Page 43 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
Edith looked over the clock, turning it in her hands before placing it back in the ebony box. She opened the hat box and pulled out a rather drab bonnet. “I need a plausible reason for visiting Louisa with a hat box. If anyone is curious, I will say that Louisa offered to embellish my old bonnet.”
“Very good.” Cecil placed the clock in the hat box, and Edith added the bonnet. He replaced the cover and asked, “Shall we go?”
Cecil carried the box into the entry hall and placed it on the large round table in the center of the room next to the bouquet Edith had carried from the parlor. Once they’d donned their outerwear, Edith insisted on his carrying the flowers while she carried the hat box.
Arm in arm, they marched down the steps of the house and out into the chilly day.
Chapter Fifteen
Louisa took a deep breath to calm her nerves and rose to her feet. “Edith! Lord Wycliffe! How lovely to see you both.”
Her friend replied, “Cecil stopped in to see Nathaniel, and when I mentioned I was bringing you this hatbox, he told me he was on his way here as well.”
Louisa’s mother approached the trio. “What a pleasure to see you both.”
Greetings were exchanged as Louisa struggled to regain her equilibrium; the viscount had never looked more charming.
“Let me see to these flowers,” her mother said as she took the bouquet from Lord Wycliffe’s hand. “I believe these are the prettiest ones you received today, Louisa. Pink roses symbolize grace, sophistication, and elegance.”
“Qualities your daughter has in abundance, Lady Chartham,” the viscount replied with one of his devastating smiles.
Her mother blushed becomingly before she gathered up her three sons and exited the room. To Louisa’s estimation, her mother's departure signified her belief that Lord Wycliffe was a worthy suitor.
When Edith was seated next to her on the settee and Cecil on a nearby chair, she said, “Please tell me you require no refreshment. I don’t wish to see tea or biscuits the rest of the day.”
Edith replied, “We sat in my drawing room drinking tea for over an hour waiting for the crowd to thin. I don’t care for anything. Cecil?”
Louisa glanced at the viscount, who shook his head. She looked at a spot over his shoulder, trying not to stare at him. The man ran a hand through his hair, smoothing the shiny locks. Her hands itched to help him.
“I should lock the door.” She rose to her feet, walked to the drawing room door, and locked it. They couldn’t have a curious servant or her mother peeking in.
Lord Wycliffe placed the hat box on the table where the tea tray had rested. Taking the lid off, he handed the bonnet to Edith.
“Our story is that I brought you the bonnet to decorate,” her friend explained.
“You know I’m not good at sewing,” she replied, looking askance at the dreadful headgear. “It looks beyond saving, but I shall enlist Lucy to help me if only to further the ruse.”
Lord Wycliffe next pulled out the ebony box, opened it, and handed the clock to Louisa.
“Oh my, it’s even lovelier than mine.” She examined it slowly, turning the clock over in her hands, finding no markings other than the maker’s mark and no hidden papers inside.
“After some discussion,” Edith said, "We’ve come to some conclusions about the third founder of the RA: he is male, alive, and around the age of the former owner of your clock- nearly fifty.”
She nodded. “And a member of the ton.”
“Both clocks deal with archery. We thought that might be significant,” Lord Wycliffe added.
“It might be.” She still didn’t meet his gaze.
“We also thought it would help to determine how Cecil’s clock is tied to Lord Daventry,” Edith replied.
She whistled. “That is an excellent idea, Edith! If we can figure out how Daventry is linked to the Diana clock, it should make it easier to unravel the clue of the other timepiece.”
“What do we know about Daventry?” Edith asked.
“I believe he died of arsenic poisoning,” the viscount responded.
The gravity of the viscount’s words gave her a start. “Edith told me about the man's letter but didn't mention he was poisoned.”
