“And now you must both be on your way, quickly, before those who are downstairs take their leave.”

Cassandra started toward the door, and Fiona followed. Mrs. Renshaw led them down two flights of stairs to the lower level, and they retraced their steps to the door they’d entered earlier. Then Mrs. Renshaw accompanied them up the stairs to Duke Street, where a hack was already waiting.

She turned to Fiona and Cassandra. “I’ve instructed the driver to deposit you each near, not in front of, your perspective homes. He has already been paid, so you needn’t worry about that.”

“How can we ever thank you?” Fiona asked, still overwhelmed with regret as well as disappointment in herself.

“By not doing anything like this again.” She smiled at them. “I understand what it’s like to do something foolish. You feel bad about it now—and you should—but you’ll learn from this and emerge wiser. To do anything else would be the true failure.”

Fiona took her words to heart, silently vowing to learn from this mistake. “From now on, I will consider my actions from everyone’s perspective.”

Mrs. Renshaw fixed her gaze on Cassandra. “I will not be telling Lord Lucien you were here.”

“I could hug you,” Cassandra said, blinking. “Thank you.”

“Go now.” She waved them toward the hack and stood on the pavement until they’d climbed inside and the vehicle rolled away.

Sitting beside Cassandra, Fiona leaned her head back against the seat. “That was such a bad idea.”

“It was not my finest,” Cassandra said wryly. “I’m so sorry. What happened to you?”

“Nothing happened to me, but I think I ruined Lord Overton.”

Angling herself toward Fiona, Cassandra gaped at her. “What?”

“When we heard those voices, I panicked. I ran to the right—where the voices were coming from.”

“I did wonder why you went that way. I dashed over to the door across from the stairs. It was a servants’ cupboard.”

“You were smart.” Fiona exhaled lest she rush the retelling of what had happened. “I was not. I ran directly into Overton. He recognized me immediately and pulled me away before anyone could see me.”

Cassandra’s eyes lit with delight. “Brilliant! Then he brought you to Mrs. Renshaw’s office?”

“Not directly,” Fiona said slowly as the events ran through her mind for the dozenth time. “He took me out to the terrace, then down to the garden. I’m not sure he was thinking of where we would go, just that we shouldn’t be where everyone else was.” How she hated that she’d put him in that position.

Her face falling, Cassandra pressed her lips together. “Right. You said you ruined him.” She winced. “How could you possibly do that?”

“Er, it’s complicated. When we were in the garden, there were people in the ballroom. They opened the doors, and someone recognized him. We ran to the other side of the garden—to the ladies’ side—and I thought we were safe.”

“But you weren’t?” Cassandra tensed, her shoulders bunching.