Mistress of Scandal (Greentree Sisters 3)

Lil smiled. “Miss, you are talking about Aphrodite’s Club. To my mind there’re a lot of suspicious gentlemen around that place. Is there anyone in particular…?”

“No, it was just a thought. Never mind.”

But Francesca was more worried than she let on to Lil. Sebastian’s warnings and now the sandy-haired stranger were playing on her mind, and she felt guilty and concerned that she’d endangered those closest to her by her actions, well-intentioned as they were. What if these people had discovered where Rosie was hidden? What if they decided to take her back? Kidnap her?

Dobson! Francesca remembered with relief. It would be difficult for them to get past Dobson. But her relief faded; Dobson was only one man. There was no time to waste.

“I’m going to see Mr. Thorne in Half Moon Street.”

Lil’s face was a picture. “Miss!”

“I have to. It’s urgent, Lil. I’m worried…about Rosie.”

Lil considered that, but she wasn’t mollified. “And I suppose you think you’re going on your own?”

“Lil, I am perfectly capable of—”

“I’m coming with you, miss. I’m not making the same mistake with you that I made with your sisters.”

Francesca sighed, irritated and amused at the same time. “Lil, I am twenty-five years old and far too old to require a chaperone.”

“No respectable man will want you if your honor is besmirched,” Lil said knowledgeably.

“Good heavens! Do I care?” She rolled her eyes.

“That’s what Miss Vivianna and Miss Marietta said,” Lil said darkly. “And they did care, eventually. I’m waiting to see what happens when their children grow up. You can be sure they won’t want them up to the games they played!” Lil was enjoying herself. “Oh yes, those little ones will lead them a merry dance, you mark my words.”

Francesca decided it wasn’t worth arguing with her when she was in this moralizing mood. “I’ll go and change into my new dress and we can set off.”

Lil narrowed her eyes. “What new dress?”

“The modiste was able to fit one she already had made up. It only needed a few tucks here and there.”

“And why are you wearing this new dress to Mr. Thorne’s rooms?”

“Lil, even I know that men are much more likely to agree to a woman’s wishes if she’s looking her best. And Mr. Thorne is a man, after all.”

“He’s a villain, miss.”

Francesca smiled. “Yes, he is, isn’t he?”

Lil shot her a despairing look and muttered, “Just like the other two.”

They walked to Half Moon Street. It was only a short distance, and after the ride home in the carriage, Francesca felt she’d had enough of the noise and dust of London’s streets. Perhaps it was being able to walk freely, or perhaps it was the new dress, but Francesca was feeling very pleased with the world and everyone in it.

Which was strange, when there was danger all around her.

But she’d decided that a little danger was actually stimulating to the heart and brain. And, in a purely feminine way, she enjoyed the swish of her turquoise moiré dress and her five petticoats. Certainly the few gentlemen who passed them noticed her, all of them tipping their hats. One of them ogled her in a startling manner, until Lil gave him a glare and sent him on his way.

Perhaps I am turning into a Londoner, with nothing in my head but the latest fashions? But it was more to do with herself than London. She’d changed. And she had the feeling that was to do with Mr. Thorne.

“You look very happy, miss,” Lil said, suspicious, as they reached the building containing Mr. Thorne’s rooms.

“Do I, Lil?”

“You be careful, Miss Francesca,” her maid warned her.

But Francesca wasn’t listening. She had already begun to climb the stairs to the front door.