My Lord Hercules (12 page)

If they weren’t surrounded by society,
she might be tempted to stomp on his toe. No. Arrogant as he might
be in that moment, he did have a habit of flipping her belly, and
she did rather enjoy his kisses. If they weren’t surrounded by
society, she might ask him to kiss her again. But, alas, they were
surrounded by not only society but by her family as well. That
would never do. Besides, she was here for a different purpose
tonight. “All I want is to find out what happened to
Tessie.”

“
So serious all the time.”
He tucked a loose tendril behind her ear. “I’ll find the truth,
Miranda.” He winked at her, his roguish grin firmly in place. “And
then I’ll fetch you Hesperides’s golden apples. Will that make you
smile?”

She couldn’t help the laugh that
escaped her. “You are incorrigible.”

He nodded in agreement. “You can try
the rest of your days to cure me of that.” Then he slid her hand
back onto his arm and proceeded to guide her once more around the
room. “Now tell me everything about your friend’s letters before
Woodsworth arrives.”

After returning Miranda to her family
for safekeeping, Harry made his way to the far edge of the room
where his brother stood, nursing a glass of brandy. Berks looked
nearly as happy to be there as Marston did.

“
If you don’t smile,” Harry
began, “people will say our sister is such a terrible hostess that
even her own brothers were bored.”

Berks scoffed. “I’m certain I won’t be
the brother they’re discussing on the morrow.” Then he shook his
head. “Was that the girl Pippa is worried about? The one she’s
convinced you’re going to marry?”

“
Pippa’s right. I am going
to marry her.” Still, Harry was going to have to have a
conversation with their sister and alleviate whatever fears she
had. “Just as soon as Marston gives me his permission.”

“
You haven’t asked him
yet?”

Harry shook his head. “But I’ll see
him first thing in the morning.”

Berks looked back across the room
toward Miranda’s small circle. “This has all happened fairly
quickly, hasn’t it?”

Harry couldn’t help but smile. “When
you meet a girl who knocks you off your feet, you don’t want to let
her get away.”

At that, Berks laughed. “I’ll keep
that in mind.”

“
Ah, Harry!” A hand clapped
him on the back. He glanced over his shoulder to find Albie Potsdon
grinning ear to ear. “Up for a little Hazard tonight?”

Harry shook his head. “I’m fairly
certain I’ll be busy this evening.”

“
Still spying on Marston
House?” his friend asked, dramatically wiggling his
eyebrows.

“
Spying on Marston House?”
Berks echoed. “No wonder Pippa’s worried. What is going on with
you?”

Fortunately, Harry spotted Lord and
Lady Gifford at that moment. They entered the ballroom as the
footman called out, “The Earl and Countess of Gifford. The Marquess
of Woodsworth.” And then behind the couple, there stood the nearly
impossible to locate marquess.

Harry glanced toward Miranda on the
other side of the ballroom. He nodded in her direction, hoping to
assuage her worries. “Do excuse me,” he said, not waiting for his
brother or his friend to say anything further.

Miranda’s heart lodged in her throat
as Harry crossed the floor, making a direct line for Lord
Woodsworth and the Giffords. She was so very close to finding out
what had happened to Tessie, thanks to her own personal demigod.
Harry smiled amiably, offered his hand and then cocked his head
back toward the entrance.

Woodsworth smiled in response,
seemingly unaware that Harry meant to interrogate him. In fact, he
looked relieved, which Miranda found slightly odd. What had Harry
said to put the blackguard so at ease?

“
Why are you staring at
Hercules?” Penny whispered in Miranda’s ear.

She didn’t have time to deal with her
sister at the moment, not when Harry, Woodsworth, and Lord Gifford
all slipped back into the corridor. She needed to hear what the
marquess had to say, no matter what Devlin or Harry thought about
the situation. “I need to find the retiring room.”

“
Oh, me too,” Penny said.
“I’ll go with you.”

Was there a more infernal creature
than little sisters on the Earth? Miranda didn’t have time to
dissuade Penny. If she did, she’d never know which direction Harry
had gone with the fiend. So without another word, she quickly made
her way through the crush toward the entrance, hoping Penny would
lose her somewhere in the crowd or perhaps get snatched up by some
suitor.

Alas, that was not to be.

As soon as she reached the corridor,
Penny linked her arm with Miranda’s. “It’s this way.” Her sister
pointed to the left.

But Harry was just rounding a corner
to the right. “Penny,” Miranda said quietly, hating to confide
anything to her little sister but not really having a choice, “I’m
following Lord Harrison. So go on to the retiring room and I’ll
meet up with you later.”

Penny’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Following him? Why?”

