander asked. For some yet to be explained reason, though he was relatively confident the woman was Honfleur’s niece, he prayed the lady was not Honfleur’s wife. Such would be a true shame. They had nothing that said Honfleur was married, but…
“Honfleur’s niece,” Duncan explained. “I am surprised his daughter is not upon his arm. From what we know, the man rarely travels anywhere without his daughter.”
“Daughter?” Alexander asked. “The other one in the reports from our people in France. The female with the dark hair.”
“The daughter’s name be ‘Caroline,’” Duncan explained. “No one knows anything of the marquis’s wife, not even if the daughter actually belongs to him, but she is customarily at her father’s side. Other than from a distance, no one has seen much of the niece.”
“More well trained than the daughter or less? From what you shared previously, the daughter’s ‘studies’ have been unconventional,” Alexander suggested. “Has the marquis included the niece in these accomplishments?”
