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LUKE SHOVED THROUGH the crowd of people scrabbling their way out of the ballroom, his grip firm on Cassie’s hand. He ducked a low flying parrot and kept Cassie close, finally breaking free into the hallway. He glanced around.
Women fussed and men scoffed, pretending they had not been shoving their wives out of the way for fear of being on the receiving end of a bird dropping. Luke smirked to himself as one woman gave her husband an earful for not defending her better.
He shoved open a door and dragged Cassie into the darkened room, shutting the door swiftly behind him. Releasing her hand, he eyed the drawing room. Sheets were slung over the furnishings and bookcases lined one wall, filled with leatherbound books. The shine and glamour of the ballroom had not made its way here and there were no endless flowers or glimmering candles—just a slither of moonlight from between the shutters. Enough to see Cassie.
Not that he even needed to look at her to know how beautiful she was. He suspected he had her engraved in his memory now. The number of glances he’d stolen her way tonight ought to be criminal.
Pearls shimmered at her neck and dangled from her ears. Some were woven through her hair too. Her cream gown overlaid with a sheath of sheer embroidered fabric accentuated the length of her and made his fingers itch to grab the fabric and drag her toward him then remove the pearls and kiss that elegant arch of her neck.
He hissed out a breath. Somehow, he needed to find some self-control. He already regretted talking to her so at the park, but he could not deny he hungered to teach her what he knew. And, frankly, he’d be damned if anyone else did such a thing. Surely it was his duty? To ensure she indulged her curiosity safely and without risk for her reputation?
Duty? Who was he kidding? He just couldn’t wait to touch her again.
“Goodness.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I wonder how those birds were freed.”
“Seems like someone wanted to play mischief maker.”
“I wonder who,” she said with an odd tone. “Anyway—” she strode around the chaise longue and dropped onto it “—what did you find out?”
Luke closed his eyes briefly. Of course the blasted woman could only focus on the investigation. All the while, here he was all tangled up over her words the other day and imagining all sorts of things that he should most certainly not even have in his mind. She had likely forgotten her proposition.
He remained standing. The last thing he needed was to be near her. Near temptation.
“I spoke with a friend at Boodle’s who said he last saw Parsons at around ten in the evening. He remembers because he’d asked why he was leaving so early.”
“And why was he leaving so early?”
Luke shrugged. “Just muttered something about seeing Jane before she retired to bed.”
“So he intended to go home,” she mused.
“It seems that way but maybe it was an excuse. We know he had only just conquered a gambling problem.”
“Did you find out anything else?”
“I went to the gaming hell near where the body was discovered but no one could recall seeing him there that night.”
Cassie’s expression grew triumphant. “I knew it! I knew he would not have fallen again so easily. He had vowed to Jane he would not.”
He cocked his head. “Men often make vows they do not keep.” Like his vow to protect Cassie. He doubted Anton would think him offering to tutor her in the arts of pleasure to save her from other rogues as an honorable act.
“Jane meant everything to him. I do not think he would lie to her.”
“Simply because no one saw him, does not mean he was not there. It’s a busy place.”
She pursed her lips. “You said he was last seen at ten?”
“Approximately yes.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Did you go straight from Boodle’s to Southwick.”
He nodded.
“And how long did it take you?”
