Page 12 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock (The Rogue’s Alliance #3)

“O h, Louisa!” Edith rushed forward to grasp her hands. “You are stunning! You have quite outdone yourself this evening.”

She’d arrived early to have time alone with Edith before the other guests arrived.

“You look lovely yourself. That dress is the perfect color for your complexion.”

“You did design it,” Edith replied wryly.

“So I did,” she replied with a wink.

“Refreshment?” Nathaniel asked her.

She shook her head. “I would like a private word with your wife.”

“I’ll just take myself off to the other end of the room,” the baron replied with a grin and a bow.

“Did you tell Nathaniel you know the significance of the clocks?” Louisa whispered once the baron had moved away.

“I did not. I don’t want my husband to worry about my safety.”

She rolled her eyes. “What you mean is you don’t want Nathaniel to try and keep you from helping Lord Wycliffe figure out the riddle of the clocks.”

“You’re right.” Edith nodded. “Although I do need to speak with him about it. We promised each other not to keep secrets.”

“Who else is attending this dinner party?”

“Alicia is attending a meeting of the Theater Guild, so my only other guests are Cecil and Diana. Charlotte’s brother William has decided to remain in the country. I think he is smitten with the local vicar’s daughter.”

“That is good news.” William had professed undying love for Louisa before last season. She was glad the young man had found someone else to care for. “There is something I have to tell you about Lord Wycliffe.”

She proceeded to inform her friend about the viscount’s visit to her bedchamber.

“He was in your room?” Edith put a hand over her mouth.

“He was there to steal my clock.”

Edith removed her hand and gaped at her. “Lord Wycliffe was in your bedchamber. What if you two had been discovered together?”

“Thank goodness we were not. Lord Wycliffe assumed I was at the musicale.” She paused. “It was all very innocent. He told me why he wanted my clock, and when I refused to give it to him, he promptly left.”

She would not mention that the viscount had placed his hand over her mouth or that she hadn’t yet stopped thinking of being alone with him in her bedchamber.

Edith looked to be searching for something to say when voices could be heard outside the room before Lord Wycliffe and Diana entered the drawing room arm in arm.

“Look who I found loitering in the corridor.” Diana grinned. “I was afraid Cecil would change his mind and return home, so I accosted him.”

Louisa felt a flutter in her stomach at the sight of Lord Wycliffe, followed by a sinking feeling. She refused to believe she was jealous of Diana and resolved not to think about when Diana kissed Cecil in front of her brother Ashford.

“Refreshment?” Edith asked her arriving guests.

“No, thank you,” Lord Wycliffe replied.

“A glass of sherry would not go amiss,” Diana responded, releasing Cecil’s arm and following Edith to the drinks tray on a nearby dresser.

“Good evening, Lady Louisa,” the viscount greeted her.

She started at the sound of his deep voice, enveloped by the richness of it. His cologne, as exquisite as his appearance, washed over her.

“Good evening, Lord Wycliffe.”

“Have you changed your mind?” he asked softly.

As the words skated over her skin, Louisa shivered. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and replied, “Hardly.”

Edith and Diana approached them, glasses in hand. Nathaniel had merely waved at the new arrivals, looking content to remain on the other side of the room.

“What are you two whispering about?” Diana asked coyly.

“I was hoping Lady Louisa was ready to part with the clock she recently won at auction.”

“And why would I want to do that?” she asked grumpily.

“It didn’t have any clues to the mythical riddle.”

“Riddle?” Diana asked. “I do love a good puzzle.”

“Then you would be sorely disappointed in my clock,” she replied quickly. “Edith and I found no markings or secret notes hidden inside the clock.”

“How disappointing,” Diana replied.

The dinner gong sounded, and they filed into the dining room. Louisa was startled to see her place was next to Lord Wycliffe, as she'd expected Edith to keep them far apart as they didn’t get on. The viscount looked as surprised as she felt being seated together.

“We must talk further about the clock,” the gentleman said in a low voice.

“I’m not going to change my mind. Either I see the other clock and study it, or you will not see my clock again.” She paused to add with a grin, “Leopold regards you as a marriage prospect, Lord Wycliffe. If you hoped he would not allow you in my presence, you are very wrong. There is no excuse for not bringing your clock to Carstairs.”

* * * * *

H e’d had a feeling Lady Louisa would not yield. As much as he didn’t want her involved further with the clocks, he might have no choice. As for Leopold- The man desperately wanted to see his sister married if he was so quick to let bygones be bygones.

Nathaniel hadn’t mentioned Cecil’s missive informing him of his plan to steal the clock, and he had yet to find a moment to speak privately with his friend.

