Page 42 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
“Let me.”
The street was still congested.
“So, we believe our third founder is male, alive, and over fifty years old,” Edith said after Cecil regained his seat.
“That narrows it down to a few thousand possibilities.”
Edith shook her head. “If the ton consists of only a few hundred families, we are now down to less than a thousand possibilities. Our third founder is male and over 50.”
“So almost half the House of Lords?” He threw up his hands.
His hostess smiled. “An excellent point.”
“My clock’s clue, the goddess Diana, refers to Lord Daventry. We have to discover how Diana is connected to Daventry. Once we see that link, it may help us work out how Cupid and Venus identify the third founder of the RA.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes until he asked, “Where is Miss Alicia?”
“At the modiste with Lady Kettering.”
“That lady has taken quite an interest in Nathaniel’s sister,” he replied idly.
“I don’t know how either one gets a word in edgewise.” Edith shook her head. “Both of them are chatterboxes.”
He knew only too well how much Alicia could talk, having been friends with her brother these many years. “I thought she and Charlotte’s brother Willaim might form a tendre.”
“As did I. Nathaniel was set against it, so I’m glad it didn’t occur. My husband believes they would not suit.”
“How is William?” he asked merely to fill the time.
“He has decided he enjoys running his father’s estates, much to Charlotte’s relief. She was worried he would never settle into his responsibilities.”
Responsibilities. They were always there whether you took care of them or not.
He shook himself. “Let me see if the mob has thinned somewhat.”
There was only one carriage visible on the opposite side of the square. Cecil saw no signs of Leopold across the way and sighed in relief.
“Shall we go?”
Edith looked at the box of books resting on the floor near his seat. “I nearly forgot about the hat box. Let me retrieve it from my bedchamber. I don’t want a maid to carry it and realize it is empty.”
He waited patiently while Lady Edith went upstairs to get the hat box. Perhaps a few more minutes might result in another caller or two departing Carstairs.
When she reentered the room, Edith walked to place the hat box on the floor next to his books and then closed and locked the door to the room.
Cecil pulled out the books from his box and lifted the red silk-lined ebony box from its place.
“May I see it?” Edith asked.
“Of course,” he replied, pulling the linen from the box.
Edith reached out to take the box and place it on the table before her. Opening the box, she lifted out the clock and said, “It is exquisite. Diana, goddess of the hunt.”
The goddess held a bow in her left hand and a dead bird in the other.
“Both clocks feature arrows,” he commented.
“Perhaps that is significant.”
