“Oh no, he is not in London. He is at Cordale, their estate. Only yesterday I received a letter from Lady Deele to report the happy news that she has been safely delivered with the heir and that Deele is so pleased he is staying awhile. It is most gratifying, is it not?”

“Very gratifying.” My gratification, however, was for an entirely different reason: Deele had not yet traveled to London and would now be temporarily diverted from his search for Hester. A brief respite, but one that might allow the poor girl to recover some strength.

“Lords, ladies, and gentlemen,” Mary called out above the conversational hum, “please take a seat for Lord Sidmouth, who will be speaking upon the latest outrages in the north.”

With a nod, I parted from Agnes and claimed a chair near the doorway. Julia had found a seat beside Duffy; her conversation with Mr. Whitmore seemed to have ended rather quickly. Had she discovered anything of interest? I suspected she had another task now—to persuade our brother to forgive me. I caught a fulminating glance from Duffy, his eyes as narrowed as my own. Julia’s quest was, I suspected, futile, considering my own lack of forgiveness and his enduring disdain.

I turned my attention, along with my fellow guests, to Lord Sidmouth. If Duffy thought it unsuitable for a lady to debate among men, he was about to be entirely affronted.

As it happened, the evening’s debate did manage to distract me for a short while from my unease. Duffy departed soon after Lord Sidmouth’s address, but I did manage to make some very pertinent points before he left. Perhaps I should not have enjoyed the dark look upon his face when my neat skewering of an argument was applauded by Lord Sidmouth himself, but Duffy did bring out the worst in me. And I, alas, in him.

In the carriage home, I told Julia about my conversation with Agnes and the welcome news of Deele’s current location. She in turn reported the information she had managed to extract from Mr. Whitmore.

“He is not very forthcoming,” she said, “which I suppose is an excellent quality considering his position. He did tell me that Mr. Kent has the reputation of being overly dogged in his pursuit of the truth. Apparently, he sometimes continues to investigate when a case has been declared closed by his superiors. Twice he has been censured for such activity, although in both cases the wrong man had originally been arrested and then was released upon Mr. Kent’s evidence.”

“Well, that is all in Mr. Kent’s favor,” I said.

“I thought so too,” Julia said. “He is always gentlemanly in his thoughts and behavior, do you not think?”

“He is most gentlemanly,” I said, earning a tired but beaming smile from my sister.