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“Do not tell Mrs. Braylon, but I have purposely asked for the heaviest books in my library. When the nurse is having her meals below stairs, I have used the different books to increase my strength,” Duncan confessed.

“Should you not soon release the woman? You appear healthy enough to recover on your own,” Richard suggested.

Duncan paused their steady descent to look about to determine if anyone could overhear their conversation.

“I must beg your discretion, but I wish Mrs. Braylon to remain at Duncan Place for the time being. There is something afoot, but I do not yet know the right of it. Theodora says the woman wishes to be the new mistress of this house, and Dora believes Mrs. Braylon takes too much latitude. I suspect the woman simply enjoys the luxury found within, but only time will tell who is correct.”

Richard moved to brace Duncan once again as they managed another half dozen steps and crossed the small landing. “I imagine many patients recommended to the woman do not live so comfortably as do the Duncan family. Yet, heaven help her if she has other motives.”

“Soon the oil and water will separate,” Duncan observed with more determination. “Now speak to me of what had you so disturbed when you entered my quarters a bit ago.”

Richard paused to expel a heavy sigh. “First, when Dora and I delivered Lady Emma’s list to the lady’s house, the Donoghue butler was everything but cooperative.

Since that time, word has been sent to Lord Lester Davidson, who claims to be Lady Emma’s betrothed, having made arrangements with Lady Emma’s father. ”

“And you knew nothing of this development?” Duncan asked.

“You have known me most of the years I have walked this earth. Do I appear to be cognizant of such a development?” Richard asked. “I do not think I can remain at Duncan Place while Lady Emma is under your roof.”

They were at the bottom of the stairs, and Duncan reached for Richard’s hand. “I know your heart wishes to run away and protect yourself, as it often did when you were a child, but this is different from when you were frightened that your uncle meant to do away with you.”

“My heart feels equally as betrayed and bruised,” Richard admitted.

“Go speak to Hartley tomorrow. My assistant has yet to depart for India. With my absence from Whitehall, Hartley has kept the office in order.”

“How might Hartley assist me?” Richard asked.

“Although not every piece of correspondence traveling to our various ambassadors crosses Hartley’s desk, something of the nature of a marriage contract would be safer if carried by a British naval ship than by some packet boat running between Falmouth and Corrunna, Spain.

” Richard nodded his head in total agreement now that he could think more clearly.

“Moreover, you must realize a man of Lord Davidson’s nature would have crowed like a prime rooster before all who would listen to him in both the Lords and his club if he had received Lord Donoghue’s permission to proceed with a marriage.

If Lady Emma is underage, which is something else you should learn as quickly as possible, she would have a female, likely two, and a male guardian, as well as someone who oversees such business.

Ask the necessary questions, not the emotional ones. ”

“I always despised that advice,” Richard admitted.

“And someday you will repeat it to your own children, who will groan audibly as you were accustomed to doing as a child. On that day, I hope I am present to witness the look of bewilderment on your countenance.”

Feeling a bit calmer now that he had a plan, or rather Duncan had presented him a means to learn the truth of whether Lady Emma was to marry Lord Davidson or not, Richard remained at the table and made no move to race away to his own London home, staying instead to assist Duncan.

After the meal, the four played whist. “At least I have not forgotten how to play cards,” Lady Emma said as she counted off the tricks she had claimed during the game. “We had two,” she said with pride. “This one for winning seven tricks, and this is two for winning eight.”

“And I am thankful,” Duncan declared with a grin. “You were masterful with how you maneuvered Orson and Theodora.”

“It appears we have lost the game, Dora,” Richard said as he gathered the discarded cards from the table’s surface. “How much do we owe your father and Lady Emma?”

Theodora grinned. “As father insisted since Lady Emma has lost her reticule that we play for the honor rather than a few coins, I suppose a ‘well done’ must suffice.”

