Page 70 of In the Prince's Bed

“I see,” she said, though she did not see at all. “And this note is—”

“I got it right here.” The boy handed her a folded sheet of paper. “Now you have it.” He turned toward the door. “If you please, miss, I’ll just be going—”

“Not so fast, boy.” Thomas jerked the lad back. “Wait until the miss reads it.Thenyou can go.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “A-All right.”

Something about the footboy’s persistent attempts to leave struck warning bells. “You came from his lordship’s town house?” she asked.

“No, miss.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she raised an eyebrow, but he just stood there, eyes fixed ahead and back ramrod straight. Growing more curious by the moment, she opened the note and read:

Dearest Katherine,

Forgive me, but urgent estate business has called me to Suffolk, so I will be unable to join you and your mother for dinner. I will, however, be back by tomorrow night to take you to the Purefoy affair. Give your mother my sincerest regrets and assure her that I would much prefer to be dining in your excellent company than taking care of emergencies at Edenmore.

Fondly,

Alec

She folded the note, swallowing her disappointment. She should be pleased that Alec had so responsible a character. Not many lords would dash off to their estates to deal with such matters. They would rely on their stewards to handle it.

Yes, they would, wouldn’t they?

Her eyes narrowed on the footboy. “What do you mean, you didn’t come from his lordship’s town house? Aren’t you his servant?”

“No, miss.”

Ignoring the unease settling into her belly, she waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t, she asked, “Then whose servant are you?”

The boy shifted nervously from foot to foot. “I…um…would prefer not to say, miss.”

Her unease swelled to a roiling in her stomach. “Whyever not?”

“I’m not supposed to say, is all.”

“And who gave you that particular instruction?”

When the boy didn’t answer, Thomas shook him. “Answer the lady!”

The boy sighed. “His lordship asked me not to say, miss.”

She swallowed. “I see. Well, I wouldn’t want to get you into any trouble. You may go, and you may tell your master—or rather, his lordship—that you followed his instructions to the letter.”

The boy’s face cleared. “Thank you, miss, very kind of you, miss,” he babbled as he bowed a couple of times.

When he scurried off to the front door, Katherine turned to Thomas and said in a low voice, “Follow him. Find out who he works for and how he knows Lord Iversley. But don’t let him see you.”

Thomas nodded. “I won’t fail you, miss.”

As Thomas headed after the boy, she returned to the parlor. Was she being too hasty in suspecting Alec of deception? Sending Thomas off like a spy—that was absurd, really. What did it matter if Alec didn’t want her to know where he spent his time? Some men were private like that.

Like Papa, with all his “private meetings in town.” The ones that had generally involved some merchant’s wife or a fetching taproom maid or—

She shook her head, trying to ignore the sudden churning in her stomach. Alec would never be so callous as to send her a note from another woman’s house. But then, why had he tried to hide where he was when he sent the note?

For the next hour she tortured herself with such thoughts, alternately calling herself a fool for making so much of it, then a fool for ever trusting a man as smooth-tongued as Alec.