Anna’s breath caught. “The man they spoke of at the ball?”
“The same,” Mrs. Pembroke said. “They have him for now.”
“For now,” Anna repeated. “What does that mean?”
Mrs. Pembroke ran a finger along the case. “It means there may be an opportunity to keep him from speaking, if he hasn’t already.”
An icy lump formed in Anna’s gut. “What do you mean, keep him from speaking?”
“Not by killing him, if that’s the direction your imagination is going. Good heavens, Anna.”
Anna flushed. “I didn’t know.”
“It means moving him before Major Ellis puts him somewhere worse. It also means getting word to the right men before tonight. We have very little time, less than we had yesterday.”
Anna glanced at the note again. “And the locket has to carry the message.”
Mrs. Pembroke crossed to the window and looked toward the front drive. “The locket is known to a select few. That makes it valuable. It also makes it dangerous. If anyone begins to suspect what it carries, every clasp, portrait, and scrap of silver on it becomes a noose.”
Anna closed the hidden compartment as if that might protect it. “Then why use it again?”
“Because desperate times do not always permit alternatives,” Mrs. Pembroke said.
For some reason, Anna thought of the way Nathaniel stepped into danger with nothing but a smile and a careless remark about country dances. All to protect her. She also thought of Rothborne’s eyes on her, Sloane’s thin warnings, and Major Ellis’s cold voice saying that everyone talked eventually.
Then she thought of Nathaniel being watched. She didn’t like the fear that came with that thought. It was too personal.
Mrs. Pembroke turned away from the window and studied her. “You are concerned for Mr. Reed.”
Anna straightened. Merciful heavens, how did she know? “I’m concerned for anyone being watched.”
Mrs. Pembroke smiled. “A very sensible answer, my dear.”
“It’s true,” Anna said, her cheeks heating. “Mrs. Pembroke, what made you think I’d be concerned for Mr.—”
“I’m old, not blind, dear.” She returned to the table and tapped the folded note. “You look toward him whenever he enters a room. He looks at you when he thinks no one notices. Heavens, if I were a sentimental woman, I might find it charming.”
“You’re not sentimental,” Anna pointed out.
“Fortunately for everyone.” Mrs. Pembroke smiled at her and winked.
Anna brushed at the skirt of her dress. “There’s nothing charming about Mr. Reed. He’s dangerous.”
“Most worthwhile men are, in some fashion,” Mrs. Pembroke said. “The question is whether they are dangerous to you or for you.”
Anna had no answer to that and disliked that she wanted one.
A knock sounded at the door, and both women stilled. Mrs. Pembroke took the note, slipped it into the locket’s hidden compartment, snapped the portrait into place, and closed the front with a motion so swift and practiced that Anna could only stare.
“Who is it?” Mrs. Pembroke called.
“Reed, ma’am.”
Anna’s heart leapt in her chest. Dash it all.
Mrs. Pembroke glanced her way and winked. Anna looked back, horrified by whatever her face had just revealed. Drat. Drat. Drat.
Mrs. Pembroke’s brows lifted as she set the locket inside its case and closed the lid. “Come in,” she sang.
