Page 7 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock (The Rogue’s Alliance #3)
L ouisa turned over in her four-poster bed and glanced at the clock on the mahogany side table. She couldn’t help but smile whenever she saw her prize.
She was determined to ask her brother Leopold about what had happened between himself and Lord Wycliffe that could have resulted in his disliking the viscount. The men had attended Eton together years ago. Maybe something had occurred between them at school.
She sat up in bed, stretching lazily. Her maid knocked and entered the room with a breakfast tray.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“Good morning, Lucy.”
The maid placed the tray on her mistress’s lap, and Louisa breathed in the rich aroma of her morning chocolate. “Lovely!”
“Are you staying at home this morning, my lady?”
Louisa shook her head. “I’m to meet Lady Edith at Thorne’s later this morning. Please lay out my new walking dress.”
The maid pulled the periwinkle dress from a wardrobe and placed it over a stuffed chair.
“Have you seen my brother Leopold today?” she asked the maid.
“He and your brother James have gone to Tattersall’s, my lady.”
Lucy usually knew the whereabouts of Louisa's brothers as her mistress often wanted to avoid them in the house. Years of teasing and having her hair pulled were hard to live down.
“I’ll return in a moment, my lady. I need to fetch my darning basket.”
When Lucy returned, Louisa had finished her breakfast, and her maid assisted her with her toilette. Afterward, Louisa had several minutes before she would leave for Berkeley Square. She recalled she’d planned on reading about the Gaston Jolly clocks again and pulled her copy of Thomas Hope’s Household Furniture and Interior Decoration from a drawer in her armoire.
She went downstairs to read, and a footman informed her that her mother was still in her bedchamber and her father was out.
There was a short paragraph in the book about the pair of clocks known collectively as the Roman mythology clocks. Louisa’s clock represented Cupid and Venus, while the other clock represented Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. She had no idea what riddle might involve Cupid, Venus, and Diana.
She was no closer to solving the puzzle when it was time to depart for Thorne’s Lending Library. Edith was settled in the seating area when Louisa arrived at the library.
“Louisa!” Edith waved from her stuffed chair.
“Edith, you look just lovely in that shade of pink.”
The other girl grinned. “A color chosen by you.” She added in a whisper, “I brought Robby some lemon sours. With Charlotte in the countryside, somebody had to.”
Robby, thin and sandy-haired, was the only clerk employed at Thorne’s.
Charlotte often brought Robby sweets to share with his family on the pretext that she didn’t want them. Robby had four other siblings, and his eldest brother also worked to help provide for their three sisters and widowed mother. Although their mother had their deceased father’s military pension, it was not enough for their large family to live on.
Louisa frowned at the periodicals on the table in front of her. She’d already read them all. “I hate to admit this, but I wish we could return to volunteering at the registry office.”
“You must be bored. The Dulwich Picture Gallery is now open to the public. We should plan a visit.”
Louisa nodded. “It will be a nice change from the constant round of morning calls, balls, and routs.”
“Besting Cecil was only going to be a diversion for so long,” Edith said with a wink.
She frowned. “Lord Wycliffe taking his loss so calmly was very disappointing.”
“I’m sure it was,” Edith replied dryly. “Did you ask Leopold why he dislikes the viscount?”
She wrinkled her nose. “My brother was out this morning. I’ll corner him this evening.”
The bell over the library door rang, and she heard Robby ask if he could assist someone.
“I’m here to speak with friends.”
The words were said in a deep and husky tone, sending tremors down her spine. She sat still, willing herself not to look in the direction of Robby’s subscription counter.
The voice belonged to Lord Wycliffe.
* * * * *
C ecil’s investigations were at a standstill. The people he’d identified as members of the RA were either dead or had fled Town and the reach of the organization.
After leaving Edith’s supper party, Cecil had paced his bedchamber for hours. He would not yet tell Bones about the clocks. He would find a way to ingratiate himself with Lady Louisa.
That would be a challenging task, as Leopold wouldn’t like Cecil calling on his only sister. It wasn’t because he was known as a rake; he’d had little time for women in the last three years. His focus had been on finding his brother’s killer. Leopold simply didn’t like him.
By the time he fell into a restless sleep sometime after midnight, he’d come up with an excuse to approach Lady Louisa. Bones would alert him whenever the young woman left her home and apprise him of her destination. Cecil would endeavor to happen upon the lady the next time she was in public.
