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“No, this is Stephan’s work.” Judith’s brow puckered. “I swore we destroyed them all. I must discover how this man at the Adam Club got hold of it.”
Judith’s trembling had subsided, her voice returning to its usual determination. When Judith set her mind on something, woe betide any person, even an assassin, who got in her way.
Bobby’s worry eased—Judith upset was not something she liked to see. She preferred that her strong-willed, quietly stubborn lady be free of difficulties.
“Well,” Bobby said, trying to sound optimistic. “We’ll find out exactly who this chap I saw at the club is, and ask him.”
Judith’s solution for running the hard-eyed man to ground was to interview Lady Coulson’s sons.
She arranged to meet them, by methods unknown to Bobby, in Regent’s Park the following afternoon. Likely Judith had used the network of servants she seemed to command, starting with Hubbard and her extremely loyal and discreet lady’s maid, Evans.
However the word got passed, at three o’clock, Judith and Bobby descended from the coach and moved sedately to the entrance of the Royal Botanical Gardens in the southern portion of Regent’s Park.
At least, Judith strolled sedately—Bobby was bouncing with impatience. She was ready to shake Terrance until he told her all he knew, but she reined herself in and let Judith take the lead.
Terrance and William had actually obeyed Judith’s summons. The brothers waited near the gate at the Inner Circle—the lane that bounded the botanical gardens.
William stood ramrod stiff in a fine suit, autumn coat, and tall hat. Terrance, on the other hand, was red-eyed and pasty skinned, with rumpled coat and cravat twisted as though he’d slept in it. From the looks of things, he probably had. William was dressed for an afternoon’s ramble in a park, while Terrance still wore last night’s evening dress.
Judith halted when she reached them, nodding with extreme politeness. William tipped his hat and gave her a courteous bow.
Terrance belatedly seized his headgear and lifted it the barest inch from his head, but he kept his back rigid. Bobby concluded that if he tried any sort of bow, he’d fall over.
“Bit heavy on the tipple last night, eh?” Bobby asked, letting her voice boom. “Feeling delicate, are we?”
Terrance winced and screwed his eyes shut for a painful moment.
William sent Bobby a startled look. “Hang on, you were at the Adam last night, weren’t you? Do I know you?”
Bobby straightened the lapels of her coat, its cut as smart as William’s, before she stuck out a gloved hand.
“Mr. Robert Perry, at your service.”
William clasped Bobby’s hand, flinched slightly at her firm grip, and quickly let it drop. Terrance didn’t bother offering to shake hands, but then, it probably hurt him to lift his arm. He’d already been well into his cups when he’d arrived last night, and he must have imbibed quite a bit more after Bobby’s departure.
“Mr. Perry mentioned that you had a gentleman with you last evening,” Judith said in her even tones. “I would like his name and address, please.”
Terrance gaped. With his open mouth and red-rimmed, watery eyes, he resembled nothing more than a startled fish. “Why the devil should I tell you that?”
“Terrance.” William’s admonishment held shock. “Is that any way to speak to a lady? Apologize at once.”
Terrance curled his lip. William might be shadowing his brother, trying to keep him out of trouble, but Terrance was by no means docile.
“It’s none of her bloody business who he is,” Terrance snapped. “Why do you want to know, eh? It’s a fair question.”
William became more and more distressed at Terrance’s language. Judith, who could swear like a sailor when she had a mind to, withstood the onslaught without wavering.
“I have reason to believe he has something that belongs to me,” Judith said smoothly. “Or knowledge of it. I will not tell him from whom I obtained his direction, if you do not wish me to.”
When Judith began speaking like an instructor at a finishing school, most gentlemen became embarrassed and fell all over themselves trying to be on their best behavior. William certainly flushed and cleared his throat, but Terrance, who must have one hell of a hangover, only glared at her in defiance.
“Blackmailing you, is he?” Terrance chuckled, a sound like a boot on eggshells. “Maybe over some indiscretions with your gentleman friend?” He swept Bobby a knowing sneer that held some admiration. Bobby rolled her eyes.
“Certainly not.” Judith’s voice became ice cold. William’s flush deepened, and even Terrance’s sarcasm fled him. “This is of great importance. I am doing you the courtesy of asking you first, before I take up the issue with Lord Coulson.”
“You never would.” Terrance’s aghast answer floated out, his face losing what little color it had.
Bobby, standing a pace or two behind Judith, mouthed, Oh, yes, she would.
