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“Sadly, it would not be,” Corbyn agreed. “Women go missing from the rookeries all the time. It is a very unsavory thing to think about.”
“Who is on the case?”
Corbyn gave him a pointed look. “Who do you think?” he asked, before answering his own question. “It is those worthless Runners.”
“Why do you distrust the Bow Street Runners so much?”
“I have my reasons.”
Straightening from the windowsill, Baldwin walked over to the drink cart. “Which are?”
Corbyn stiffened. “They are mine, and mine alone.”
“Secrets, I see.”
“We both have them.”
Baldwin placed his glass down onto the cart before he picked up the decanter. Then, he topped off his drink and poured another. “No truer words have ever been said.” He picked the glasses up and walked one over to Corbyn. “May we get back to Miss Dowding now?”
Corbyn accepted the glass and took a sip. “Go on,” he encouraged.
“Earlier this morning, Miss Dowding showed up here unexpectedly and began to snoop through my townhouse.”
“She did?”
Baldwin nodded. “At least, that’s what I thought she was doing.”
“What did you do?”
After taking a sip, Baldwin placed the glass on the desk. “I confronted her and demanded to know why she was in my townhouse.”
“What did she say?” Corbyn asked.
“She didn’t say, but rather, insulted me.”
Corbyn lifted his brow. “She insulted you?” he repeated back slowly.
“Yes, repeatedly.”
“I like this girl,” Corbyn said with a smile.
“You wouldn’t if you met her,” Baldwin declared. “She is argumentative and refuses to answer even the most basic questions. It is maddening.”
Corbyn studied him, then asked, “Is she beautiful?”
“She is,” he admitted, seeing no reason to deny it, “but that is beside the point.”
“Then what is the point?”
Baldwin glanced over at the open door and lowered his voice. “Miss Dowding is a friend of Jane’s from boarding school, but I can’t help but wonder if she has been sent here to spy on me.”
Corbyn was silent for a long moment, his brow furrowing into a frown. “Are you in earnest?”
“I am.”
“I think you are just overthinking this.” Corbyn rose and put his glass on the desk. “After all, what reason would this young woman have to spy on you?”
“Perhaps she learned that I was a spy—”
