Page 18

“ Y ou care for Lord Waverley, do you not?”

Rosalyn walked slowly down the London street, arm in arm with Lady Isobella, but choosing not to answer immediately.

Letting herself consider it, she glanced at her friend before saying anything.

Lady Isobella was smiling quietly, no judgment in her eyes or her expression, and Rosalyn, letting out a slow breath, finally admitted aloud all she had been feeling.

“For years, I have always seen him as a brother to me,” she answered, as Lady Isobella listened without interruption.

“I thought of him as I do Daniel, as if he were truly family. There has always been a fondness for him in my heart, and I have always held him in great affection. Now, however, I begin to wonder whether what my heart holds is more than I had ever thought.” Her heart twisted and she looked away.

“It was strange to me that my heart was glad when I heard he was not seeking out a bride this Season. It ought not to have been so!”

“And that is when you began to wonder if you had more in your heart for him than you believed?”

“Indeed.” Rosalyn sighed and shook her head.

“But we are thinking only about the painting at the present moment, and I am doing my utmost not to consider anything else. I cannot be sure that he feels the same way as I do! To tell him of what I feel would be a great risk, I am sure, and that makes my heart deeply afraid.”

Lady Isobella’s eyebrows lifted. “Because you feel that he will not return your affection?”

“Because if he does not, then our friendship will be quite broken.”

“And you do not want to even entertain that possibility, even though – and I am sure I speak as our other friends think also – he is quite besotted with you.”

Rosalyn’s heart leaped up but she ignored it. “It could be mere friendly affection, just as I have held for him. That could be all that you are seeing.”

“It could be, yes,” Lady Isobella answered. “Or it could be something more. You have to decide whether or not it is worth the risk, I suppose.”

With a tiny smile, Rosalyn let the remark fall between them but said nothing more, letting her thoughts catch it instead.

Lady Isobella was quite right, she did need to decide what she ought to do – but the fear of what would happen if she confessed all and he did not return her feelings was very severe indeed.

“What do you think about what was said of Lord Raleigh?” Lady Isobella asked, changing the subject entirely for which Rosalyn was grateful. “It does not appear as though he has any interest in art!”

Rosalyn’s lips pressed tightly together as she considered.

They had only just come from a meeting of the bluestocking book club, where they had done nothing but discuss the missing painting.

Miss Trentworth had done all she could to find out as much as possible about Lord Raleigh and, from what she had learned, he had not even the smallest interest in paintings or the like.

Evidently, his house was almost devoid of them, which did not make it likely that he had stolen the painting.

“I think that, if he has no motive to steal the painting, then we are, most likely, looking at Lord Whittaker as being the culprit.”

Lady Isobella’s lips pursed as she nodded slowly. “All the same,” she said, “given what I know of Lord and Lady Whittaker, it seems unlikely to me that they would be involved in the theft also!”

With a small smile, Rosalyn glanced at her friend. “I know. You are acquainted with the family, and that does mean that you know more about them than I. I understand that you do not think them capable or such a thing but – ”

“They have no need for it!” Lady Isobella exclaimed, surprising Rosalyn with her fervor. “That is what I am trying to say, for if there is no reason for them to steal the painting, then it must be someone else.”

Coming to a stop, Rosalyn turned to face her friend.

At the meeting, Lady Isobella had been fervent in her belief that Lord and Lady Whittaker had nothing whatsoever to do with the theft and yet, the other bluestockings had determined that they were still worth considering.

Now, however, Rosalyn wondered if she had made a mistake in being so adamant.

“If you truly believe that we are wrong in thinking it was Lord Whittaker, then that means it was someone else.”

Lady Isobella’s eyes searched hers. “Yes, that is precisely what I am trying to say.”

“Then,” Rosalyn continued, with a small frown, “we must again consider the other gentlemen.”

“I think it would be wise to do so.”

Rosalyn opened her mouth to say that she was still unsure that Lord Whittaker could be thrown from their considerations completely, only for something else to catch her eye. Her breath hitched, and she grabbed Lady Isobella’s hand, quickly pulling her in another direction.

“What is it?”

“There, do you see?” Rosalyn kept her steps slow, her eyes fixed on the two gentlemen before her. “That is interesting, is it not?”

Lady Isobella made a small exclamation and quickly looped her arm through Rosalyn’s. “We must be careful in how we follow them. We cannot be obvious.”

Nodding, Rosalyn made her way carefully after them both, a little surprised when a third gentleman came to join the first two. When they stepped into a narrower street, Rosalyn slowed her steps completely, her heart quickening.

“We should go this way,” Lady Isobella said, urging her a little further away from the street. “If we stand and make it look as though we are deep in conversation, then one of us will be able to watch all that is going on.”

“Although we will not be able to hear them,” Rosalyn agreed, a little frustrated.

Coming to a stop, she fixed her eyes on the narrow street, seeing all three gentlemen come to a stop.

Two of them were speaking fervently now, though not to each other.

Instead, both were fixing their full attention to the third, who was now lifting his hands, palms out towards them in some sort of gesture of defense.

“Are they still there?” Lady Isobella asked, her voice a little breathless. “Can you see them?”

“I can.” Rosalyn narrowed her eyes lightly, trying to see.

“It does not mean anything, of course. It could be a simple conversation about something else entirely, but all the same, it is very strange indeed to see them so.” She tensed, seeing the third gentleman turn on his heel and stride away from the other two, his face dark with evident anger.

He made his way out of the narrow street and back out to where they both stood, and her breath swirling in her chest, Rosalyn looked away, praying that he had not noticed.

“He is gone, then,” Lady Isobella whispered, her gaze going over Rosalyn’s shoulder. “Are the other two still there?”

“They are, but they are talking to each other now. One is looking toward the fleeing gentleman.” Rosalyn rubbed her hands over her arms, feeling a little chilled.

“I think we must go to speak with Lord Waverley at once.” Her eyes found Lady Isobella’s again.

“He will want to know what we have witnessed, for it might speak into the loss of his painting.”

Lady Isobella nodded and quickly stepped away, going back in the direction they had come from in search of their waiting carriage.

Rosalyn walked with her, not saying another word, as if she were afraid that the gentlemen in question would hear her.

Her stomach roiled, worry flooding her. There was more to that meeting than it seemed, she was sure.

There had been upset, anger, and clear dislike between the gentlemen, and given what she knew thus far, their meeting in itself did not make sense!

Licking her lips, she centered her thoughts on Lord Waverley, telling herself that she would soon be with him, would soon be able to tell him all she had seen and of the troubled thoughts that now tormented her.

He would offer her that safety again, his hand going to hers, the quiet look in his eyes bringing her calm and security. Closing her eyes for only a second, she drew in air and realized the truth.

I am in love with him.