Both brows came down. ‘How many glasses of champagne have you had, Cassie?’
‘Only a couple. But Gramma loved Fougère du Bois fragrance and his cologne is very like that – ’
‘French fern.’
‘Exactly – you recall the note in Cottingham’s desk. Anyway, I introduced myself and proceeded to be very vulgar and dropped broad hints about my rich American father and de Forrest could not have been less interested. In fact he dumped me after a few minutes and wandered off.’
‘Dumped you?’ There went those eyebrows again.
‘Slang. Abandoned me with a feeble excuse. Never mind that, don’t you see what is so suspicious? I left him in no doubt that I was wealthy, had an indulgent father and was not very well chaperoned. If he doesn’t know where Arabella is, then he doesn’t seem at all worried – a little tense, perhaps, but not like a man who is missing his ticket to a fortune should look if he really has intentions towards her. On the other hand, if he knows she is dead, or out of his reach, but he is desperate for money, then he should have come on to me more strongly.’
Lucian’s lips moved, shaping come on to me. Then he nodded. ‘On the one hand, if he is absolutely innocent and his intentions towards Arabella are honourable, then he is nowhere near worried enough. On the other hand, if she has vanished and he sees his chance of a fortune vanishing he is doing nothing to look for another one. Which could mean he knows what has become of her and expects to get the money eventually.’
‘Exactly. And if we were wrong about him being interested in her, but right about him needing money, then why did he show no interest in my mythical fortune? So how do we get the truth out of him?’
‘He cannot have taken her – what would be the point? Nor is there any reason to suspect Cottingham would refuse him outright – they are more than mere acquaintances. The third possibility is that he is not concerned with her and also his financial problems have been exaggerated,’ he added gloomily.
‘Perhaps she is being held to ransom. That would explain the tension about him. Whatever he knows, he is not exactly relaxed. Not frantic with worry, simply tense.’ Like me. I realised I was biting the end of my fan.
‘And yet Cottingham is accusing Selbourne,’ Lucian pointed out. ‘If she has been abducted it would be far more likely that a demand would be m
ade to Cottingham rather than de Forest – he is her relative and the one with the funds.’ He paced about our small screened area. ‘And how did whoever has her, get her? We are still no further forward with that.’
‘We might be. I know what it was that was nagging at the back of my mind. I think her maid was involved in the plot all along, but I need to talk to Garrick to be certain, because I do not know enough about servants’ lives.’
‘We will make our excuses and leave.’ Lucian stepped out from behind the palms and scanned the room. ‘James is deep in conversation with some of the worst scandalmongers in Town.’ He nodded towards one corner where his brother’s blond head could be seen in the midst of perhaps a dozen men and women, all older than him and decidedly raffish in appearance.
Which reminded me that my tension was not simply anxiety over Arabella or the strain of coping with this new world. I was feeling decidedly amorous. ‘But don’t you want to get back to your scantily-clad friend?’
‘I do not.’ Lucian was decidedly tight-lipped now.
‘An ex-mistress?’ I enquired sweetly.
‘Cassandra.’ He turned, putting himself between me and the rest of the room. ‘That is not something discussed in public, for goodness sake!’
I tried his eyebrow trick and got a reluctant smile from him.
‘She was just reminding me why I do not regret that our ways parted some time ago. Which is an exceedingly ungallant thing for me to say.’
It cheered me up no end. If Lucian had been pining for statuesque sophisticates then I could forget my dilemma over whether to kiss him. And I could certainly stop considering doing anything else. As it was, I could go back to being conflicted about making love with him. Perhaps I was not so cheered after all.
‘I will go and tell James we are leaving, but he may well stay on if he is gleaning anything useful.’
We crossed the room and Lucian murmured in his brother’s ear. James nodded and went back to his group while Lucian offered me his arm and went to speak to Lady Maxton.
‘My cousin has a slight headache, ma’am. She is not used to our late nights.’
‘Jet lag,’ I murmured from behind my fan and smiled faintly when they both looked at me. ‘I do apologise, Lady Maxton, I was so enjoying your lovely musicale, but my wretched head…’
‘I quite understand, my dear. I can recall my own come-out. Why, I had to stay in bed for three days after the Duchess of Worthington’s ball. Ah, happy days. Off you go and get your beauty sleep, child.’
Chapter Sixteen
Lucian kept silent during the short drive back, but he almost bundled me into the apartment as he shouted for Garrick.
‘Miss Lawrence believes that Miss Trenton’s maid is lying,’ he said as Garrick took my cloak and gloves and Lucian’s outer garments. ‘She needs to consult you.’
‘I do not know enough about the life of servants, you see,’ I explained as we settled around the unlit fireplace. ‘But Martha Toms said that her hot milk had been drugged. There seems to be no question that she was drugged and that was how it was done, but surely it is not usual for a maidservant to go off to bed with a mug of hot milk, is it? I mean, the cook in that household was furious with one of the footmen taking a glass as a snack.’