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Really, if she’d found him, she likely would have leaped from the carriage and whacked him over the head with whatever weapon came to hand. What had he been thinking to fall in love with her and to make her glad for his love?

The jolting carriage ride had reversed her understanding of where the danger lay. To protect her precious guidebook from Hazelwood, she’d accepted her cousins’ hospitality, and, now, she needed to figure out how to protect her cousins as well from the people who wanted her father’s information.

A low moan came from Allegra, and Jane left the chair.

“Is my hat ruined?” Allegra stirred, then sank back against her pillows.

Jane went to her cousin’s side with a glass of water. “Your hat can be saved. How’s your head?”

“Terrible.” Allegra’s eyes closed in her ashen face. “It’s dark in here.”

“Are you ready for a candle? The doctor warned against too much light.”

“Where’s Mama?”

“She’s dressing for the evening.” Lady Strayde had told Jane that she felt the importance of keeping her evening engagements, that way she could reassure people that Allegra had taken no serious hurt. Jane lit a candle on the mantel and brought it to the bedside table.

Allegra blinked and held a hand up over her eyes. “So, you’re here with me?”

“I am. Water?”

“Yes. Please.” Allegra’s voice was a croak. She accepted the glass Jane offered, and with a shaking hand, brought it to her lips. She took a sip and nearly let the glass slip from her grasp. Jane caught it, and Allegra’s hand fell back against the coverlet.

“How long am I going to feel like this? I can’t miss the Langford ball.”

“The doctor said you are to rest. He’s left a draught for the headache, and he wants to know what else you’re feeling.”

Allegra’s hand plucked at the coverlet. “It’s unfair. Caroline DeVere will go to that ball. She’ll dance with my beaux. She’ll make everyone forget me, as if I’d never existed.”

Jane took her seat in the armchair again. “You’ll just have to be a sensation when you return, like Sleeping Beauty, after her long nap.”

“But everyone will talk about what a stupid, pitiful girl I am to fall and miss the Radical Race.”

“By the time you return, there will be something quite different to talk about.”

“How can you be so sure? You know nothing about London.”

“Haven’t you been trying to teach me? And I’ve been reading my Husband Hunter’s Guide to London.”

“You’re joking. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“You have your mother to advise you. I have none.”

“So how did you come upon this guide?”

“It was given to me when I arrived by someone who realized I’d need sound advice.”

“What does it say?”

“That rest is essential for the young woman who wants to shine at a ball.”

A knock on the door made Allegra turn. “Yes? Who’s there?”

Clive answered, and Allegra invited him in. “Does everyone think I’m a stupid fool for getting knocked down?”

“I haven’t heard from everyone yet.” Clive crossed the room, but stood in the shadows beyond the soft candle beams. He spoke gently, but he wore a grim expression. “Your admirers’ flowery tributes and notes will arrive soon.”

“Everyone will just forget me.”