The drive through the countryside to St. John’s Wood in a well-sprung, well-upholstered carriage was pleasant in springtime. Nicholas let down the windows to allow the perfume of a thousand blossoms to waft in. Cow parsley foamed by the roadside. Flowers bloomed in the hedgerows and blossom-laden apple trees in the distance looked like giant snowballs.
Petals spiraled through the air like snowflakes when the breeze disturbed them. Birds soared and swooped in the azure sky above, and from treetops birdsong warbled a sweet symphony. As if by mutual consent the occupants ceased speaking of rubies and charity and just enjoyed this feast for the senses.
“On a fine day like this we should have taken your curricle,” Elizabeth said.
“I seem to recall you didn’t care for an open carriage,” Nicholas replied, harking back to memories of that long-ago spring.
“That was a long time ago. Actually I wanted to try it. It was Auntie who thought it not quite the thing. She was afraid what people would think, and I, being fresh from the country, was guided by her.” She turned a laughing eye on him. “Is that why you told me this morning you were driving your curricle? You don’t know me very well, Nicholas, if you thought that would be enough to put me off.”
“I am coming to realize that. After that drive in your farm cart and our visit to the Dials I have come to see your standards have — changed. There is very little that will put you off nowadays.”
“My standards have altered,” she agreed.
Nicholas had been involved with a series of flirts and not taken much notice of Elizabeth for a few years, except to avoid her as much as politely possible. As they chatted on he was happy to discover she was much easier to get along with now, easier to talk to. She was up to date on the current hit plays, attended ton parties, knew all the latest on dits. He even found himself telling her a racy story he would not have spoken of to most unmarried ladies, and she was neither shocked nor offended. Really she was such good company he could not imagine why he hadn’t rediscovered her sooner.
Ah but there were so many pretty ladies at the balls and parties, a new batch every spring. As he considered the past years, it was surprising how few of them he could remember with any clarity. But he knew they would each and every one of them toss up her dainty hands in horror if asked to mingle with thieves and prostitutes. One soon wearied of the pretty, young ones who didn’t seem to give thought to anything but beaux and gowns. Perhaps his standards were altering as well.
As they neared their destination she said, “Tommy said the cottage is thatched and set back behind a thorn hedge. Almost hidden. It’s called Hill House, though it’s not on a hill but in a little valley. Perhaps the original tenants were called Hill. There — there’s Tommy! That little place to his left must be the cottage.”
Nicholas pulled the drawstring and the driver followed Tommy’s directions, through an opening in the thorn hedge, down a lane to a charming half-timbered, thatched cottage that looked as if it had escaped from a storybook. Roses rioted up to the leaded windows, that twinkled in the sunlight.
“Charming,” Elizabeth said. “How Margot must have hated having to leave here.”
“According to rumour, what she hated was having to live here,” he said.
“Hmph, she obviously has no taste, in which case she deserves her new patron.”
Tommy was hatless and without a jacket. His shirt revealed that his broad shoulders owed nothing to padding. He was tall and walked with an easy, athletic stride. His tousled black curls glimmered like a rainbow in the sunlight, his dark eyes gleamed and on his unshaven face a smile beamed. He looked like an extremely handsome ne’er-do-well.
When he had helped Elizabeth down from the carriage he threw both arms around her and planted a loud smack on her cheek. “Lizzie, any news?” he asked at once.
Then he turned a surprised face to Nicholas. “Nick, what the deuce are you doing here? That’s a mighty handsome jacket. Say what you like about old Stutz, he does give a fellow a fine set of shoulders.”
“It’s a Weston,” Nicholas said. “And the shoulders are my own.”
“Just joshing you, Nick. I know you’d never frequent any but the best tailor, or best anything else. No doubt you’ve heard Margot left Bob.”
After this mischievous speech, he took Elizabeth’s arm to lead her to the cottage. “Be nice, Tommy,” she said. “Nicholas is helping us. Let us go inside. I have all sorts of things to tell you.”
Tommy looked at the picnic hamper. “I hope there’s food in there. I’m ravenous. I haven’t had a thing to eat but half a box of bonbons Margot left behind, after eating all the good ones herself.”
“Yes, we’ve brought food and drink,” she assured him.
It occurred to Nicholas, as he followed them into the cottage, Tommy’s arm around her waist, that they made a very handsome couple. Nicholas still thought of his cousin as a boy, but Elizabeth had mentioned he was her own age. They were obviously close. Were they in love? Tommy brought dishes, glasses and cutlery while Elizabeth laid out the picnic. Cook had packed a whole chicken, a loaf of bread, fresh fruit and two bottles of wine.
“Put on a kettle, Tommy,” Elizabeth said. “I hope you have tea or coffee.”
“Tea, and I even got hold of some milk from the farm just down the road. The farmer’s daughter stopped by. It cost me my last half crown, but she was very pretty. I have the kettle on the stove. Let us eat first.”
While they ate, Elizabeth told him what they had been doing that morning, omitting the detail of the Tsar’s snuffbox which she had not mentioned to Nicholas. “It’s too early for the necklace to be on the market yet,” Tommy said, when she had finished. “Sara wouldn’t have a notion how to sell it. I can’t imagine why she ever stole it. She must be working with someone. Someone put her up to it, I mean, and he’s handling the sale. It doesn’t seem like Sara at all. She must be in desperate trouble.”
“We thought perhaps she had written billets doux to someone, and either he’s holding her to ransom, or the letters have fallen into someone else’s unscrupulous hands,” she said. “Or possibly she’s lost money gambling and doesn’t want Lady Belmont to find out. She’s keeping company with Lord Buckner, you know, and if he ever found out — well, his family wouldn’t allow the match.”
“She has terrible taste in men,” Tommy said with a shake of his head. “Buckner is a self-righteous bore, and that Hanson she was keeping company with a few years ago is no better than he should be. She was pretty close to him. It looked like she might nab him, then all of a sudden they weren’t an item any longer. I never heard what happened, but the on dit was that his pockets were to let, so of course Lady Belmont disapproved of the match. She wanted more than a younger son for Sara in any case.”
“Is Hanson the sort who might have kept her letters and be using them to get money from her?” Elizabeth asked.
“He’s no saint but I never thought he was that bad,” Tommy said. “More likely he left them lying about and his valet or a servant, or even someone calling on him, got hold of them.” Turning to Nicholas, he let loose another of his mischievous remarks. “Speaking of self-righteous bores, are you till dangling after that bran-faced duke’s daughter?”
“Lady Lucia is a lovely, charming lady with a peaches and cream complexion. As it happens, however, I was not dangling after her. We are friends.”
“Really? I’m surprised you stood up with her twice at Lady Jersey’s ball. I expected to be cousin to a duke’s son-in-law by summer.”
“Behave yourself, Tommy,” Elizabeth scolded.
“To return to business,” Nicholas said rather stiffly, “there is no point calling on Hanson. Naturally he’ll deny everything.”
“You’re right,” Elizabeth said, and Tommy nodded his agreement. “We’ll just have to go ahead and get the necklace back from Sara at the ball before she does something with it. I shouldn’t think she’d have time to do it today. Between having the coiffure in to do her hair for the ball and wanting to have a facial mask applied and Lady Belmont very likely in bed with the vapours after losing the rubies, Sara will be too busy to go out. To say nothing of her being in charge of overseeing the arrangements for the ball.”
“I wouldn’t be a lady for anything, would you, Nick?” Tommy said. “All that trouble, just to nab a husband.”
“It does seem more bother than you are worth,” Elizabeth agreed, “but about the necklace –”