“
Never mind why. He’s
getting away.” She retrieved her arm from Penny’s and started in
the direction Harry’d gone. “And don’t tell Devlin where I’m going
or I’ll never speak to you again.”

Penny shook her head. “I’m going with
you.”

Oh! Miranda didn’t have time to argue
with her sister. “Go on,” she urged, shooing Penny toward the left.
“You said you needed the retiring room.” Without a look back, she
rounded the corner Harry had turned down and scanned the corridor
for some evidence of the three men.

At the end of the corridor, a door
shut. Taking a deep breath, Miranda lifted up her skirts and
started for the door.

A patter of footsteps sounded behind
her, then Penny’s not terribly hushed whisper reached Miranda’s
ears. “What is he doing?”

Miranda stopped in her tracks, glanced
over her shoulder at her sister, and sent her a scathing glare. “If
you’re coming, you can’t say a word, Penny! They can’t find us. Do
you understand?”

“
Yes.” Penny
nodded.

“
Not a word!” Miranda
hissed, then she lifted her skirts again and hastened toward the
closed door.

“
Here it is,” Harry’s voice
boomed from inside.

Miranda took a deep breath, thankful
she’d found the right room. Then she pressed her ear against the
door to hear better. A half-second later, Penny did the
same.

Harry splashed some of his
brother-in-law’s favorite whisky into a trio of glasses. Then he
offered one to Woodsworth and one to Gifford before leaning his hip
against St. Austell’s desk. Harry quirked a smile at the other men.
“The only way to truly endure one of these events.” He lifted his
own glass into the air in a mock toast.

Woodsworth agreed with an incline of
his head. “Especially when you’d rather be anywhere else.” Then he
shot his brother-in-law an annoyed glare. “But I got dragged here
anyway.”

Gifford shrugged. “Attending Pippa’s
ball was important to Alice.”

“
Which shouldn’t affect my
plans one way or the other.” Woodsworth lifted the whisky to his
lips and took a deep swallow. “But I’m here now, whether I wanted
to be or not.”

“
The things we do for the
women in our lives, be they sisters or wives or ladies one cannot
stop thinking about.” Harry took a gulp of his own whisky, hoping
to put Woodsworth at ease before he launched into his
questions.

“
Ladies we can’t stop
thinking about?” The marquess snorted. “I’ll never be henpecked
like Giff.”

Harry was fairly certain Giff didn’t
feel henpecked. One only had to watch him with his wife to see how
devoted he was to her, how very much in love.

“
What about that girl from
the Season?” Giff asked. “What was her name? Miss Berry? No… Miss
Birkin, wasn’t it? You seemed enamored with her for a
while.”

Woodsworth sighed. “After she spread
her legs for me, I didn’t find her nearly as enchanting. I
certainly didn’t let her lead me around by my bollocks like Alice
does with you.”

Harry’s eyes widened with that bit of
information. Woodsworth had bedded Miss Birkin? Miranda had
insisted the girl was in love with the wastrel, but the idea that
any high born, unmarried lady would willingly bed Woodsworth was
hard to imagine. “No elopements?” Harry asked, since the girl’s
letters to Miranda had hinted at something of that
nature.

Woodsworth’s eyes narrowed on Harry as
though he’d hit a nerve. “Elopement? I can’t imagine why you would
say such a thing.”

So much for subtly. Harry heaved a
sigh. “Because she thought you meant to elope with her.”

Woodsworth took a step back, then his
eyes darted from Harry to Giff and back again. “I say, what is
this?”

“
What is what?” Giff asked
smoothly.

“
This.” Woodsworth motioned
his hand from one of them to the other. “I was promised St.
Austell’s best whisky, but instead I’m answering questions about
Miss Birkin and elopements. What’s going on here?”

Giff met Harry’s eyes nodded. “We
might as well tell him.”

“
Tell me what?” Woodsworth
demanded, his voice slightly higher than normal.

Harry pushed away from the desk and
walked closer to the marquess. “Miss Birkin seems to be missing,
Wood. And it’s been suggested that you might know where she
is.”

Woodsworth’s face went more than a
little white. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking
about.”

But that was a lie, as the man
suddenly seemed unable to meet Harry’s or Giff’s eyes.

“
I think you do,” Harry said
evenly. “And it’s time you told us. Where is Miss
Birkin?”

“
How should I know?”
Woodsworth downed the rest of his glass in one gulp.

“
I, for one, find it a bit
surprising you bedded the girl,” Giff said quietly. “You never told
me that.”

“
And you never told me you
had designs on one of my sisters,” Woodsworth returned.

Giff rubbed his brow in frustration.
Truly, how the men were friends, Harry had no idea.