Cecil found himself drumming the fingers of one hand on the table. An idea had come to mind: Courting the lady beside him would be an excuse to return to her home and see the clock again. As for his clock, she could not visit his bachelor lodgings. How could he secretly get the timepiece to Carstairs?

After dinner, Edith instructed her guests to proceed to the music room, where their hostess played a few popular songs for her audience to sing along to. Lady Louisa could not be prevailed upon to perform.

“My lack of skill at the pianoforte is only eclipsed by my off-tune caterwauling,” the lady said with a sigh.

He was seated near Lady Louisa and whispered, “If I pretend to court you, we shall more easily find an opportunity to bring both clocks together.”

“Court me?” Louisa asked quietly, her cheeks turning a becoming shade of pink.

He nodded, although the lady was staring down at the hands folded in her lap. “You did say Leopold saw me as a marriage prospect.”

After a moment Louisa looked up and replied, “Lady Edith can accompany you to Carstairs and bring along a hat box. Place your clock inside the box, and nobody should be the wiser.”

It was a good plan. Cecil just had to get his clock inside the hat box. “Has Lady Edith spoken with her husband about the clocks?”

He would not wish to have Nathaniel upset with him by involving Edith further.

“No, but she told me she will, as they don’t keep secrets.”

He didn’t reply but merely pursed his lips.

“It’s what married people do, Lord Wycliffe.”

The lady’s voice sounded like Ashford’s when he was rebuking him teasingly.

“Please advise me through Lady Edith when and where you would like to examine my clock,” he replied.

“I have an answer for that as well. Attend Lady Norfolk’s ball tomorrow evening. If you dance with me in public, it will lend credence to the idea we are becoming attached. Leopold would be less suspicious of your visit to Carstairs the next day.”

Lady Edith stood up from her bench at the pianoforte and declared that they would play cards. As the party trouped into the next room, Cecil made his goodbyes despite Nathaniel’s frowns. He’d had enough of visiting, of conversation. He’d put in an appearance.

Cecil would return home and see if Bones had any new information. The man wasn’t happy with him, although he hid it well. He knew his employer was not telling him everything about the gold clock Cecil coveted.

“So the lady won the clock?” the former smuggler had asked him.

“Yes. Unfortunately, Louisa’s brother and I have a rivalry, so the man was determined that I would not win the piece.”

“And the clock has a twin? A mythical twin?”

“It does.”

Perhaps he should tell Bones more. Throw him a crumb or two, as he was loyal and quite effective at infiltrating the households of the ton .

When he arrived home, Cecil sent for the older man.

“My lord?”

“Have a seat, Bones.”

The man perched on the edge of a leather chair, bolt upright, looking uncomfortable.

“There is something I must tell you, and it might put you in even greater danger with the RA than merely being known as my employee.”

The man’s eyes lit up. “I’d not shirk from danger, my lord.”

He knew that well. Bones liked a fight as much as Cecil did.

“The clock that Lady Louisa bid on and won is the key to taking down the Rogue’s Alliance. The riddle of the clocks is real, and if I can solve it, it will name the only living founder of the organization.”

Bones frowned. “But it is rumored that there are no clues written on the clock, no notes inside it.”

He was glad to hear that the servant rumor mill had spread the story he wanted put around about the clock.

“There are clues on the clock, but I do not want all of Town to know about them,” he replied carefully.

“You can trust me, my lord.”

The words had been said solemnly.

“I believe the key to the riddle is the Roman gods depicted on the clocks.” He pulled the sketch of Louisa’s clock from a pocket in his waistcoat.

Bones took the sketch and looked it over. “These are Roman gods?”

“The goddess Venus and the god Cupid.”

The man handed back the drawing. “I know nothing of gods and goddesses, my lord. Neither the name Cupid nor Venus put me in mind of anyone.”

“Nor me either,” he replied, folding the vellum and replacing it in his pocket. “If the deities are clues, I don't believe it would be easy to figure out who Cupid and Venus are.”

“And the other clock?”

“I have an idea of what it looks like from a book owned by Lady Louisa. I would like to know if there are rumors about who has the other clock.”

Bones rose to his feet. “If there are any, my lord, I shall find out for you.”

When the man had gone, Cecil let out a breath. He had told Bones enough to keep him occupied and feeling trusted and valued.

Cecil would attend Lady Norfolk’s ball tomorrow. His elderly butler could help him dress, he supposed, but he was used to doing without a valet. At the moment he wasn’t sure he could trust anyone to be that close to him and so often. It did mean he was slower in preparing for outings but other than Parliamentary sessions he rarely had any pressing engagements. When he’d brought the RA down he could have a full staff again.

At the ball, he would play the part of an interested suitor. It was for an important cause, after all.

It looked as if the outspoken Lady Louisa was going to get her way.