it.”
“You’re right. It’s time to begin looking for the handsome stranger. I’ve made a few discreet enquiries. No one knows him. He was only in and out of the assembly for ten minutes. It looks as though he went there especially to see Fleur.”
This shadowy gentleman figured very little in Breslau’s suspicions, but as all other leads had run dry, he was willing to consider him. “We’ll make enquiries at the two inns,” he said.
“Why should we tip our hand?” she asked sagely. “First let us go on the strut. If we spot him on the street, we can follow him to his lair.”
“You envisage a morning of high melodrama, I see. Very well, once up and down the street, then we hit the inns.”
Pamela took his arm. “We don’t want to look suspicious,” she explained. “Pretend we’re just out for a stroll. How the old cats will gossip.” She smiled. “They’ll think you’ve beat Nigel out and won my hand.”
Her careless laugh made a joke of it. Again Breslau felt that burning in his chest. Why was it that Miss Comstock remained totally oblivious to his eligibility? His first suspicion that she was trying to capture his interest by a show of indifference had faded long since. That trick was as familiar as an old ballad; it was accompanied by flirtatious glances and smiles. Miss Comstock employed no such artifices.
“Lady Raleigh will regret inviting me,” he said, and looked closely for her reaction. It was an excellent opportunity for her to assure him she had no such regrets.
“Never fear, Breslau, she would contrive to lay the whole in the marquise’s dish. Do you see our mystery gentleman?” she asked, looking all around the busy street.
After a turn up one side and down the other, they were convinced there wasn’t a city jacket outside of Breslau’s in the whole village.
“Now we’ll follow my original idea and check the inn,” Breslau said.
“I can describe the man accurately. He had sleek black hair and smoldering eyes, like black coffee. One eyebrow, the left, quirked up a little. His nose was—well, it was very handsome,” she sighed.
When they went to the desk of the Rose and Thorn, Breslau asked if a youngster from London had registered yesterday. “Average height, black hair, a dapper-looking fellow.”
No such man had set foot in the inn. At the George they fared a little better. He hadn’t registered, but a man whom the waitress called “fine as a star, dressed to the nines” had dined there the evening before and asked where the assembly hall might be found. “When I got off work about midnight, I seen him in a fine chaise all alone. I made sure he’d be headed off to Lunnon, but he drove north out of Hatfield.”
“Toward Belmont,” Pamela said.
“That’s right. I expect he’s a friend of the Raleighs. That’s where you’d find ‘un.”
“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful,” Breslau said, and handed her a coin.
They hastened out of the inn. “I told you so!” Pamela beamed. “She made a rendezvous with the Adonis. They must have gone to London, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know where else they could have gone. I’ll leave for London immediately.”
“Oh, good! It won’t take me a minute to pack!”
* * * *
They returned to Belmont at a smart clip. Pamela’s head was full of the projected trip. Now that she’d met the marquise, she meant to badger her Aunt Foster or her brother Harley into taking her to a performance at Drury Lane. Breslau was silently going over the recent events.
He decided Fleur had come to Belmont in an effort to show Max she was respectable enough to marry. His cold reception at the assembly had killed that notion, and in a fit of pique she’d made an assignation with the handsome stranger. But why was the stranger at the assembly? Fleur hadn’t asked him to come, not when she hoped to get an offer from Max. And if she had decided to turn respectable, why dun Aubrey for the diamond bracelet? She’d
“You’re right. It’s time to begin looking for the handsome stranger. I’ve made a few discreet enquiries. No one knows him. He was only in and out of the assembly for ten minutes. It looks as though he went there especially to see Fleur.”
This shadowy gentleman figured very little in Breslau’s suspicions, but as all other leads had run dry, he was willing to consider him. “We’ll make enquiries at the two inns,” he said.
“Why should we tip our hand?” she asked sagely. “First let us go on the strut. If we spot him on the street, we can follow him to his lair.”
“You envisage a morning of high melodrama, I see. Very well, once up and down the street, then we hit the inns.”
Pamela took his arm. “We don’t want to look suspicious,” she explained. “Pretend we’re just out for a stroll. How the old cats will gossip.” She smiled. “They’ll think you’ve beat Nigel out and won my hand.”
Her careless laugh made a joke of it. Again Breslau felt that burning in his chest. Why was it that Miss Comstock remained totally oblivious to his eligibility? His first suspicion that she was trying to capture his interest by a show of indifference had faded long since. That trick was as familiar as an old ballad; it was accompanied by flirtatious glances and smiles. Miss Comstock employed no such artifices.
“Lady Raleigh will regret inviting me,” he said, and looked closely for her reaction. It was an excellent opportunity for her to assure him she had no such regrets.
“Never fear, Breslau, she would contrive to lay the whole in the marquise’s dish. Do you see our mystery gentleman?” she asked, looking all around the busy street.
After a turn up one side and down the other, they were convinced there wasn’t a city jacket outside of Breslau’s in the whole village.
“Now we’ll follow my original idea and check the inn,” Breslau said.
“I can describe the man accurately. He had sleek black hair and smoldering eyes, like black coffee. One eyebrow, the left, quirked up a little. His nose was—well, it was very handsome,” she sighed.
When they went to the desk of the Rose and Thorn, Breslau asked if a youngster from London had registered yesterday. “Average height, black hair, a dapper-looking fellow.”
No such man had set foot in the inn. At the George they fared a little better. He hadn’t registered, but a man whom the waitress called “fine as a star, dressed to the nines” had dined there the evening before and asked where the assembly hall might be found. “When I got off work about midnight, I seen him in a fine chaise all alone. I made sure he’d be headed off to Lunnon, but he drove north out of Hatfield.”
“Toward Belmont,” Pamela said.
“That’s right. I expect he’s a friend of the Raleighs. That’s where you’d find ‘un.”
“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful,” Breslau said, and handed her a coin.
They hastened out of the inn. “I told you so!” Pamela beamed. “She made a rendezvous with the Adonis. They must have gone to London, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know where else they could have gone. I’ll leave for London immediately.”
“Oh, good! It won’t take me a minute to pack!”
* * * *
They returned to Belmont at a smart clip. Pamela’s head was full of the projected trip. Now that she’d met the marquise, she meant to badger her Aunt Foster or her brother Harley into taking her to a performance at Drury Lane. Breslau was silently going over the recent events.
He decided Fleur had come to Belmont in an effort to show Max she was respectable enough to marry. His cold reception at the assembly had killed that notion, and in a fit of pique she’d made an assignation with the handsome stranger. But why was the stranger at the assembly? Fleur hadn’t asked him to come, not when she hoped to get an offer from Max. And if she had decided to turn respectable, why dun Aubrey for the diamond bracelet? She’d
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