tissue, I suppose.’
‘You have worn that one at least four times. People will start to talk. No. Wear the one with the roses festooned at the hem and neckline.’
Tess bowed her head in compliance and to hide her smile. It was the dress she had planned to wear all along.
How much nicer this would have all been if she could have been friends with her cousin’s wife. They could have enjoyed this Season together as. Instead it was a battle of wits and Wilhelmina had so few of them it was becoming quite boring.
‘Why not wear your mother’s diamonds? They will look perfect with that gown. Phineas reminded me only this morning that you have never worn them.’
The breath rushed from her lungs. She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I...umm... I am not sure where her bracelet is.’ She winced at how feeble she sounded. ‘I put it away somewhere. The clasp was broken.’
‘You don’t know where you put a diamond bracelet? Well, I must say, that is careless in the extreme. Have that maid of yours look for it and we will send it to Rundell & Bridge for repair.’
‘I hate to put Phin to the expense,’ Tess managed. ‘Who knows how much it might cost?’
Wilhelmina frowned. ‘I shall have to ask him what he thinks. In the meantime, please find it.’
Tess nodded. ‘Yes, Cousin. I will do so.’ The reprieve would give her time to think up some more plausible excuse as to where the bracelet had gone. Right now her brain seemed to have frozen solid. She began to relax.
‘Oh, and by the way, Theresa...’
Tess tensed again. ‘By the way’ always heralded Phin’s less pleasant admonitions and instructions.
‘As you know, my dearest Phineas has your best interests in mind and he has agreed to meet with Mr Stedman to discuss,’ her voice rose to an excited squeak, ‘the settlements.’ She clasped her hands together. ‘Isn’t it exciting?’
Tess stared at her cousin’s wife. ‘Mr Stedman hasn’t yet asked for my permission to approach Phin. I thought...’
Her voice tailed off at Wilhelmina’s annoyed expression.
‘Phin said I might have a little more time,’ she continued valiantly. ‘I hardly know the man.’
‘It is a preliminary discussion only,’ Wilhelmina said, but her expression was just a little too smug. ‘You know, if you wish to get to know a gentleman, you must make an effort to spend more time in his company. Phin is concerned that Mr Stedman might ask for repayment of your father’s debts at any moment, particularly if he is made to wait too long for your answer.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘If only your father hadn’t left the estate in such a mess, we wouldn’t be in this position. You do understand, do you not?’
A pang of guilt twisted in Tess’s chest. Until after his death, she’d had no idea Papa had borrowed a large sum money from Mr Stedman. Perhaps she could have helped him avoid such a thing if only she had known. Perhaps he would have avoided the accident with his gun.
Her blood ran cold. ‘Yes, Wilhelmina. I do understand.’
A sly look crossed the other woman’s face. ‘Who was that gentlemen dressed as the grim reaper at the masquerade the other night? You never did say. You wasted a good deal of the evening in his company.’
Her stomach sank. ‘I have no idea. I thought you knew him. He left before the unmasking. And it was only one dance.’
‘You did go outside with him.’
‘I also went outside with Mr Stedman.’
Wilhelmina pressed her lips tightly together for a moment. ‘Well, I am glad we have had this little talk. I am sure you will do your utmost to assist your family. I will see you at dinner.’
Accepting her dismissal, Tess tidied up her needlework and traipsed up to her chamber. Now she was really in trouble. How was it Phin had recalled her mother’s bracelet when he had not mentioned it once in the past year? If she was going to avoid marriage to Stedman, she needed to find Grey quickly.
* * *
‘There is a person to see you, my lord.’
‘A person?’ Jaimie looked up from his paperwork and recoiled at the odd look on Rider’s face. One of shocked indignation.
He frowned. Some of the men he employed at the agency were of the rough-and-ready sort, but none of them would come here to visit him. They would go to Growler by way of the back door. Growler was ostensibly his secretary and lived in. The butler no longer took any notice of Growler’s comings and goings, much as he disapproved of the erstwhile bruiser.
‘Did he give his name, Rider?’
‘It is not a he, my lord.’
Jaimie pushed to his feet. ‘A woman?’
Rider sniffed. ‘A female, my lord, who refuses to state her business either to Growler or to me and refuses to leave without seeing you.’ He coughed behind his hand. ‘Growler thinks you will want to see her, but I can have a footman—’
‘Growler thought...’ It must be an informant. Jaimie raised a hand. ‘I had best see her. Bring tea, would you, Rider?’ He might as well take a proper break from what he was doing, now he had been interrupted, rather than continue to sit staring into space. ‘Make sure you put biscuits on the tray.’ Nothing like one of cook’s biscuits to loosen an unwilling tongue.
‘Very well, my lord.’ He stepped back.
An oddly rotund figure in an old black woollen cloak, its hood drawn low so as to hide the wearer’s face, sidled around the butler and into the room.
‘Hey, you!’ Rider said. ‘I told you to wait.’
Jaimie let out a shocked laugh. ‘It’s all right, Rider. Fetch the tea, please.’
With a huff of annoyance, Rider departed, his whole demeanour imparting the silent news that if this sort of thing continued, a man of his dignity would be handing in his notice.
She pushed the hood back to reveal a floppy mobcap. The only thing that looked the least bit like her was her face.
‘Who are you supposed to be now, Lady Tess? I must say, I prefer Artemis.’
‘Hah,’ she said, but there was a smile in her eyes he had never seen before. A naughty smile that hit him low and tightened his body in places a gentleman was required to ignore in the presence of a lady.
She threw off the cloak and untied the sash holding two pillows, one at her front and the other in the small of her back. ‘It’s not funny. I am dashed hot.’
He tamped down the urge to smile. Fought the allure of her lush body. His first wife had been tall, elegant and slender, while Lady Tess was all soft curves and tempting dimples. But it seemed in temperament, the ladies were much the same. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into Lady Tess’s orbit.
He retreated into studied indifference. ‘This really is beyond the pale, you know,’ he said in bored tones.
‘It was the only way to escape the house unnoticed.’
He frowned. ‘That is not what I meant and you know it. No lady should visit a gentleman’s abode in the middle of the night.’ He glanced at the clock. ‘Good heavens, girl, it’s gone one in the morning.’
‘I had to wait until everyone was asleep.’ She grinned and he had to stop himself from grinning back. ‘Also I thought I might be more likely to catch you at home after midnight.’
Naive child. In his wilder days, he’d rarely come home before three in the morning, and if he was home, she might have caught him at home with a houseful of guests enjoying themselves in ways no respectable lady should be aware of. These days, he preferred to spend his time in the conservatory, with his