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“Good morning,” she said, smiling widely, her expression a bit strained as well. “Is Elijah about?” Perhaps it was only her imagination, but she thought Joseph might have relaxed at her words, making her feel a bit miffed. And hurt.
She would not have been such a bad prospect for marriage, would she? Except he was in love with Miss Bliss. It hurt less than it had, although she was not sure she liked that knowledge. Were her emotions so capricious, they could easily switch between brothers? She did not like that, even though it would make everything easier. More than one person in London had called her flighty, and this seemed to prove it. Josie did not like that at all. She did not consider herself a faithless person, yet that was exactly what this felt like.
“No, he had some things he had to do this morning,” Uncle Oliver said apologetically, though he did not sound particularly censorious toward Elijah, which meant he thought it was important. Josie pressed her lips together to keep from asking what could be so important the day after his wedding. She already knew the answer. He was off doing something about the traitor they were all hunting, the one responsible for said wedding.
Sitting, she hid her conflicted emotions and smiled graciously at the two men as they took their seats.
“He did leave a note for you.” Joseph half-turned to signal one of the footmen who left the room. Returning as another footman scooped eggs onto Josie’s plate, he handed her a piece of paper. A flutter went through her stomach as she opened it, even though she knew it would hardly be a love note. There went her emotions again, wishing it would be.
Josie,
I am sorry I was unable to break your fast with you, but there are serious matters I must attend to. Hopefully, after the Season is over, we will be able to take some sort of honeymoon.
Yours,
Elijah
Yes, hardly a love note. She should not feel so let down, but she could not help inwardly sighing. They were married. Last night had been wildly passionate, and this morning, she had gone so far as to forget her feelings for Joseph—the only man she had wanted to see was Elijah. Was it too much to ask that he felt a bit of the same for her?
Elijah
The house on Jermyn Street Nathan and Anthony shared was a comfortable bachelor pad. Former military, both of them were tidy, and unlike some of the residences along the infamous street, there were hardly any signs of debauchery or licentiousness. As the houses on the street were entirely filled with single men, often that was not the case.
Settled into one of the large, leather wingback chairs in their study, Elijah gritted his teeth in frustration. He was hoping they would have better news for him. Though he had not expected to be able to hunt down the boy who delivered the note yesterday, hehadhoped they would be further along in finding out who had set Josie up at the Sterlings’ ball.
“Every member of the French delegation’s whereabouts is confirmed,” Nathan said tiredly, rubbing his hand through his hair and ruffling it almost comically. “They were all at Richmond House the entire evening. Not one of them attended the Sterlings’ engagement.”
“That is not possible unless we have a random French lord wandering in and out of ballrooms.” Elijah banged his fist on the arm of his chair.
“Perhaps someone affecting a French accent?” Anthony suggested.
“They would still have had to gain entry to the ball or if they snuck in, manage to blend into the crowd.” Elijah shook his head. Despite the crush, an interloper would not have an easy time of it. Thetonwas large, but it was also full of busybodies and gossips, who knew every single person’s name, titles, and likely, their measurements as well.
“It is a puzzle,” Nathan allowed. He grimaced, shooting a glance at Elijah. There was an odd look in his dark eyes, and his hair was becoming increasingly rumpled from the number of times he had run his hands through it, emphasizing his disquiet. Normally he was the most ordered out of the three of them. “How much do you know of your new wife’s friends?”
That was certainly not the tack Elijah had expected Nathan to take. Tilting his head in question, he let curiosity trickle into his voice.
“I grew up with all of them as neighbors. Why?”
Nathan pressed his lips together, and Anthony averted his gaze when Elijah looked at him. Whatever was troubling Nathan, Anthony already knew and felt it would upset Elijah. As Anthony tended to be the more brash and outspoken of his two friends, that was particularly troubling.
“I do not wish to cast aspersions—” Nathan started to say carefully, and Elijah made a cutting motion with his hand.
“Out with it, man. I do not have the patience for this today.” With everything they had reported, he was not eager to get back to his father and relay the lack of new information, but hedidwant to check on Josie. See how she was this morning. How she felt about him after last night. If she had seen Joseph and how she felt abouthimthis morning, though he could not actually ask her. Hopefully, she was not thinking of his brother at all. Elijah feared that might not be the case, but he could hardly question her without making her think of Joseph.
Yes, he needed to get home, which meant Nathan needed to stop prevaricating. He pinned his friend with a hard glance, one that he had learned from his father. To his pleasure, it had a similar effect.
“Remember you asked me to organize an effort to monitor the correspondence going to and from the delegations?” Nathan’s voice was still wary, but at least he was speaking. Elijah nodded. Nathan had a vast number of acquaintances from all walks of life and was particularly good at winning people over to helping him. “One of the members of the French delegation, theVicomtede Gaul, received a letter about Miss Davies earlier this Season. A member of their Parliament wrote to him and requested he make her acquaintance and deliver a gift to her.”
Elijah frowned, torn by conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he wanted to defend Lily. She had been the easiest of his neighbors and Evie’s friends, a bookish bluestocking, the quietest of the four young ladies, and the least likely to be involved in any sort of trouble. On the other hand, because of her reticence, she was also the one he knew the least. If someone were to target those close to the Stuart household, she would be an ideal candidate…
No. He shook his head. He would not believe it. Unfortunately, he knew very well ‘would not’ and ‘could not’ were two entirely different things.
“Do we know what the gift is and if it has been delivered?” he asked, fixing on the one physical point he could.
“No. It was being sent soon, though the letter did not say what it is or why its delivery was delayed.” Nathan’s jaw clenched and unclenched. In the third chair, Anthony quietly sighed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He did not enjoy the behind-the-scenes machinations and scheming. They often joked Elijah was the commander, Nathan the advisor, and Anthony the gun they pointed once they knew where to aim.
“Keep an eye out. I do not believe Lily would knowingly be involved in anything nefarious, but I cannot discount she might be used unwittingly.” Elijah gave Nathan a stern look when he stirred as though he wanted to say something, and Nathan looked away first. Elijah truly did believe Lily would ever purposefully betray her country. Nathan clearly did not, but Nathan had not grown up next to her. “If that is all, I must be going.”
