Letty’s heart seemed to halt for an instant. What had Lady Ware just said?
“I have a Faerie godmother,” Lady Ware said. “A terrifying creature! She has the blackest eyes and teeth like a fox. Her name’s Baletongue.”
Letty stared at her, struck speechless.
Lady Ware grinned. Dimples sprang to life in her cheeks. “You do have a Faerie godmother. I can tell from your face.”
Letty swallowed, and found her voice. “Baletongue?”
“That’s what my mother called her. No one knows her true name.”
Letty swallowed again. She heard her heartbeat in her ears. “My mother called her Baletongue, too.”
Lady Ware opened the door to the parlor wide. “Well, come in, then! Don’t stand out there in the corridor!”
Letty obeyed, feeling dazed.
Lady Ware gestured to a chair. “We must be cousins. How long are you here? Charlotte will want to meet you!”
“Charlotte?”
“Countess Cosgrove. She’s one of us, too.” Lady Ware sat and leaned forward, her gaze avid. “To think that we’re cousins!”
Letty stared back. “You’re Sir Barnaby Ware’s wife?”
Lady Ware promptly held out her hand. “Anne Ware, but you must call me Merry. Everyone does!”
Charlotte shook hands with her. Lady Ware’s handclasp was firm. “My name’s Letitia. Letty.”
“I know who you are. You were pointed out to me in London. But I didn’t know we were cousins.” Lady Ware’s gaze sharpened with interest. “Or that you’d married. I must have missed that announcement in the newspapers! Who is Mr. Reid?”
Letty felt her face grow warm. She looked away from that bright, eager stare. “I’m not married. My relationship with Mr. Reid is purely business.” Clang. She hurried on: “He needed my knack, and it was easier to travel together if we pretended to be married, but we’re not.” She glanced back at Lady Ware. “No one knows I’ve come here, you see.”
“You’re traveling incognito?” Lady Ware’s eyebrows lifted. She didn’t look outraged; she looked fascinated.
Letty bit her lip, and nodded.
“How thrilling!” From her expression, Lady Ware was bursting with questions.
Letty hurried into speech: “You saw me in London? I’m afraid I don’t recall meeting you.”
“Oh, we never met,” Lady Ware said, cheerfully. “I moved in different circles to you. But you were pointed out to me on several occasions.”
Letty pulled a face. “The great heiress?”
“The great heiress who wouldn’t marry.” Lady Ware’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Did you refuse them all because they were lying?”
Letty nodded.
“Then you’ve had your gift for a while?”
Letty nodded again. “Since I was twenty-one.”
“It was twenty-five with Charlotte and me.” Lady Ware jumped to her feet and crossed to the window and peered out. “Oh, how I wish Charlotte were here! She will so want to meet you!” She turned to face Letty. “Neither of us knows anyone else who has Baletongue for a godmother.”
“I don’t know anyone else either,” Letty admitted. “I thought it was just me.”
Lady Ware grinned. “No. There’s now three of us!” She came swiftly back to her chair and sat, graceful despite her rounded belly. “Did she terrify you, Baletongue?”
Letty shivered in memory. “Yes.” Distantly, she heard a clock toll the quarter hour. She should go upstairs and check that the luggage had been carried down, but she couldn’t make herself move. She gazed at Lady Ware. This woman was family. Real, flesh-and-blood family. “Did she terrify you?”
“I was in a panic at the time, otherwise I’m sure she would have scared me witless. And as for poor Charlotte, she didn’t know about Baletongue at all. It was a complete surprise to her!”
Letty heard footsteps in the corridor outside, and the timbre of male voices. The waiter returning with a constable? Sir Barnaby and Cosgrove? “Does Sir Barnaby know?”
“Yes. And Marcus knows, too. Cosgrove, I mean.”
Letty nodded. More footsteps strode past. This time she recognized the voices: Reid and Houghton. She glanced at the door. Was Reid looking for her? “I must go. Mr. Reid is leaving in a few minutes.”
“But we’ve only just met!”
“I know. But Mr. Reid’s business is critical.” Letty stood. She felt almost agitated.
“Of course it is!” Lady Ware rose and clasped Letty’s hands. “Else you wouldn’t be here, would you?”
Letty shook her head. Foolishly, she felt close to tears.
“When will the business be concluded? When can we meet again? Here, take my card.” Lady Ware released Letty’s hands and rummaged hastily in her reticule. “You must come and stay just as soon as you can! We can all become acquainted. Charlotte and I live within sight of each other, you know.”
Letty took the proffered card and clutched it tightly.
“May I tell Charlotte about you? Please? She won’t breathe a word, I promise! Neither of us will. We know how to keep a secret.”
Letty hesitated, and then nodded.
“Oh! To meet you like this, and then have you vanish!” Lady Ware’s posture was eloquent with frustration—her face, her hands. Then she laughed ruefully. “But at least I did meet you. To think, we might never have known about each other!” She stood on tiptoe and kissed Letty’s cheek. “I’m so glad to have found you.”
Letty’s tears were even closer to the surface. She blinked them back. “And I, you.”
Lady Ware crossed to the door and opened it. “I hope your business with Mr. Reid is concluded swiftly,” she said, and then her expression became dismayed. “What have I said to make you look like that?”
Letty tried to find a smile. “It is . . . unhappy business.”
Lady Ware closed the door again. “Do you need help?”
The concern on Lady Ware’s face, the seriousness in her voice, brought the tears closer to the surface. Letty gathered her composure. “No, thank you. Mr. Reid’s business is . . . is of a very private nature. It is best kept secret.”
“Is this Mr. Reid bothering you?” Lady Ware asked bluntly. “Has he forced you to come here?”
“Oh, no! He would never—! I chose to accompany him!”
Lady Ware studied her for a moment, and gave a decisive nod. “Very well. But if you do need help, you must promise to ask for it. And if it’s not something I can help with, then Barnaby will. We live half a day’s ride from here.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
“Promise me!”
Letty gave a shaky laugh. “I promise.”
Lady Ware opened the door again. “I wish you . . .” She paused, frowning, choosing her words. “I wish you the best possible outcome to your business with Mr. Reid.”
“Thank you.”
“And I wish to see you again soon.”
“You will.” Letty hugged Lady Ware. “Thank you.”
Lady Ware hugged her back, and then pushed her gently but firmly out into the corridor. “Go help your Mr. Reid.”
Letty hesitated, and turned back to her. “What gift did you choose?”
“Not the one I’d planned on choosing.” Lady Ware smiled wryly. “Go! Your Mr. Reid will be waiting. I’ll tell you it all when I see you next.”