La Petite Four by Regina Scott Read Free Book Online

dashing about after a gentleman, trying to discover his secrets. What would she learn about Lord Robert today? Daphne must have had the same thought, for she was fairly bouncing against the cushions, putting herself in danger of crushing her straw bonnet against the paneled ceiling.
    “What do you think Lord Robert is doing right now?” she asked as the carriage trundled through Mayfair, passing town houses as grand and even grander than His Grace’s.
    “Going to a cunning loan broker to borrow gambling money against Lady Emily’s dowry,” Ariadne predicted. “Or to whoever helps him dispose of the virgins he’s probably selling into slavery.”
    “Consulting with his tailor, more likely,” Priscilla said. “We shall be lucky if we find him at home.”
    They were quite unlucky indeed. The carriage stopped before a tall, redbrick town house with green shutters on the multi-paned windows and a large park opposite in the center of the square. When Lady Emily showed the wizened butler the calling card His Grace had had made for her, he reported that neither Lady Wakenoak nor Lord Robert was at home.
    “It is the Season,” Priscilla reminded them as they returned to the carriage.
    Emily frowned back at the dark green-lacquered door engraved with a lion’s head. “True, but if Lady Wakenoak is so devastated by her husband’s loss, why is she out making calls?”
    “At the very least,” Daphne agreed, “there should be a black wreath on the door to show they are in mourning. Lord Snedley advises at least a year for a husband, more for someone you loved.”
    Emily eyed her. “Then shouldn’t Lord Robert also be in mourning for his father? If Lady Wakenoak is supposed to forgo Society, why may Lord Robert marry? What does the sainted Lord Snedley advise for a son?”
    “To spend his inheritance as soon as possible,” Daphne replied cheerfully.
    Well, that was no help. As they settled in the carriage once more, Emily thought hard. London was so large. How could they possibly trace Lord Robert’s footsteps? She gazed at the park in the center of the square. The trees were leafing out in a bright spring green, and the daffodils were just beginning to bloom, bending over the grass like yellow teacups. It wasn’t hard to spot the young man, standing just inside the path that led through the center of the garden as if he had been waiting for her. She recognized that mop of russet hair that begged to be painted. Emily didn’t dare move even within the carriage, lest he notice.
    “Pris,” she hissed, “do you see the man standing under the trees over there?”
    Immediately Daphne and Ariadne craned their necks as well.
    “The fellow with the common coat?” Priscilla asked.
    “The mysterious stranger with the muscular build?” Ariadne added.
    “The gentleman standing in the Terpsichorean Slouch that Lord Snedley favors?” Daphne put in.
    “Yes!” Emily whispered. “His name is James Cropper. He was at Barnsley, and he tried to see His Grace last night.”
    Daphne gasped. “Is he following you?”
    Emily shook her head. “I thought so at first, but I can see no reason for it. Still, he may know where Lord Robert has gone, and I intend to find out.”
    She reached for the door handle, but Ariadne caught her arm. “You can’t go out there!”
    Emily started to protest, but Priscilla was nodding, her lovely face solemn.
    “She’s quite right, Emily. You’re betrothed and shouldn’t be seen with another man.” She turned to Daphne. “You go.”
    Daphne stared at them all, her blue eyes narrowed. “Why do you always ask me to do such things? Priscilla never dashes through the bushes; she knows better than to ruin her gown. And Ariadne never peeks around corners or hides behind horses.”
    Ariadne shrugged. “I know what happens at that end of the beast.”
    “So do I,” Daphne declared, nose in the air. “And I am trying to be a lady. What gentleman wants to marry a girl with more dash and skill