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Finn held up a length of pink silk to show her.
She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
He held up a length of green silk. She nodded and smiled at him. God, her smile could almost knock him to his knees.
Could he wait two more weeks to kiss her? He supposed he didn’t have a choice. At Ramsdale House, her family pretty much had her under lock and key.
“Pardon me, my lord,” a voice said by his left shoulder. He turned quickly and had to force himself not to step back. “She told me to give you this, my lord,” the boy said.
“Who?” Finn took the missive in his hand and opened it quickly. When he looked up, the lad was gone. Finn ran to the exit, but the boy was faster than he looked.
Finn looked back down at the note.
Lord Phineas,
The special item you ordered for Mrs. Abercrombie has arrived. Shall I send it to you, or do you wish to retrieve it yourself?
Best regards,
Colette
Finn hadn’t ordered a special item for Mrs. Abercrombie. Claire hadn’t dressed as her since the day they’d gone to the ball, not that he knew of.
She wouldn’t have gone out as Mrs. Abercrombie on her own, would she? She had better not.
“What’s wrong?” Claire asked as she stepped up behind him.
“How is Mrs. Abercrombie doing, Claire?”
Clair faltered for no more than a moment. “The last I heard, she was touring the continent.”
He pressed the letter into her hand. “What do you know of a special item I might have ordered for her?”
She took it from him and read it quickly. Then shrugged. “I have no idea what that’s about.”
But a lady standing near them and looking at the ribbons as well said, “Did you say Mrs. Abercrombie? Lovely lady. She’s not touring the continent. She was at the Asterlys’ house party not two days ago.”
The lady turned to walk away.
“Remind me who Mrs. Abercrombie is, darling,” Finn said smoothly to Claire. He made certain he was loud enough for the other lady to hear. “For the life of me, I can’t place that name.”
He waited a fraction of a second for the lady to take the bait. “Oh, she’s a lovely woman. Very exotic. Hair that’s black as night. She’s a widow twice over.” So, the story of Mrs. Abercrombie was already circulating and being embellished. Good.
“Oh, I do remember,” Finn said. “Lovely woman.”
The lady finally did walk away, and Finn’s head was spinning like a top. She turned back.
“She’ll be at Lord Gelson’s dinner tonight. Are you going?”
“Of course,” Finn said smoothly. He had to find out who this Mrs. Abercrombie was. And if she had any relation to the person Claire had pretended to be.
“Can you choose your ribbons while I go on a quick errand?”
Claire’s brows drew together sharply. “Where are you going?”
He leaned down close to her ear so only she could hear him. “I have a feeling Colette needs to see me about Mrs. Abercrombie.” He arched a brow at her.
“Take me with you.”
