Luke’s friend sputtered and then laughed outright at his pronouncement.
“Espionage,” Richard muttered. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
As if the idea were ridiculous.
As if he wasn’t talking to a man whose life until recently had included a good deal of espionage.
But Luke hardly noticed Richard’s laughter because he was too busy peering into the trees for another sight of her. The mystery woman who’d been there one moment and then ducked behind a tree the next.
How very odd.
He was about to look away when...there. He caught another glimpse of red hair, a vivid contrast to the brown trunk and green leaves.
A second later she ducked back to her hiding spot. Was she...eavesdropping?
With a frown he walked a little farther away, out of earshot, with Richard following at his heels. Their other friends had left them already, and Luke had been hoping to talk to his closest friend about the sensitive matter he’d been investigating.
But why on earth would a young lady be spying on them?
Luke peered back toward the odd creature hiding behind a tree, but he couldn’t catch sight of her.
“Hogan, what are you looking at?” Richard said.
Luke turned to his friend just as the other man winced. “I have to stop calling you that, don’t I?”
Luke just barely held back a sigh.
“Not Captain, either,” Richard muttered. “I guess I can call you by your title, eh? Or would you prefer my lord?”
Luke sighed as he caught Richard’s sly smile, still as mischievous as when they were boys despite the fact that there was some gray now in Richard’s beard, and the area around his eyes bore distinct creases. “You find yourself very amusing, don’t you?”
The revered scientist shrugged. “It’s not every day one of my friends becomes a viscount.”
“Yes, well...” Luke tugged at his cravat. “Not exactly a cause for celebration, is it?”
Richard flinched, and Luke felt a pang of guilt.
“I didn’t mean...” Luke said, at the same time Richard said, “Of course no one’s happy about it...”
They both trailed off and shared a rueful smile. They’d been friends since their school days, and while their lives had gone in very different directions in the decades since, he was still more like a brother to Luke than...
Well, than Luke’s own brother had been.
But that thought did nothing to ease his discomfort now. He might not have been close with his older brother, but he’d never once envied him the honorary title of viscount, nor his place in the succession of the earldom.
“Shall I call you—”
“Just call me Luke, Richard. It’s not as though you’ve never called me by my given name before.” Though for most of his adult life he’d been called either by his surname or by his military title.
Shakespeare might have had his theories about a rose by any other name, but as far as Luke was concerned, a name held quite a bit of meaning.
It was jarring to have to change one’s identity so late in life.
He crossed his arms, his gaze trailing back to that tree and that mysterious redhead. What was she about?
And what were the odds that her being back there was some coincidence after all the nefarious happenings going on around him these days.
“So, you really think there’s some sort of criminal activity going on at the Home Office,” Richard said.
“I do, yes.” Luke kept his gaze on the tree, waiting for another glimpse of the lady.
“But I thought Sir Cedric said it was an error in communications,” Richard said.
Luke glanced over at his friend. “You’re supposed to be the smart one, Richard.”
Richard arched a brow. “And I am. In science. But I don’t see how—”
“He only told me that because he wants me to stay out of it.” Luke huffed.
Blast. He sounded like a peevish old spinster. But really, it was difficult not to be offended at the way he was so unceremoniously being tossed out of the only place he’d ever really belonged.
Richard tilted his head to the side, a silent rebuke for his admittedly childish outburst. “You know as well as anyone it’s not Sir Cedric who wants you out of government work, but your father.”
Luke gave a grunt of acknowledgment.
There was truth to it, of course. His father didn’t care about his career or the fact that he’d devoted his life to protecting this country. First as a captain in the army and then working far more delicate assignments for the Home Office.
Up until he’d become the heir, his father hadn’t cared what he did with his time. But everything had changed the day James died. Suddenly all those duties and obligations had fallen on Luke’s shoulders, and he was expected to just walk away from the life he’d built to take up his brother’s mantle.
“But honestly, Luke,” Richard continued. “It’s not your concern any longer. If Sir Cedric says there’s nothing to worry about—”
“I have a duty to the men I work with, Richard.” He ran a hand over his hair, pushing back the blasted lock that never stayed in place no matter what he did. “I don’t want to leave when there’s a leak of information in our office.”
“It might not be a leak.”
