"We'd hoped for our dear Miss Willory's company as well," Mrs. Lubeck informed her, "but she declined." She leaned forward to whisper dramatically. "I daresay she worried she would damage what is left of her wardrobe. Did you see her traveling gown, Lady Kate? Mended in several places."

"And a full season out of date," Mrs. Keenes's added with a gleeful tone. a full season out of date," Mrs. Keenes's added with a gleeful tone.

Kate couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Miss Willory in the face of such pettiness.

"How charitable of you to take such interest interest in your friend's circ.u.mstances," she bit out. "I believe I shall forgo the stroll, thank you." in your friend's circ.u.mstances," she bit out. "I believe I shall forgo the stroll, thank you."

Mrs. Keenes looked momentarily stunned, but after a spot of rapid blinking, managed to regain her composure. "Yes...well, if you'll excuse us?"

"With pleasure," Kate said sweetly.

Mrs. Keenes's lips briefly thinned into a white line before she hooked her arm through Mrs. Lubeck's and hurried them both away.

"Officious old biddies," Kate muttered at their retreating backs.

Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at them, she turned away to find Mr. Hunter watching her. At first glance, his expression seemed to be one of mild amus.e.m.e.nt, but upon closer inspection, she saw a hint of darkness as well-the taint of anger and wounded pride.

He smoothed the front of his coat. "Did you just defend me, Lady Kate? And And Miss Willory?" Miss Willory?"

"No," she said quickly, unsure whether she was trying to further spare his pride, or save her own. "I-I was defending a principle."

"And what principle was that?"

"Um, the principle of, er, good manners," she finally managed. To her relief, the sound of voices coming from around the side of the house meant she wouldn't be required to defend or explain that less than ideal response.

Mr. Hunter glanced at the noise. "It looks as if we'll have to continue this conversation another time."

"Yes, how unfortunate. I..." Kate trailed off and cleared her throat as her mother and Mr. Laury came into view.

Her mother smiled as she drew near. "Ah, Kate, there you are. Mr. Laury and I are for a stroll on the beach. Do join us."

Kate watched the blood drain from Mr. Laury's thin face. Oh, dear. It was thoughtful of her mother to press Mr. Laury into her company so that she might hear of Baroness Cederstrom, but not at the expense of the man's health. He looked near to fainting. "I'm not certain-"

"Excellent." Her mother reached for her, neatly drawing her next to Mr. Laury, whose Adam's apple began to work up and down with disconcerting speed.

"Mother, I-"

"And will you be joining us, Mr. Hunter?" Lady Thurston inquired in a very, very very polite tone. polite tone.

Kate felt her eyes widen. She knew that tone. It was one reserved for individuals Lady Thurston was quite fond of, but would rather be rid of in the given moment. She'd been known to use it on her own children. And the only conceivable reason she'd want to be rid of Mr. Hunter was for the purpose of matchmaking between her daughter and Mr. Laury.

"Yes, do say you'll come, Mr. Hunter," Kate said quickly and in a voice that sounded a touch desperate even to her own ears.

"I've other business to attend to, I'm afraid," he replied, a smile playing on his lips. "I'll leave you in the capable hands of your mother."

Oh, blast.

"Such a pity," her mother chimed, linking their arms together. "Come along, Kate."

"Lady Kate," Mr. Hunter called out as her mother ushered her away. He waited for the group to turn around. "I understand you're an unforgiving opponent at chess. Could I interest you in a match after dinner?"

"I could see my way to having a match sooner-"

"After dinner," Lady Thurston broke in, turning Kate about again. "Good day, Mr. Hunter."

CHAPTER Eight

Never had dinner taken such an inordinate amount of time to begin, progress, and end. Kate was not a patient woman under the best of circ.u.mstances, and there were moments as she waited for her chess match with Mr. Hunter that she could have sworn sworn the clock turned backward. the clock turned backward.

