Page 52 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
“Who is it for? There’s no name or address on the front.”
“It’s not clear.” Daisy unfolded the paper. “But it says, ‘I must postpone the exchange. We cannot meet on Wednesday. I will be at the drinking well at dawn on Thursday, with the item requested. Have the sum we agreed ready.’”
Tess frowned. “Do you think he’s talking about the prayer book?”
“I do,” Daisy said. “He’ll be handing it over to whoever’s been entrusted to deliver it to Bonaparte. And because this letter was never sent, that person doesn’t know the plan has changed. They’ll presumably still go to the ‘drinking well’ onWednesday.”
“That’s tomorrow,” Tess said.
Ellie wrinkled her nose. “I know our mission was to retrieve the book and return it to Mr. Bullock, but don’t you think we should try and discover who else is involved?”
“We could go and intercept them,” Daisy agreed. “And get the money that would have been paid to Willingham too.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“We could give them adifferentbook?”
Ellie shook her head. “The one we recovered is very recognizable. It’s got golden covers and is covered in gems. I’m sure they’ll know what it’s supposed to look like, and I doubt we’ll be able to find something similar enough to fool them at such short notice.”
“What if we take the real book, then,” Tess said, “and hand it over, then get it back at gunpoint as soon as they’ve paid us?”
“That could work,” Daisy mused. “I like the idea of highway robbery. But one has to assume that whoever is making the exchange will be suspicious of being double-crossed. They might even be planning to do exactly thesame thing to Willingham, to avoid paying him. There’s no honor among thieves.”
“The only way to win that situation is to be the side with the most weapons.” Tess sighed. “The three of us could go, and we could ask Harry to be the one to meet with the envoy. Four should be enough.”
“Won’t they be expecting to meet Willingham?”
“Perhaps,” Tess conceded. “If they don’t know what he looks like, they’ll assume Harry is Willingham. If theydoknow Willingham, Harry can tell them he’s Willingham’s envoy.”
“Where do you suppose this ‘drinking well’ is, though?” Ellie frowned. “There’s no point in making these plans if we don’t know where the meeting is to take place.”
“Willingham’s a lazy man,” Tess said. “And dawn is a very early time to be meeting someone. I bet it’s somewhere close to his house, so he won’t have to bother with a carriage, or travel a great distance.”
“It could be the drinking well in Hyde Park,” Daisy said. “The one up in the woods at the northwest corner. There’s a little clearing nearby that men use for duels.”
“How do you know that?” Tess marveled.
“Because Devlin met Lord Crowley there a few months ago at dawn to fight over which one of them would propose to Lydia Braithwaite. They fought with their fists, instead of with pistols, and Devlin lost, obviously, because Crowley married Lydia last week at St. George’s.”
“That’s an excellent guess,” Ellie said. “Willingham regularly walks in Hyde Park, so he’d definitely want to meet somewhere familiar. Let’s assume that’s the place.”
“Will you tell Harry and get him to come? I’m sure he’ll do anything you ask,” Daisy teased.
“I’m sure he’ll do anything that sounds remotely dangerous and exciting,” Ellie countered wryly, “whether Iask him or not. But yes, I’ll tell him to meet us at the north gate with the book just before dawn tomorrow.”
“Do you think he’ll lend me his sword stick?” Daisy wondered.
“He might. Although we might do better to be armed with pistols, instead of blades.”
“Agreed.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ellie couldn’t tell if her teeth were chattering with cold or with nerves as she, Tess, and Daisy waited at the northern entrance to Hyde Park.
She’d sent a note to Harry, but still let out a sigh of relief when she saw him ambling down the street toward them, the silver top of his cane glinting in the pale moonlight.
It was still dark, although a faint sliver of lighter gray sky over to the east showed that dawn wasn’t far away.