"Barclay, you're his cousin. You've known Daniel longer than any of us. So tell us, how many ladies, other than Griff's duchess, have captured and held Sussex's attention for longer than a night or two?" Jarrod asked.
"One," Jonathan answered.
"And the lady's name is…" Colin prompted.
"Miranda, Marchioness St. Germaine."
Jarrod turned to Griffin. "Have you seen Miranda since the party last night?"
Griff frowned. "No. Alyssa asked Miranda and her mother to accompany us, but Miranda suggested we meet at Sussex House so that Lord and Lady Tressingham and my parents could ride with us."
"Did you see Miranda or her mother there?" Colin asked.
Griff shook his head. "No."
"She was there," Jonathan said. "Because Aunt Lavinia was furious with Daniel for inviting her and furious with Miranda for not having the good manners to stay away from where she wasn't invited."
Jarrod stopped pacing. He met Colin's gaze and they both looked at Griff. "Did Alyssa say 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 clarified. "But that doesn't mean they've headed to Scotland or that they're sharing an address."
"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 agreed. "But I'd like to think Sussex and Miranda are otherwise engaged."
"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 be here tonight with a ready explanation for his absence this morning," Jarrod admitted.
"As were we all," Jonathan said grimly.
"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," all the Free Fellows replied in unison.
"Luckily we all dressed the part." Jarrod spread his hands wide to indicate his own formal evening dress, then nodded at each of the other Free Fellows, who were all wearing evening clothes.
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.
"I'm also going to Lady Garrison's ball," Jarrod offered.