She folded the note away, tucking it into her sewing bag. “No one,” she said. “Just an address I required.”

Lady Belwood’s lips compressed. “Your dealings are a mystery to me, I confess.”

Effie was glad of that, given what she’d learned today. She withdrew a sampler from her embroidery bag. It was already completed, save for the necessary bit of code. She threaded her needle, preparing to sew the first number necessary to spell out her secret message, informing Nell that Lord Compton was in possession of Miss Corvus’s medieval books.

“There is no mystery,” she said. “Last night I attended the performance at Cremorne Gardens, and today I visited Carena Compton.”

“A fine, accomplished young lady,” Lady Belwood remarked. “I have no objection to the association.”

Effie stabbed her needle through the coarse cloth. “You are well acquainted with her father?”

“There are few in polite society who are not.”

“Yes, but his lordship surely doesn’t visit them all.”

“I expect not. However, Lord Compton and I have known each other since he first arrived in London. It was I who introduced him to his wife.”

Effie ceased her stitching. “You?”

“She and I were friends as girls,” Lady Belwood said dismissively. “She was formerly Miss Axton, an heiress of no small fortune. After my marriage to Sir Walter, I gave a dinner. She was in attendance. So, too, was Lord Compton. He’d newly arrived in London. A well-to-do second son of an elderly viscount. He wasn’t in line to inherit, but he had already made a fortune in his own right and was, therefore, a suitable prospect for my friend.”

“What if he hadn’t had a fortune?”

Lady Belwood sniffed. “Naturally, I wouldn’t have put him next to Miss Axton at dinner. She’d been dealing with fortune hunters since she came of age. You cannot know the burden it brings to be pursued by such disreputable creatures.”

“But Lord Compton wasn’t disreputable, you believed, because he was rich.”

Lady Belwood adjusted the braided cuff of her green silk afternoon dress. “He was a gentleman then, and remains so today. After he inherited the title, his social capital only increased. It is my honor to boast an acquaintance with him of such long standing.”

“Does he often call on you here?”

“When he can spare the time.”

“And questions you about your houseguests?”

Lady Belwood’s gaze flew to Effie’s.

“I learned this afternoon that you had been discussing my history with him,” Effie said.

“I never—”

“My fortune—or lack of it—and my prospects.”

Lady Belwood blanched. “He did inquire…” She stumbled over her words. “I could scarcely reply with a falsehood. But I would not betray—”

“It’s no matter.” Effie resumed sewing. “There is nothing you know about me that cannot be shared.” Her needle flashed through the cloth. “Miss Corvus, on the other hand, is another matter.”