Richard told Lady Emma, “Well done,” before repeating the same to Duncan. Theodora had opened her mouth to do likewise when Mr. Fields entered, wheeling in a cart with tea for the ladies and port for Duncan and himself.

“Very good, Fields, thank you,” Duncan said with a smile, one of the first Richard had noted since the shooting. “Theodora, would you serve?”

“Yes, Father.”

“That will be all for now, Fields,” Duncan instructed.

The butler frowned rather than making his exit. “Pardon, my lord. There is a man who came around to the kitchen perhaps a quarter hour past. I told him he must wait.”

“And the man was?” Richard asked.

Fields shot an odd look to the ladies. “A man with a package, my lord. A servant, of sorts.”

“Whose servant?” Duncan demanded.

Richard supported Duncan to a chair. “While you enjoy the port, permit me to discover the right of this?” Duncan nodded his agreement, and Richard motioned Fields to lead the way from the room.

Out in the hall, with the door closed behind him, Orson demanded, “A servant from which house?” Richard prayed he was not from Lord Davidson.

“A man employed by the Lyon’s Den, my lord. By that harlot who proudly runs a den of... of...”

Richard ignored Mr. Fields’s moralizing. He knew for a fact that Fields had a “lady friend” upon whom the man called on his half day off. “Where is this man now?”

“Below. As I instructed, waiting outside the kitchen door.”

Richard would have reprimanded Fields, but it would have done no good.

They all had their quirks and their secrets.

Instead, he turned towards the servants’ door and quickly descended to the kitchen.

Ignoring all those gathered within, he exited to the small kitchen garden.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting so long.”

The man turned slowly to reveal Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s manager, a man most called “Titan,” but Richard knew to be a former soldier, some said an officer by the name of Crosse.

Truthfully, Richard did not care what others might call the man or the lady for whom Titan worked.

He would forever be grateful for the actions of both Mrs. Dove-Lyon and Titan.

Their efforts to save Duncan on the night he had been shot had turned the key from death to life.

“My lord,” Titan bowed respectfully. “Mrs. Dove-Lyon asked me to carry this package to Lord Duncan. It came into my mistress’s possession late last evening.

Evidently, it had been stuffed in a niche near the privates and the entrance used by the musicians at the back of the Lyon’s Den.

I identified it as being similar to the one worn by Lord Duncan’s shooter.

Mrs. Dove-Lyon thought it could prove to be useful to those investigating his lordship’s attack.

To the best of our knowledge no one but Mrs. Dove-Lyon and I have touched it, but since the attack was a month prior, we cannot speak with any confidence on the matter.

Mrs. Dove-Lyon secured the item in her office in a safe, for it was very late last evening when it was discovered.

We waited until now, for the night permits us some passage not available in this part of London, otherwise. ”

“Do you believe the coat has been in this niche this entire time?” Richard asked.

He knew Beaufort and Graham had conducted an extensive search throughout the night, with Hartley and Thompson having joined them.

Had Duncan’s men overlooked the coat, or had it been placed there after they left the area in the morning?

“I wish I could answer you with a response that would solve this mystery, but I can only speak to what I know. Mrs. Dove-Lyon wrapped the garment in silver paper before enclosing it in an old bed sheet, which had been laundered previously and meant to be torn into cleaning rags. Neither of us searched the pockets or examined the material for tears or tats.”

“Or extra bullets or a receipt?” Richard asked, not in accusation, but with a knowledge of how those at Whitehall would search every thread for information.

“No, my lord,” Titan said with a grin, “but such was quite tempting.”

“Thank your mistress and inform her Lord Duncan has made great progress in his recovery. Mr. Rheem praised how quickly you and the lady managed to stop the flow of blood. We look forward to another night at the Lyon’s Den soon. May I send you back to the club in my coach?”

“Thank you, my lord, but Mrs. Dove-Lyon ordered hers.” With a bow, Titan turned towards the alleyway behind the house.

Richard waited until he heard the carriage roll away before he returned to the house with the package.

