Page 85 of A Game of Scandal

“Now what?” I asked Ash, feeling strangely deflated.

“Now, we dance,” he said, reaching for my hand and tugging me towards the door.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Ash was a wonderful dancer. I suppose it shouldn’t have been a surprise, given the grace with which he always moved, but being held close in his arms and spun effortlessly around the dance floor was a very different experience to my previous endeavours in the ballroom. Now, I could certainly see the appeal of being pressed almost scandalously close against a tall, well-muscled body, of the intimacy in the way his hand lingered on my waist. The way I could tip my face and look up into his, close enough to see the way his pupils dilated when he looked back at me.

I should have been feeling nothing but happy as I spun, safe in Ash’s arms, knowing that Laing had been thwarted. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had missed something.

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand,” I said as we danced, and Ash gazed soulfully down at me. “Why did Laing plant the bomb in the card room? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Who knows what goes on in the mind of an unhinged criminal.” Ash shrugged. “I’m much more interested in how you manage to look so lovely, even when your feathers keep tickling my nose.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I promise after tonight I’ll never wear the things again.”

The music we were dancing to came to an end, and Ash’s hand went to the small of my back. He leaned over me as we walked through the crowd, and I could feel the warmth of his body curved around me, could smell that delicious spicy smell that I knew clung to his skin.

“The ballroom is a far more effective target,” I blurted, unable to help myself. “They could have taken out the prince and princess as well as half the aristocracy.”

“Well, maybe he—”

“Frederick?”

Ash’s words were cut short by the exclamation. Standing in front of us was Lord Archer.

“Father.” Ash frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“Me?” Lord Archer demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“Ash?” Another voice joined the chorus of confusion, and I saw Horatio Peabody appear beside Lord Archer, looking dapper but anxious. “How do you… Did you say Father?”

“You’re acquainted with my son?” Archer sounded disgruntled. “The new Baron Ely.”

Horatio’s face was a picture of bewilderment. “Baron Ely, but I thought…”

“I forgot that you were going to be here, Horatio,” Ash said smoothly. “Your daughter is being presented, isn’t she?”

“Yes, yes,” Horatio said, recovering. “My Sadie. She’s here and pretty as a picture.”

I was trying to blend as unobtrusively into the background as my foolish dress and feathered headband would allow. The last thing we needed was for Horatio to recognize me as the masked lady who had beaten him at cards. Still, seeing Horatio again tugged at something in my memory. Hadn’t I seen him when I was in Cambridge?

“Psst.” I turned in the direction of the noise, to find Maud, dressed in a maid’s uniform, hovering nearby. “I have a note for you from Mrs Finch,” she said, surreptitiously passing me the folded paper. “It means nothing to me, but she said you’d understand.”

“Thank you,” I said, opening the note and scanning the words.

The world fell away. For a moment there was no sound but the rapid beating of my heart. The puzzle pieces slid effortlessly, devastatingly into place.

“Mr Peabody, did you go to Cambridge to see Lord Archer?” I asked, breaking unceremoniously into Ash’s conversation. He followed my wide gaze to Horatio, who turned red and then white in quick succession.

“Well, I – yes, I did. To offer my condolences.”

“I don’t think that was it,” I said. “I think you went there to persuade Lord Archer to attend this ball.”

“How did you… I don’t know what… Mrs Williams? Is that you?” This flustered response was all I needed.

“What is she talking about, Peabody?” Lord Archer demanded.

“Did Mr Peabody suggest you attend tonight?” I said, fixing my gaze firmly on his, while Peabody spluttered beside us.