Truly a Wife (Free Fellows League 4)

t attend?” Jarrod stopped pacing.

Jonathan shook his head. “No.”

Jarrod met Colin’s gaze and they both looked at Griff. “Did Alyssa mention anything about Miranda leaving town?”

“No.”

“They’re together.” Jarrod grinned. “For whatever reason, Sussex and Miranda are together.”

Colin hesitated. “Maybe.”

Jarrod glared at Colin.

But Colin wasn’t deterred. “Sussex and Miranda may be together, but it’s just as likely that they aren’t.”

“Nobody has seen either one of them,” Jarrod insisted.

“Nobody we’ve talked to has seen either one of them,” Colin reminded him. “But that doesn’t mean they’ve headed to Scotland or that they’re sharing an address. Things are rarely what they seem—especially in our line of work.”

“Grantham’s right,” Courtland said. “We can’t assume anything. We’re just going to have to keep looking until we hear from Sussex.”

Griff glanced at Jarrod. “They’re right.”

“I know,” Jarrod conceded, “but I’d rather believe that Sussex and Miranda are otherwise engaged than the alternative …”

“Because the alternative is that Daniel may be in trouble.” Colin gave voice to their fears. “We may not want to think about it, but we’ll be remiss in our duty if we don’t. We’re engaged in a desperate and dangerous business, and we all know there are French agents here in London …”

“And if any of them suspected Daniel might be involved in a little clandestine smuggling …” Jonathan picked up the direction of Colin’s thoughts.

“The crush at the Duchess of Sussex’s party would have been the perfect place to set a trap for him. No one would have noticed anything unusual in all that crowd,” Courtland said. He shuddered, remembering how close one French agent had come to penetrating the League not so very long ago.

“I was hoping Sussex would walk in tonight with a reasonable explanation for his absence this morning,” Jarrod admitted.

“We were all hoping that would happen,” Jonathan said.

“Then I suppose we’re all in agreement that his continued absence and the information we’ve gathered today means we’ll need to do a bit of reconnoitering among the ton tonight,” Jarrod said.

“Agreed,” replied all the Free Fellows in unison.

“Luckily we all dressed the part.” Jarrod spread his hands wide to indicate his own formal evening dress, then nodded at the other Free Fellows, who were all wearing evening clothes, knowing luck hadn’t played any part in the way they were dressed. They’d each seen the course of action independently and then come together to confer as a unified league.

Courtland grimaced. “I’m escorting my mother to the opera. Where are the rest of you going?”

“Lady Cleveland’s,” Jonathan replied.

“Colin and Gillian and Alyssa and I are going to my sister-in-law’s ball,” Griff said.

“So am I,” Jarrod volunteered.

“What?” Griffin was stunned.

“I’m going to Lady Garrison’s ball.”

“I’m sure my sister-in-law will be delighted,” Griff said. “And I’m not trying to discourage you from attending, but are you certain that’s what you want to do?”

“Quite sure,” Jarrod pronounced. “Since Lady Garrison was kind enough to extend the invitation, I think it’s time I accepted.”

“Every hostess in London invites you to her parties,” Griff reminded him. “And unless our League business requires it or it’s one of Alyssa’s gatherings, you rarely attend any of them.”