“It seems I was right,” Mrs. Ellis-Brant said triumphantly. “Have you heard the latest?”

I glanced at Julia. This did not bode well. “No, we have not.”

“Well, it is said they are hiding somewhere in London. She and her companion. Here, would you believe it?”

“Really?” Julia managed. “Who told you that?”

She flapped a noncommittal hand. “I cannot recall. However, it is said Lord Deele thought…did you know Lady Deele has delivered a much-longed-for heir and son?” We both nodded vigorously, hoping to curtail the tangent. “Ah, you have heard. Well then, it is said Deele thought his sister and her companion had fled to Scotland and had been searching in that direction, but now he is set to search London once he has done his duty by his wife and new son. Some intrigue for those of us still left in the city.”

George Brummell had been right; Lord Deele was well on his way to finding Hester and Miss Grant, especially now that he had determined they were in London. And if he did, the law stood firmly on his side. As Hester’s guardian he had the right to forcibly remove her and do with her as he wished.

The Ermine held up her copy of Childe Harold. “Are you here for this too? I daresay I shall have to read it now, since no one will talk of aught else.”

“Actually, Mr. Hatchard has a special order for us,” I said, finding a chance to escape. “If you will excuse us…”

Thomas took the hint and gestured elegantly toward the back of the shop. “This way, my ladies.”

We nodded our good-byes to the Ermine and followed Thomas. I looked back through the huge front display window. Tully, in her red cloak, still sat upon the bench, chatting with another maid. To an onlooker—or a nose—a lady’s maid outside a shop was a certain indicator that her mistress was still inside. It would give us at least twenty minutes or perhaps even half an hour to slip out the back to Miss Grant and our waiting carriage—with John Driver and his blunderbuss at the ready—and head toward our rendezvous with Lord Evan before anyone noticed. I would have preferred to have Weatherly with us, too, but I needed him back at the house to ensure Lady Hester’s safety.

“If what she says is true, Deele will be in London soon,” Julia whispered to me as we passed the shelves devoted to the travelogue and the picturesque. “We can no longer wait. We must find a safer place for them.”

I nodded mutely. Clearly Hester and Miss Grant must escape London, but that meant Evan would most likely go too. It would hurt—oh, how it would hurt to have him so near, only to be gone again—but it was for the best, since everything pointed to the fact that Mulholland was trying to kill him.

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