“Richard, if it looks like fish and smells like fish, odds are, it’s a fish.”
“Or...” Richard cocked a brow. “Is it possible you’ve gotten a bit too paranoid after your years in service to the crown?”
He frowned. “You sound like my father.”
Richard feigned horror. “Oh, never say that.”
Luke snickered, and just then his gaze darted to the tree and he caught not just a lock of red hair, but a glimpse of a face. A pretty face, with delicate features and pink, lush lips. And then her gaze met his and she disappeared again.
He frowned. “I’m telling you, there’s a girl over there who’s trying to listen in on our conversation. You think that’s just another coincidence?”
Richard glanced to the tree and back to Luke. “You’re seeing people hiding in the trees now, Luke?”
Luke looked at his friend askance. “You don’t believe me?”
“That there are young ladies in this park sneaking glimpses of the dashing new Viscount Galena? Of course, I believe that. I’d expect nothing less from the fair ladies of Mayfair. But do I believe she has nefarious intentions? No.”
Luke ground his teeth together, irritated more by the fact that Richard was likely correct.
“Look...” Richard’s tone grew serious. “I know you’re used to searching out danger. You’re used to a life filled with action and intrigue—”
“This isn’t my imagination, Richard,” he interrupted. “There have been leaks from the Home Office. Information that ought to have been classified. Men’s lives could be on the line if we don’t figure out who’s behind it.”
Richard didn’t look convinced. But to Richard, it likely sounded farfetched. He lived in a safe, predictable world of scholarly pursuits and salons and experiments.
Meanwhile, deception was Luke’s life. “I’m telling you, Richard. It started a few months ago when that newcomer came on board. Sir Wendell.” He forgot to keep an eye on the mystery lady at the mention of Sir Cedric’s new protégé. Or no...according to Sir Cedric he’d known this Wendell chap his whole life. The son of his dear deceased friend, apparently.
But despite that recommendation, the charming baronet still made Luke’s hackles rise.
And despite what Richard and Sir Cedric might think, it wasn’t because he was envious of the dandy. Just because he was on his way to filling Luke’s position in the Home Office didn’t mean he was jealous.
“It all started when they found that piece of parchment in the home of the plotter who’d meant to wreak havoc on this city,” he explained.
“Did Sir Cedric ever discover what it was?”
Irritation and impatience had Luke’s normally easygoing demeanor disappearing. “He said it was nothing. Just a passage from some trite romantic novel.”
“But he is looking into it.”
He murmured an assent. If Sir Cedric said he’d look into it, he would.
But would he tell Luke what he found?
He suspected not.
Not if it meant incurring the wrath of the great Earl of Langley.
Richard sighed. “If there truly is something nefarious going on, you’ll have to trust Sir Cedric and your replacement to address it.”
A muscle in Luke’s jaw twitched at the mention of his replacement. “After all these years, to be replaced by that upstart, Wendell.” He fairly sneered the name.
Richard cleared his throat. “Eh hem. May I remind you that just because not all of us are Earl’s sons—”
“Oh don’t start with that,” he said. But both men were grinning.
It had been a private joke since they were children that Luke must be a snob. But the opposite was true and they both knew it. He had no love of the lords and ladies of the ton, with their endless balls and their matchmaking.
That’s all anyone seemed to care about these days. Who he would marry. When he would start a family.
No one cared a whit when he hadn’t been the heir, but now his mother, his father, and all of good society, it seemed, were intent on keeping him out of danger and in a state of extreme boredom.
Luke caught a glimpse of red hair, and this time the sight had his lips twitching with amusement. If she was indeed attempting to eavesdrop, she wasn’t a terribly accomplished spy. Perhaps Richard was right and she was just a lovely young lady taking a gander at the new eligible viscount.
“No one can blame you for not wanting to shirk your responsibilities to your former colleagues,” Richard was saying. “And if you’re really so certain that someone close to you or Sir Cedric is leaking information then you ought to follow up on it.”
Luke opened his mouth, but Richard held him off with a raised finger. “Not at the Home Office,” he added meaningfully. “There’s no need to rile your father’s anger, is there?”
Luke sighed. He didn’t care much about his father’s moods, but if his father was angry then his mother would worry.
And Luke would never hear the end of it.
“You’ll see Sir Cedric at his home next week, won’t you?” Richard pointed out.