He was finishing a weak cup of coffee and a piece of burnt toast when a missive arrived from Bones.
The lady has decamped to Thorne’s Lending Library.
Louisa would probably be in Edith’s company; it would be less awkward, he supposed, to ask both women for their assistance rather than speaking to Lady Louisa alone.
Although the library had been instrumental in bringing his friend and future spouse together, Cecil had visited the lending library Ashford and Charlotte saved from closing last year only once.
Thorne’s was a bright and cheery shop with window coverings and furniture upholstery in shades of green. It was neither masculine nor overly feminine. He imagined Lady Louisa had a hand in decorating the premises as the décor was in good taste.
After Cecil greeted the young clerk behind a counter, Edith turned in her stuffed chair to look his way. Lady Louisa continued to peruse a periodical in her lap.
“Cecil!” Edith gifted him a welcoming smile.
Lady Louisa looked up, her smile, despite appearing perfunctory, gave him pause as it caused her lips to curve most becomingly.
He bowed. “Lady Harbury, Lady Louisa, good afternoon. May I sit with you?”
“Of course,” Edith replied, waving her hand at an adjoining chair. “And remember, you must call me Edith. We are well enough acquainted now to use Christian names.”
“Good afternoon, Lord Wycliffe,” Louisa said faintly from her place on the sopha.
He took a seat in the chair.
“Have you been to Thorne’s before, Cecil?” Edith asked him.
He nodded. “But once. The shop is very stylish compared to many other libraries in London. Would I be remiss in thinking you helped decorate the library, Lady Louisa?”
“You would not.”
Her cheeks bloomed with color, which he’d noticed happened whenever she received the tiniest compliment. Cecil decided he liked to see Louisa blush. He told himself it wasn't because she looked fetching with color in her cheeks- he merely enjoyed catching the woman off guard as she often seemed overly self-confident.
“Truth be told, I came here today hoping I might encounter you ladies.”
“You did?” Louisa raised her brows. He now had her full attention.
“I need some advice,” he replied slowly, attempting to look neither too eager nor too detached. The ladies must believe he needed their help.
“How can we assist you?” Edith asked brightly.
“As you probably know, Ashford and I have been friends for many years. We were at school together, along with your husband.” He paused. “Because of our close friendship, I want to procure a special gift for Ashford’s child. The problem is that I have no idea what an appropriate gift is.”
“You want us to tell you what present you should give Charlotte’s baby?” Louisa frowned, her tone of voice skeptical.
“I am not particularly good with social niceties. Charlotte has been kind to me, and I want to please her. If I were to ask someone, say, my mother, she would probably suggest an impersonal gift. I only ask you ladies because I know how much you care for your friend.”
Cecil realized as he spoke that he had convinced himself. He would have to give the child something; better to make a good impression with his gift.
“Perhaps an engraved rattle?” Louisa suggested. “You present the rattle to the parents and have it engraved for them after the child is born.”
Cecil nodded. It was a good idea. “What do you think, Edith?” He didn’t want it to appear that he was favoring Lady Louisa.
“That is an excellent idea, Cecil. And it will be a keepsake the child can remember you by.”
“What gift did you choose for your nephew?” Louisa asked, catching him unprepared.
He froze for a moment but recovered quickly. “That’s just it. My mother chose the gift, an impersonal antique cradle. Thanks to your advice, Lady Louisa, I will buy my nephew a rattle and engrave it. He is not quite a year old and might still play with it.”
Louisa laughed, a soft musical sound he’d rarely heard. “Yes, the babe will play with a rattle for several more months.”
Cecil glanced at the lady, her eyes shining, her cheeks rosy. She looked far too attractive while in a cheerful mood. It unnerved him how appealing he found her at that moment.
“I shall be off to buy the rattles.” He rose to his feet. “Thank you ever so much, ladies. You have been a tremendous help.”
“Do you know where to buy them?” Louisa asked coyly.
“I admit I do not,” he replied with a twist of his lips.
“I’m sure Fortnum a few widows had lusted after him, but love?
And he’d never been in love. He’d never thought it was something he missed. Ashford and Nathaniel were the happiest married men he’d ever encountered. They had both married for love, a rarity in the ton .
The carriage halted, and he shook himself. He didn’t have time for a relationship with a woman. He had to find a way to get that clock and bring down the Rogue’s Alliance. He needed justice for his brother.