Her stroll with Mr. Laury and her mother had been painfully awkward for five very long minutes, which was the approximate amount of time the gentleman had remained in their company before making a hasty excuse and an even hastier retreat to the house. Then it had been a solid hour of listening to her mother list all of Mr. Laury's very fine attributes. Kate did not argue. Her mother was certain to push at least one gentleman at her daughter during the house party and Kate thought it rather convenient that the gentleman of choice was in the habit of fleeing. She saw no reason to urge her mother toward choosing someone else.

But the event that had taken the most amount of time had been dinner itself. A normally pleasant event was made disagreeable by having Mr. Woodruff seated on her right, Mr. Kepford on her left, and the both of them alternating between leaning away from her in fear of mishap, and toward her to sneak furtive glances at the neckline of her gown. She'd been tempted to have a mishap involving her wine and both gentlemen, but chose instead to distract herself from thoughts of vengeance by imagining what role she might play in the investigation.

It wouldn't be anything dangerous, of course, she mused now. Mr. Hunter had more sense than to give her-and she had more sense than to accept-a task she wasn't qualified to perform. But she did hope it would at least be challenging.

It was a shame he wouldn't allow her to charm a bit of information from Lord Martin. She looked across the table to where Lord Martin sat drinking too much, laughing too loudly, and spending entirely too much time gazing at her and talking about himself.

Nothing at all unusual about that. Apparently, he wasn't nervous about his little operation. It would stand to reason, then, that a few carefully worded questions could be handed to him without arousing his suspicions. In truth, a few haphazardly worded questions could probably be tossed tossed at him without arousing his suspicions. He wasn't the cleverest of men. at him without arousing his suspicions. He wasn't the cleverest of men.

It was a trifle embarra.s.sing, really, that she'd mooned over him for so long.

"Kate, dear."

Kate looked up from her untouched bread pudding to discover the other ladies rising from their chairs and her mother nudging her arm. "Oh, right."

Only a little time left now, she thought. As soon as the gentlemen were done sipping their brandy, they would join the ladies in the parlor. She hoped they sipped quickly.

To Kate's irritation, they sipped slowly. It was another hour before the gentlemen arrived and Mr. Hunter set the chess game up in a quiet corner of the room.

She managed, just barely, to keep her peace until they were seated and she opened the game by pushing forward a p.a.w.n. She'd not have been able to manage even that show of patience if her mother hadn't been watching the pair of them from across the room with a sharp and faintly disapproving eye.

"What are we to do next?" she whispered.

"What's that?"

"About Lord Martin." She glanced to where Miss Willory had trapped the gentleman in question on the other side of the room. Or perhaps Lord Martin had trapped the lady. It was impossible to say as both looked a mite disgruntled. "What are we to do?"

Hunter pushed one of his own p.a.w.ns forward. "You draw less attention to yourself by speaking softly than you do by whispering."

"Oh." She supposed that made sense. Nothing said "secret" quite so loudly as a whisper.

"I'll speak softly," she a.s.sured him. "Tell me what we do next."

The wait was killing her.

"We wait," Mr. Hunter informed her. "And watch."

She felt her shoulders, her back, her everything everything slump in the chair. "You slump in the chair. "You must must be joking." be joking."

"I'm not," he a.s.sured her with a small laugh. "And it's your turn."

She'd waited all day to hear her role in the mission, only to discover it was to wait? She glanced at the board and brought out a bishop. "That's all all? I'm to do nothing more than wait and watch?"

"Did you expect everything to happen all at once?" he asked, moving his knight.

"No, but I'd rather hoped to be doing something. something."

"You will be." He smiled at her. "You'll be watching."

She sighed and pushed a p.a.w.n forward. "What will I be watching for?"

"Unusual behavior from the staff."

She perked up a little. This was a bit more interesting. "Why? Do you suspect-?"

"If this house is used as a base of operations, then at least some of them are apt to know of it."

