we really must go.”
“I don’t know,” Puck said, unable to resist. “How wide are your chimneys?”
Regina lifted her chin and marched on down the flagway, clearly unimpressed by his answer, leaving him to sink farther into the shadow of the buildings and compliment himself on his good taste. He’d used the correct word to describe her to Gaston. She really was magnificent.
And then he was off, cutting through alleyways until he emerged on the flagway of Berkeley Square, nearly gaining it ahead of the man still following Regina. He watched as the man walked on and determined that the fellow was or at least had been a sailor, forever marked by his rolling gait.
Sailors most often meant knives, not pistols, and they usually kept them tucked into their waistbands. Puck stored the information in his brain and continued walking, following the tail until he’d passed the door that had so recently closed behind Regina, and then continued to keep pace with him as he exited the Square and turned to his left. Another three blocks took them both to a small, discreet basement tavern, patronized mostly by the servants from the local neighborhoods. The tail stepped inside and was greeted by several people who recognized him before the door could close once more.
Clearly, the man was a frequent visitor to the establishment. How nice. Gaston always enjoyed meeting new people. In his previous life, before his encounter with Puck, he had met many new people, most only briefly, deftly relieving them of their valuables as he’d been one of the premiere pickpockets in the city.
Puck wanted a look at the sort of sticker the man preferred, and Gaston would delight in practicing his old skills. It was always the details that lessened the odds.
Puck hastened back to Berkeley Square and the mews behind the Hackett residence, then nipped into the narrow passageway that divided it from the equally impressive mansion directly next door to it. The two residences had been built so closely together that occupants of the houses could have, if they’d so desired, simply opened their windows and indulged in quiet conversations with their neighbor. Or listened to conversations. Or gotten a peek at their neighbor in his or her underclothes or caught them out in some compromising position.
Which were several of the many reasons that these particular windows in both buildings were closed, and the drapes drawn, and both remained that way no matter what the time of day or the weather. The cobbled pathway still wasn’t the perfect meeting place, and a tradesman with a delivery to either house could still appear and discover them, but they’d be here only for a few minutes, and, as Puck reasoned the thing, if he couldn’t stare down a curious tradesman, then he didn’t deserve to live.
And then she was there, and Puck forgot about everything else as he stepped out of the shadows and took her hands in his. “You bring the sun with you,” he told her, “chasing away any shadows.”
She tugged her hands free. “We don’t have time for your nonsense,” she warned him, and then added, “but … thank you.”
“The pleasure, and the nonsense, remain mine. Tell me what happened after you left me last night,” he said, not liking that she looked faintly drawn, even for all her beauty. She could not have passed a quiet night.
“I already told you that he saw me at the ball. I couldn’t believe it! He didn’t realize that Miranda had been taken. He thought perhaps she’d arranged an elopement or something with someone she’d planned to meet there. I told him what we believe, and all he had to say to that was that Uncle Seth will be applying to him for the money to hire Bow Street.”
He took her hands again, and this time she didn’t pull away. “Really? If he does, Regina, please tell me.”
She tipped her head to one side. “Why?”
“Why? Let’s just say that there is no such thing as too much knowledge when you’re … getting to know someone. You should have given your father my name when he asked. I’ll assume your refusal didn’t delight him.”
“He gave up asking quickly enough. But no, he wasn’t happy. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is how to save Miranda before it’s too late. My father says it already is, that she’s either ruined or dead or both, but I refuse to believe that. Why risk kidnapping the daughter of a viscount, the granddaughter of an earl, if you’re only going to … that is, if you only want to—don’t make me finish this sentence, Puck, please.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I won’t. But, informing me of your uncle’s actions to one side, your involvement has to end now, Regina. That’s the only reason I came here today. To tell you that.”
She sighed. “I came here to tell you that you should forget about helping me, because it’s too dangerous for you to continue seeing me. My father would definitely disapprove.”
“Thanks to my parents’ unmarried state,” Puck said, nodding. “I understand that. Your father has set his sights considerably higher for his daughter’s future.”
She seemed relieved that he understood. “Yes. An earl, at the least. He’s never made it a secret that I am the ladder he plans to climb to the next level of London Society.”
“I’m sure he has your best interests at heart,” Puck told her, watching her closely for her reaction to that statement. She simply didn’t seem the sort who took orders cheerfully.
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