Page 77 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
“Even Bones?” he asked, raising a brow.
Leopold nodded. “You can trust him.”
He waved the hovering waiter away again. “What are we going to do about this ledger? We can’t sit here all night.”
“I suppose you won’t let me leave here with it.”
Cecil shook his head. “No.”
Leopold closed the ledger and pushed it back across the table. “Well then. We can repair to the Home Office in my carriage, and I will spend all night deciphering every entry.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea.” He added, with a frown, “I’m sorry your sister was involved in this.”
“I’m sorry too. I didn’t know the history of the clock, or I would have let you win it.”
“I didn’t destroy it,” he replied.
“No?”
“Both clocks are in the Chinese puzzle cabinet in the drawing room at Carstairs.”
Leopold whistled. “Like most of London, I believed you’d burned the clocks.”
“I pretended to destroy them to protect Louisa,” he replied carefully.
“I want to blame you for her involvement in all of this, but I know how stubborn and headstrong my sister can be.”
Cecil chuckled, and it felt good. He needed a release from the fear he’d felt when he realized the RA had taken Louisa. “She is the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
There was a lot of work to do before he could think about how he felt about Lady Louisa and come to terms with the fact that his brother had been just one of many people murdered by faceless, nameless RA thugs.
He rose to his feet. “Shall we go?”
* * * * *
Louisa woke to a room full of daylight and a sleeping maid in the chair beside her bed.
“Lucy.”
“My lady! I’m so sorry that I fell asleep.” The young woman jumped to her feet.
She smiled softly. “Thank you for watching over me. Please have a tray sent upstairs and then get yourself to bed. One of the maids can assist me today.”
After Lucy departed, Louisa stretched and rose from the bed to look out of one of the windows. The sun was well and truly up. A glance at the clock on the fireplace mantel showed the time to be nine o'clock.
Her tray arrived, and she directed the maid to place it on the night table. She’d consumed most of the toast and chocolate when there was a knock at her bedchamber door, and Leopold looked in.
“Good morning.”
“You look awful,” she replied.
“I haven’t been to bed yet.” He yawned. “I wanted to check on you.”
“How is Lord Wycliffe?” she asked. She’d been worried about him and didn’t care to hide it from anyone.
“As tired as I am. We’ve briefed the Home Secretary and thanks to a ledger Lord Wycliffe and Lord Harbury recovered last night, today we start dismantling the RA member by member.”
It was over. At least her part in all of it was. She wanted to see Edith. And Charlotte. She knew she might not see Lord Wycliffe for a time. He’d be busy tracking down RA members with the help of the ledger.
