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“What are you thinking about, MissPenny?” Drew asked.
Getting lost with you in the woods and never finding our way home.
“I approve of this wine,” she replied.
Beatrice watched them with a satisfied little smile on her lips. “Who needs a novel when a romantic scene is being enacted before my eyes?”
Mina dropped her gaze to her glass. Had she been so obvious?
“You’re causing quite a stir, Mina.” Beatrice nodded her head at a nearby supper box where a group of ladies was watching them. “If looks could kill, Lady Millicent would be a murderess. It makes me so happy. Carry on, you two.” She waved a hand at the bottle. “More wine. More compliments.”
Drew cleared his throat. “There’s a group of the new Metropolitan Police Service in their long blue coats. I heard they were organized last year by Robert Peel as the first professional police force. They have a new headquarters that backs onto Great Scotland Yard Street.”
“Is that so?” Beatrice giggled softly. “Very neat change of subject, brother dear.”
Mina approved of the new topic. “Will they replace the Bow Street Patrols? What kind of weapons will they carry?”
“I’ll go ask them,” said Drew. “I see a man by the name of Langley whom I knew before I left London. It appears he’s risen to the rank of inspector. I’ll report back.” He rose and made a short bow. “MissPenny.” He narrowed his eyes. “Beatrice.”
He walked toward the group of policemen.
“I frightened him away,” said Beatrice. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back.”
“I’m not worried.”
Lady Millicent left her seat and headed in the direction Drew had taken. Now who was the obvious one?
Silly, frivolous thing to love, being the girl the duke had chosen, the one whose wine he poured.
Mina knew he hadn’t chosen her. She was the thorn in the beast’s paw that he couldn’t shake loose, here by dint of persuasion and subterfuge.
But no one else knew that.
She looked like the chosen one. The queen of the night, as Grizzy had crowned her.
In a few more nights, he’ll be all yours, ladies.
Though there was something possessive in her that wanted to claim him.
Eyes off.He’s mine.
The two positions grappled in her mind, vying for dominance. It didn’t matter if she wanted to grab him and kiss him every time she saw him. He was the road to respectable rustication and convenient abandonment, and she was searching for the road to daring international intrigue.
Stories from his boyhood, the strong circle of his arms, his wicked kiss... none of it brought her one step closer to setting her plan for her future in motion.
But it did bring her closer to finding Drew. The real Drew, the one she sensed underneath his gruff, taciturn exterior. There was pain in his eyes and a depth she could detect but couldn’t reach. He obviously couldn’t trust anyone because of the kidnapping.
But he’d trusted her enough to tell her some of the details. And he trusted her to be with him here tonight, to help him hand over the money.
There was a tightrope stretched between them and if either one of them lost control they would both fall.
It felt as though everyone in the other boxes along the colonnade, every member of the orchestra, every person promenading in the gardens must be aware of the tension between them.
“MissPenny, is it?” asked a cultured female voice.
“Yes.” Mina turned to find Lady Millicent standing near her. Drew had taken Beatrice to see a fountain with a light show, but Mina had lingered in front of the orchestra, enjoying the dulcet, lilting tones of MissDoyle, an Irish soprano.
“I’m Lady Millicent Granger.” She pronounced her name as if the whole world should know and acknowledge her consequence. She was a beauty, to be sure, with fine green eyes, radiant skin, and honey-colored ringlets piled fetchingly atop her head and dotted with strands of lustrous pearls.