Luke nodded. “His family is hosting a masquerade and I was invited...as well as my parents.”
Once more, he couldn’t quite hide his disdain and Richard chuckled. “Not an ideal place to speak about such matters, but it’ll do, won’t it?”
“Mmm.”
Richard clapped a hand on his shoulder before turning away. “I’ve got to get going. I’m hosting a salon for men and ladies interested in the latest developments in the field of chemistry.”
“Fascinating,” he murmured sardonically.
“Yes, well...” Richard smirked. “We can’t all be dashing spies, now can we?”
Luke chuckled as Richard walked off. He ought to do the same, but he lingered a moment, his gaze on the tree before him. Sure enough, she popped out again, like a cute little mouse poking its head out of a hole.
He approached slowly and quietly, and he stepped around the tree just as she was making to leave her hiding spot.
She stopped with a gasp and then a squeak. Slightly melodramatic considering he’d stopped a good two feet away from her.
But goodness... This close he realized she wasn’t just pretty. She was exquisite. Her eyes were a brilliant green, her skin creamy but for a scattering of freckles. Her eyebrows had an elegant arch and her cheekbones were high and defined. And those lush, pink lips...
Well, they were parted in surprise.
And he suddenly felt like a cad, cornering a sweet young lady like this. “Are you alone?” he asked. With a cursory glance, he didn’t see anyone who looked like a chaperone. That made him frown and he stepped toward her, but she stiffened.
He smiled, hoping it would put the lady at ease.
If anything, it seemed to make her...ill. She grew so pale he moved closer still lest she swoon.
She looked like a deer caught in a hunter’s crosshairs. She looked...
Guilty.
Like a woman who’d been caught. Those earlier suspicions were back in full force. His mind volleyed back and forth between Richard’s assurance that he was looking for intrigue where there was none.
But he hadn’t succeeded in his work for so many years without honing a keen instinct about these sorts of things.
Someone at the Home Office had leaked sensitive information that only few people in his world would have access to. And leaks were insidious. They did not just go away, they had to be sussed out and the holes plugged or they only got worse.
“Were you listening to us talk?” he asked, careful to keep his voice quiet. Gentle.
Her lips closed, then opened, then closed again. With wide eyes, she nodded, a pink flush sweeping through her cheeks.
He guarded himself against sympathy for the poor little chit. It wouldn’t be the first or last time a knave employed the use of a pretty lady for his dirty work.
“Why are you hiding here, little mouse?” he said, hoping to soften the words with a teasing tone.
She blinked at him, her lips pinched shut.
“You weren’t eavesdropping, were you?”
She inhaled swiftly and she said something in a whisper that he could only just make out. “I...hear ...” and maybe, “First.”
“Pardon?” Her first time snooping? Her first assignment?
Her chest rose and fell so quickly he felt certain she would faint.
“Look here, miss, there’s no need to be so alarmed. I only want to know what you’re doing back here listening in on conversations.”
He stepped closer and something clattered to the ground. A book.
He moved forward to snatch it up just as she crouched down to grab it. And then there they were. Heads so close he could feel the soft warmth of her breath on his cheek, their fingers touching as they both gripped the edges of the novel, a soft floral scent so lovely and light filling his nose and addling his senses.
But then she shot up. If he hadn’t moved back she would have clocked him on her way up. And he was still crouching there with her book in his hands. He rose as well, but far slower and with what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
Her gaze, however, was fixed on the book and she looked frightened. Perhaps even in despair at him having the item. He glanced down. “Demetrius and Elsbeth: A Romantic Adventure,” he read aloud. He arched a brow as a bell seemed to signal in the back of his mind.
He’d heard this name before.
And with a jolt he remembered. This was the title of the book that correspondence had quoted.
This was it. The same book.
Could this possibly be a coincidence?
He thought not.
But before he could say so much as a word, she shocked him into silence by leaning forward and snatching the book straight out of his hands.
“Wait,” he started.
But it was too late. His mystery woman was racing down the path and seconds later she was lost in the crowd.
He was left standing there gaping after her with more questions than when he’d first approached. After a long moment he finally headed out of the shadows and toward his townhome, his mind whirring with thoughts of that odd girl and her strange silence. To himself he murmured, “What in blazes was that?”