Passionately Yours (Hellions of High Street 3)

Shifting within the shadows, Caro searched the crowd, hoping to spot Isobel. If anyone could confirm the veracity of Thayer’s story, it was Alec’s sister.

To her relief, Caro spotted her dancing with Andover in the group near the doors to the terrace. Skirting slowly around the perimeter of the room, she waited for the music to end.

“Isobel,” she called, as the laughing couple headed toward the refreshment table.

“Oh, there you are!” Isobel’s flushed face wreathed in an even brighter smile. “We were looking for you on the dance floor—I thought you were engaged for the set.”

“I was.” She forced back the hurt welling up in her throat. “But Mr. Thayer and I ended up talking instead. Which was just as well. It seems overly warm in here tonight and I find myself a little fatigued.”

Isobel fanned herself. “Oh, as do I.”

Seizing the opportunity, Caro indicated a stone bench by the terrace railing just outside the open doors. “Why don’t we sit and catch a breath of fresh air while Andy fetches us some punch.”

Andover grinned. “Which is feminine code for ‘go away for a bit while we ladies enjoy a bit of gossip.’ ”

“I take it you have sisters, sir,” teased Isobel.

“Two,” he answered. “Like Miss Caro, I too am contemplating writing a book. Not, I hasten to add, one composed of lyric verses, but rather a compendium of all the diabolical wiles that ladies use to twist us men around their little fingers.”

“How very ungentlemanly of you to think of exposing our secrets,” murmured Caro. “You gentlemen have enough of an unfair advantage over us as it is.”

“Ha!” he retorted, though he seemed to sense something in her tone that made his brows tweak up in query.

She turned away and took Isobel’s arm before he could ask any questions. Andover’s affable manner and self-deprecating sense of humor fooled many people into thinking he was a pleasantly slow-witted fellow. But in truth, he was sharp as a tack.

“Take your time,” said Isobel over her shoulder. “We shall not perish of thirst if you choose to linger over a glass of champagne with Lord Tilden and his friends before bringing us our punch.”

“You seem to be enjoying Andy’s company,” observed Caro as she seated herself. In contrast, the coolness of the smooth stone seeping through her skirts was an uncomfortable reminder of how hard and impenetrable Alec seemed at this moment.

Isobel’s flush immediately deepened to a vivid scarlet. “I—I am. He is very… nice.”

“He is thoroughly nice,” she agreed. “In every way that matters.”

A small silence intervened as Isobel twisted the fringe of her shawl between her fingers. Without looking up, she hesitantly said, “You seem to be enjoying Mr. Thayer’s company.”

“I wouldn’t call it that. I confess, there are things that disturb me about him.”

“Alec has warned me that he is a dirty dish,” answered Isobel in a small voice.

“Yes, he has said much the same thing to me as well, but would not explain why.”

Isobel lifted her shoulders in a baffled shrug. “Other than that pronouncement, he is very close-mouthed about his former friend. I am not sure why.”

Caro drew in an unsteady breath. “Well, Mr. Thayer is more forthcoming about your brother. He told me that Lord Strathcona has been married. And that his wife was killed in an unfortunate accident.”

The color drained from Isobel’s face, leaving her as pale as the cream-white sash beneath her breasts.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s true,” Isobel whispered. The opening notes of a lively gavotte drifted out from the dance floor, painfully at odds with the moments of strained silence that followed. “But please, I beg of you not to ask me to say more. I—I cannot bear to talk about it.”

Caro felt a numbness grip her chest and slowly spread outward, like fingers of ice.

“Besides,” added Isobel, “it is not me but rather Alec who should rightfully tell you about the circumstances.”

“Lord Strathcona owes me no explanation,” replied Caro flatly. “I merely wanted to know whether it was true in order to judge whether Mr. Thayer is a reliable source of information.”

“But…” Isobel bit her lip.