"Oh, of course." She couldn't help but glance at the maid who came in carrying a gla.s.s of milk for Mrs. Ifill. The girl looked to be no more than fifteen years of age, and harmless as a kitten. "How am I to distinguish between harmless unusual behavior and truly truly unusual behavior." unusual behavior."

"I'm afraid that question requires some clarification on your part."

"Well, every staff has their own way of running a house and keeping their employer happy. Some ways might seem a little odd to you and me, but really aren't-"

"Try an example."

She gave him one she'd never been able to puzzle through. "The staff at Mr. Reiter's estate always move to the far side of a hallway when he pa.s.ses. Always."

"Ah." He took her p.a.w.n with his knight. "He pinches."

"He...?" She shook her head. "He's not the sort to hurt a servant."

His waggled his eyebrows at her, his smile turning devious. "It's not the sort of pinch meant to hurt."

"Oh...Oh." She never would have guessed it of sweet old Mr. Reiter. No wonder both her mother and her brother had avoided answering that question. "I can ask you near to anything, can't I?"

"I don't see why not."

That answer, Kate decided, was infinitely infinitely better than, "that remains to be seen." The possibilities it opened up were endless. Well, nearly endless. She couldn't expect him to have an answer for everything, or even be willing to answer everything. But he was willing to listen to her questions, just as he'd been willing to speak with her of rakes and- better than, "that remains to be seen." The possibilities it opened up were endless. Well, nearly endless. She couldn't expect him to have an answer for everything, or even be willing to answer everything. But he was willing to listen to her questions, just as he'd been willing to speak with her of rakes and- "It's your turn again, Kate."

"Right." She pushed her rook forward two s.p.a.ces without really looking at it. He'd called her Kate again. Did he mean to, she wondered, or even realize he had? She didn't mind if he did, not in the least. With the exception of Lizzy, none of her friends-and she rather thought she and Mr. Hunter were back to being friends-referred to her as Lady Kate. But if he did realize, why had he not yet asked her to call him by his first name as well? She decided there was really only one way to find out.

"Are you going to invite me to call you by your first name?" she inquired, grateful her mother wasn't close enough to overhear that terrible breach of etiquette.

He frowned absently as he studied the board. "Do you need an invitation?"

"Well, yes. That is is generally how it works." generally how it works."

"I don't recall waiting for your invitation."

He had had known, then, and not asked her in return. She twisted her lips in annoyance. "I can't...I'm not..." known, then, and not asked her in return. She twisted her lips in annoyance. "I can't...I'm not..."

"Not what?"

"Not you," she replied with a frustrated huff. "I can't go about ignoring the rules of propriety simply because it suits me." Push at their boundaries a little, certainly, but not ignore them entirely.

He angled a bishop out and looked up from the board. "Why not?"

"Because..." She moved a p.a.w.n. "Because it doesn't doesn't suit me. I like the rules of propriety. Some of them," she clarified. " suit me. I like the rules of propriety. Some of them," she clarified. "This one. Are you going to invite me or not?" one. Are you going to invite me or not?"

Chuckling, he brought his queen into the game and leaned back in his chair. "Lady Kate Cole, would you do me the honor of using my Christian name?"

"Yes, thank you. I believe I shall." She maneuvered her knight so that he couldn't take her rook without sacrificing his queen, then straightened in her chair. "What is it?"

"What is...?" Hunter gaped at her a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. The woman was a gem.

"Do you mean to tell me you don't know?" he asked when he could speak again.

"Of course not," she replied, apparently unfazed by his reaction. "How could I? I've only ever heard you called Mr. Hunter, or just Hunter by Whit and McAlistair. Do they they know your Christian name?" know your Christian name?"

"Yes."

She frowned a little, then shrugged. "Hardly signifies as I couldn't have asked them."

"Why not?"

"Because they'd have wondered why I was asking."

"There is that." Still chuckling, he moved his bishop to threaten her knight.

"Well, what is it?" she demanded. "Your name, I mean."

"It's Andrew."