Page 44 of The Heiress in Disguise
She set the sweetmeats aside and buried her face in the pillow, finally permitting herself to cry. She found herself longing for the mysterious stranger, much to her own surprise. She had believed she was ready to be finished with him.
But now she had to admit that she would find him comforting if he was there; if he could speak her name aloud again and remind her that in spite of everything she had suffered, she was still her parents’ daughter. She was still Lady Angelique. No one could take that away.
Chapter 19
Antoine couldn’t get his mind off of everything that had happened the previous night.
He didn’t regret stopping to sit with Angelique. He’d been a little shocked when he had found her sleeping in the garden, and he had felt deeply guilty as well, for it hadn’t occurred to him until that moment that the late hour must mean that none of the servants had managed to get any sleep yet.
He had longed to run back inside and break up the party, send everyone home, so that Angelique could go to bed properly. But, of course, he couldn’t possibly have called that much attention to himself, without sabotaging any chance he might have had at helping her in the future.
He sat at his desk, sipping his morning coffee, and pondering what today might look like for her. He hoped she had been able to get at least a bit of sleep before she’d been required to get up and start working again. She had seemed so exhausted last night, and it made him worry to see her like that.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Come in,” he said.
The door opened and George came in with a cup. “I thought it might be time for you to have more coffee,” he said, holding the cup out.
Antoine nodded—his cup was nearly empty. He exchanged it for the fresh one George held. “Thank you,” he said. “I did need more.”
“How are you this morning?” George asked. “If you’ll forgive me, Lord Exeter, you seem very far away today. Very distracted. I’m sure it must be the party last night that has you feeling that way.”
“Indeed,” Antoine said. “I had the chance to get close to many members of the family—all of them, at one point or another. They’ve given me a great deal to think about.”
“What have you discovered?”
“The family keeps their secrets close,” Antoine said. “But there are cracks. The countess is the truly dangerous one. It’s clear that she’s the cleverest of the bunch. The earl is nothing more than a pompous peacock, flaunting what he has, and his arrogance makes it easy to get him to say more than he should. The younger daughter is a good source of information for the opposite reason.
She has no confidence in herself at all and is eager to please. Although I must say, I feel guilty using her that way, because she’s not like the rest of them. There’s a gentleness to her that the others don’t have. The son—I didn’t get to know him well, but he may be of use. He seems the sort to have shadows and vices that can be used against him.”
“So the party was a success?”
“Yes and no. I don’t think I have enough to restore Angelique to the position in society that should be hers—and I can’t get more from them, for I’m nothing but a servant in their eyes. I’ll need you, George.”
“Me?”
“I’ll need you to play the role of Lord Cambridge again.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” George murmured.
“I’ll need you to meet with the family and see what you can learn from them. Even posing as an unknown lord last night, I was a stranger to them, and it made them cautious. But if they see Lord Cambridge, their guard will come down. They think they know who you are.
They aren’t going to be so hesitant with you. You’ll be able to learn more than I could. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, George, but we have to get Angelique out of that situation. This is the only way I can think of to help her.
“Of course, I’ll do whatever you ask,” George said. “You know that you can count on me for anything, Lord Exeter—even if it is difficult and dangerous.”
“I know I can,” Antoine said. “And please, have no fear of danger. I’ll make sure that nothing happens to you if we’re caught. Will you send Mrs. Godfrey in, please?”
George nodded and went out of the study. Antoine sat back in his chair, pondering his next move. He needed to make sure that George would be effective at discovering information they had to learn. They would have to make a plan if they were to be sure it would work out the way he wanted it to.
They couldn’t afford to waste even one opportunity. If only he could learn something about the family next door that he could use against them, perhaps he could compel them to give Angelique back what ought to be hers.
A moment later, Mrs. Godfrey entered. “Good morning, Lord Exeter.”
“Good morning,” Antoine said. “Have our gifts been finding their way to Angelique?”
“Yes indeed,” Mrs. Godfrey said. “In fact, I’ve had even more success than I would have expected. I’ve enlisted the help of the gardener’s son. He’s been able to take the gifts into the house and leave them right on her bed for her, so we can be certain that she’s finding them.”
“The gardener’s son—are we sure he won’t reveal anything?”