Ignoring the odd looks of those gathered in the kitchen, he again used the servants’ stairs to reach where he knew Duncan waited for him.

“Who was it?” Duncan asked before Richard could close the door behind him.

Even so, Richard nodded to where Theodora and Lady Emma looked on. “Do not think of sending me away,” Dora declared. Her arms were folded across her chest in a gesture of pure stubbornness. She would not be moved. “Is this about Father’s attack?”

Richard noted when Lady Emma retreated in the direction of the other door, but Duncan said, “It would be of service if you would consider assisting my daughter, Lady Emma.”

“I hold no knowledge of what transpired, my lord,” Lady Emma said tentatively.

“You possess something more important: You have a kind heart,” Duncan instructed.

With that declaration, Richard placed the rolled sheet upon the now empty card table. “Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s Titan discovered this somewhere near the musicians’ entrance and the privacies at the back of the Lyon’s Den. The lady asked her club manager to deliver it to you.”

“At the back of the club, towards where the shooter ran?” Duncan thought aloud. “How convenient. Has anyone gone through it?” Richard was glad to know he had asked the same questions as Duncan, who had led more investigations than those at Whitehall could count.

“Neither Mrs. Dove-Lyon nor Titan, but we do not know how long the coat has been hidden away,” Richard cautioned.

“Why did the others not find it previously?” Duncan asked.

“All excellent questions,” Richard assured.

“Perhaps Dora or Lady Emma could create a list of what else we must learn.” When Dora did not move, Lady Emma claimed the paper pad and pencil they had used to keep score for the card game.

“Let us have a look and then we can determine what else must be revealed.” He unrolled the sheet and removed the silver paper.

The coat had been folded neatly, first in half, then quarters, and finally in eights.

Richard stepped to the side to permit Duncan a closer look.

“Should we send around messages to the others?”

“In a moment,” Duncan said as he reverently touched the light wool coat. “Whoever wore this nearly snuffed out my life,” he said solemnly.

Theodora whimpered, and Lady Emma slid an arm of comfort around her new friend’s waist.

Before more could be said, Mrs. Braylon entered the room unannounced and with some urgency.

“There you are, my lord. It is time for your medication,” she ordered, but she stumbled to a halt and caught at her chest when she saw what the package held.

Richard knew the woman was among those in the kitchen when he came in from speaking to Titan.

“What dreadful piece of trash did that awful man drag into this house? Some people do not know their places. I shall remove it immediately and have it burned. God only knows what diseases could be upon its sleeves.”

Duncan stepped before her. “If you touch that coat, you will know my wrath!”

“My lord, you are overwrought! This evening has gone on long enough for your first journey downstairs!”

“You are my temporary nurse. Not my mother or my wife!” Richard noted how Mrs. Braylon flinched. “Leave my medication on the table,” Duncan growled. “I am an adult and am capable of taking it when I am finished here. You may be excused for the evening, Mrs. Braylon!”

“But, my lord,” the woman argued; yet, Duncan turned his back on her pleas. Instead, he said, “Theodora, would you send a message to Beaufort, Marksman, Thompson, and Hartley. Ask them to join us if they are available. Graham is not in London at this moment.”

With a lift of her chin and a glare of disapproval, Mrs. Braylon left the room.

“Anything I might execute in your behalf, my lord?” Lady Emma asked.

“If you would inform Mr. Fields that my ‘sons’ will be here soon, I would appreciate it. He will know what that means.”

Emma looked to Richard in apparent confusion. “Food, coffee, port. Mr. Fields will understand.”

As she nodded and headed for the room’s main door, following Theodora down the hall, Duncan said, “Burn the coat, indeed. Does not the woman know what happens when a person attempts to burn wool?”

“I do,” Richard said with a smile. “One of my first lessons from you. Wool shrinks from the flame, but does not burn as does other types of cloth, and it has the same strong odor of burning hair. I did not think I would ever not smell that odor. My room had the windows open for a week.”