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Cassie shook her head. They were getting distracted by all this marriage talk. Not surprising, really. They were only saved from being pressed into engagements by their father’s lack of involvement in their lives.
Cassie would not complain. If it had been up to their brother, they would all have accepted the first proposal that had come along, and she would have ended up on the arm of old Lord Sotheby with his strange gait and propensity for drinking too much. Frankly, she had plenty of time to marry and little inclination to rush into the matter. She was a duke’s daughter after all with a fine dowry.
Eleanor nodded. “It is a fine job no one noticed Cassie slip out but I.” She leaned forward. “I hope you are being cautious. Your mother did not want you part of this group until you were married.”
“The same for all of us,” Chastity pointed out. “She would not believe I had given in already and let you all join.”
Cassie shared a smile with Eleanor, recalling the days when they had sat outside this very room, ears pressed to the door, and tried to listen to what Mother and her friends were investigating next. Then they would beg and beg for details and beg further to join. The answer had always been the same.
Husbands first. Then you may join.
She rubbed the end of her nose and grimaced.Sorry, Mama.
“We are all getting distracted.” Demeter tweaked one of the flowers woven in and out of her raven hair. Today it was blue violets which meant something, but Cassie could not for the life of her recall what. Despite Demeter having few problems communicating after temporary deafness as a child, her sister had adopted using flowers to communicate her moods when she was little, and the habit had remained somehow.
Eleanor gestured for Cassie to continue. “So what happened?”
“I tried but…” She sighed. “I could not gain access to the safe.”
“The chances of it being there were rather remote I suppose.” Eleanor brushed down a stray strand of curly dark hair with a huff.
“Did I ever tell you about the Prince of Prussia’s ball?” Aunt Sarah piped up as she straightened and gave a long, languid stretch. “I stood up with him twice. Everyone thought he intended to propose but—”
“But we must concentrate, Aunt Sarah,” her sister continued. “If we are to find out why Jane was not given the house as her dowry or if her brother is even really dead, then we must not get distracted by princes.”
“Who was talking about princes?” Aunt Sarah said. “I do not know if I ever told you—”
Chastity pressed a hand to her lips to mask a giggle. They all adored Aunt Sarah but to say she had embraced eccentricity as she had aged was putting it mildly. Apparently, however, Aunt Sarah’s widowed status and her propensity for not giving a fig could be useful. Cassie rather looked forward to the day she could see her aunt put to work.
“Should I see if I can charm my way in, Little Sister?” Chastity suggested.
The oldest of them all and blessed with ravishing dark looks, Chastity offered a sultry look. Despite her generous lips and dark eyes that always looked as though they were beckoning a man to bed, Chastity dressed, well, chastely with high fichus and gowns that did little justice to the generous figure beneath. It did not seem to matter, however. Their older sister never struggled in getting her own way.
Eleanor looked to Cassie as she made a face. Why did everyone have to remind her she was the youngestallthe time?
“What do you think?” Eleanor asked.
Cassie offered her sister a grateful smile. If anyone knew how much this opportunity to prove herself her mother’s daughter meant, it was Eleanor. She had joined their family at the age of eight and claimed her as his own at the behest of Cassie’s mother. She was under no illusions that her parent’s marriage had been perfect or entirely faithful and Eleanor was evidence of that. But Cassie and Eleanor adored each other from the start, even if they did always seem to be on opposite sides of whatever the latest argument was.
“I will try again. I have a better way of finding that will in mind.”
“We must act fast,” Demeter said. “If Jane is correct and her brother isn’t really dead, he could be in danger.”
Nodding, Cassie straightened her shoulders. “I will visit with her tomorrow, to ensure we have our facts entirely straight, but I shall not delay on my plans.” She set her sisters with a firm look. “I can do this, I promise.”
There was no chance she would mess this up again. All she ever wanted in life was to investigate mysteries and here they had a potentially missing earl and some sort of fraud. A far cry from the little delicate matters that started her mother’s investigative group in the first place.
No, she would leave nothing to chance this time, and no annoying viscount would get in the way again.
***
“WHATEVER DID THAT toast do to you?”
Luke peered up to see his younger brother stroll into the breakfast room. Noel shared his dark hair and eyes but had suffered a broken nose a few years ago, marring the hereditary Fitzwilliam profile. He glanced down at the food in question, realizing he had indeed massacred the food into a pile of crumbs.
Noel slid onto a chair opposite Luke and nodded to the letter in his hand. “Bad news?”
“Not really.” Luke folded the letter and set it down on the table. “It’s from Anton.”
