Page 48 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
“You heard about the burglary?”
“Yes, my lord. While we were out, so was Lord Hastings with his groom and driver. There was nobody in the mews to see or hear anything.”
He’d been afraid of that. “Have you seen anything or anyone out of the ordinary in the stables?”
“No, my lord.”
Cecil replied, “I’m going out again, please bring my carriage around.”
A glance at his pocket watch showed the time to be just after three o’clock. Nathaniel would not be at Angelo’s as his subscription entitled him to only use the academy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from noon until three.
It was Wednesday, and there were no Parliamentary sessions. Cecil recalled that his friend often visited a coffee house near the academy after a fencing session.
Retracing his steps, Cecil donned his greatcoat in the entry hall and took up his cane. He exited the house, and his carriage arrived soon after. As he entered the coach, he told his driver, “Brown’s Coffee House, Old Bond Street.”
The distance was less than a mile, but the cloudy skies had darkened further, and he expected rain at any moment. Just as the coach deposited him in front of the coffee house, the skies opened, and rain pelted him as he entered the shop.
“Cecil!” Nathaniel raised a hand from where he sat at a small table in the corner of the shop. He was seated with Leopold of all people.
There was nothing for it. Cecil strode across the crowded room and took a seat next to his friend.
* * * * *
There was no time like the present, so upon returning home, Louisa, aided by information from a footman, found her mother in her bedchamber.
“Louisa!” Her mother sat up from where she reclined on a chaise longue. “Come here, my dear! You are so often with Lady Edith that I rarely find a chance to speak with you.”
“How is Father? A footman told me he is unwell and you will not have your special evening this week. Is he contagious, or might I look in on him?” She walked to stand beside her mother, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek.
“He insists he is merely tired and doesn’t want us to fuss over him.” She grasped Louisa’s hand and coaxed her daughter to sit beside her. “Although I’m sure he wouldn’t mind his favorite child looking in on him.”
“I’m not sure I’m his favorite child,” she replied slowly.
She chuckled. “I am. He loves the boys, but you are special to him.”
Louisa didn’t know how to answer. Her mother still held her hand.
“I know I’ve sometimes been hard on you, my dear. My mother was an overbearing woman, but that is no excuse for me to behave likewise. You may not know this, but I had two older sisters who died in infancy. Your grandmother had only one child to make a splash in society. A distant cousin would inherit the title and my father's estates, so it I needed to marry well to provide for her if my father died.”
Louisa wondered what had prompted her mother to speak about her childhood.
“I must remember that you are not in the same position. Although I should like you to make a grand match, your father secretly hopes you will never wed and stay with us forever.”
“Mother, I want a family and home of my own someday. I’ve seen how happy Charlotte and Edith are, and I must marry for love.”
“And I hope you will.” Her mother squeezed her hand and then released it. “That Lord Wycliffe is an attractive gentleman. And as stylish as you are, my dear. You would make a handsome pair.”
She felt warmth on her cheeks. “I do like the viscount, Mother.”
“I thought so. You looked quite happy to see Lord Wycliffe when he called.”
She didn’t know what to say. It was unnerving to speak to her mother about such personal matters.
Louisa searched for a subject to turn the conversation and remembered the riddle. “Mother, were you familiar with the late Lord Daventry?”
“Why do you ask, my dear?”
“He supposedly owned the clock that is the twin of my own.” She paused. “He passed last year, and the clock is missing. I wondered if you knew his family.”
