Mr. Bridgerton looked as if he wanted to argue, but he held his temper in check and instead bit off, “Fine. Let’s not waste time, then.” He strode off, his long legs establishing a pace that neither of the two women was going to find easy to keep up with.
He wrenched open doors and then left them hanging ajar, too driven to reach the next room to leave things as he’d found them. Lucy scrambled behind him, trying rooms on the other side of the hall. Lady Bridgerton was just up ahead, doing the same.
“Oh!” Lucy jumped back, slamming a door shut.
“Did you find them?” Mr. Bridgerton demanded. Both he and Lady Bridgerton immediately moved to her side.
“No,” Lucy said, blushing madly. She swallowed. “Someone else.”
Lady Bridgerton groaned. “Good God. Please say it wasn’t an unmarried lady.”
Lucy opened her mouth, but several seconds passed before she said, “I don’t know. The masks, you realize.”
“They were wearing masks?” Lady Bridgerton asked. “They’re married, then. And not to each other.”
Lucy desperately wanted to ask how she had reached that conclusion, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so, and besides, Mr. Bridgerton quite diverted her thoughts by cutting in front of her and yanking the door open. A feminine shriek split the air, followed by an angry male voice, uttering words Lucy dare not repeat.
“Sorry,” Mr. Bridgerton grunted. “Carry on.” He shut the door. “Morley,” he announced, “and Winstead’s wife.”
“Oh,” Lady Bridgerton said, her lips parting with surprise. “I had no idea.”
“Should we do something?” Lucy asked. Good heavens, there were people committing adultery not ten feet away from her.
“It’s Winstead’s problem,” Mr. Bridgerton said grimly. “We have our own matters to attend to.”
Lucy’s feet remained rooted to the spot as he took off again, striding down the hallway. Lady Bridgerton glanced at the door, looking very much as if she wanted to open it and peek inside, but in the end she sighed and followed her brother-in-law.
Lucy just stared at the door, trying to figure out just what it was that was niggling at her mind. The couple on the table—on the table, for God’s sake—had been a shock, but something else was bothering her. Something about the scene wasn’t quite right. Out of place. Out of context.
Or maybe something was sparking a memory.
What was it?
“Are you coming?” Lady Bridgerton called.
“Yes,” Lucy replied. And then she took advantage of her innocence and youth, and added, “The shock, you know. I just need a moment.”
Lady Bridgerton gave her a sympathetic look and nodded, but she carried on her work, inspecting the rooms on the left side of the hall.
What had she seen? There was the man and the woman, of course, and the aforementioned table. Two chairs, pink. One sofa, striped. And one end table, with a vase of cut flowers…
Flowers.
That was it.
She knew where they were.
If she was wrong and everybody else was right, and her brother really was in love with Hermione, there was only one place he would have taken her to try to convince her to return the emotion.
The orangery. It was on the other side of the house, far from the ballroom. And it was filled, not just with orange trees, but with flowers. Gorgeous tropical plants that must have cost Lord Bridgerton a fortune to import. Elegant orchids. Rare roses. Even humble wildflowers, brought in and replanted with care and devotion.
There was no place more romantic in the moonlight, and no place her brother would feel more at ease. He loved flowers. He always had, and he possessed an astounding memory for their names, scientific and common. He was always picking something up, rattling off some sort of informational tidbit—this one only opened in the moonlight, that one was related to some such plant brought in from Asia. Lucy had always found it somewhat tedious, but she could see how it might seem romantic, if it weren’t one’s brother doing the talking.
She looked up the hall. The Bridgertons had stopped to speak to each other, and Lucy could see by their postures that the conversation was intensely felt.
Wouldn’t it be best if she were the one to find them? Without any of the Bridgertons?
If Lucy found them, she could warn them and avert disaster. If Hermione wanted to marry her brother…well, it could be her choice, not something she had to do because she’d been caught unawares.