Page 53 of Crash Landing
“Us? Together?” She nodded enthusiastically. “Truly, you are thesmartest man I have ever met. It is such a delight talking things over with you.”
He groaned. “We haven’t worked out any details yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m sure we will, and it will be perfect and excellent because you are perfect and excellent. I think you are not only the smartest man in all of England but the handsomest, too.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Save your flattery for after we pull off this idiotic scheme. Gad, I cannot believe you are sucking me into this.”
She cast him a doe-eyed look of innocence. “I want you to know right now how grateful I am to you. And it is not an idiotic scheme. It isbrilliant. I happened to read a book like that once. The perfect murder. Everyone believed the victim had died of natural causes and the villain got away with the crime. He wound up with the money and the love interest, and they lived happily ever after. Utterly immoral, but fascinating reading. So, how do we get away with the theft?”
“Our first step is to duplicate that packet of letters.”
“Duplicate them?” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, you are so very clever! I should have thought of this. What an idiot I am! But you are so logical and sensible.”
“Stop with the flattery, Florence. I’m helping you, aren’t I? I do not need more coaxing.”
“It isn’t coaxing. May I not be honest with you and express my complete and utter admiration of your abilities?”
Were the choice left to him, he would appreciate her enthusiasm more in the bedchamber. Remarks in awe of his powers of seduction would be welcomed.
Ooh, Trajan. My big, strong stallion.
He cleared his throat, for this was neither the time nor place for those wayward thoughts. “Lady Simmons gave you a good description of those letters, did she not? I don’t mean what was in them, but what the packet looked like. Size, color of parchment, how they were bound.”
“Yes!” she said with obvious pride. “I insisted she provide me detailed specifications. After all, it would be disastrous if I retrieved the wrong packet. For this reason, I insisted on actual samples of the parchment used and the silk ribbon with which she tied the letters.”
“You have those?”
She nodded.
Gad, she was an efficient little thing. Quite organized and resourceful.
“Well done. Now we’ll know exactly what we must look for. It was clever of you to demand those samples.”
“Thank you.” Her smile was beaming. “Despite what you think, I am good at what I do. But you have taken this a brilliant step further.”
He gave her pert nose a light tweak. “Do not get too excited about this plan. It won’t be easy to pull it off. However, first thing tomorrow, we are going to take a trip into Weymouth.”
“To find a match for the parchment and ribbon?”
He nodded. “As the new duke, it is expected that I should have my own stationery made up. Calling cards, too.”
She smiled at him. “Absolutely.”
He leaned forward and took her hand. “Since you are to be my wife, we’ll need to order some for you, as well. And perhaps acquire some for Hermia. Then this besotted duke is going to purchase some pretty ribbons for his soon-to-be wife and her aunt.”
“And no suspicions raised because every new duke requires his own letter paper.” Florence cast him another smile that was bright as a beacon. “Trajan, I shall say it again—you are the cleverest man I have ever met. Oh, I wish I had thought of this first. But no matter, it is a most promising plan, and you deserve all the credit for it.”
“These are just the first small steps,” he cautioned her.
“We should be able to find the exact parchment and ribbon we need. I think this will be the easiest part of the plan.”
“I hope we can, or we are finished before ever having started.”
“We will find the perfect match. I’ll bring along my samples,” she said with confidence. “In truth, we only need to find close enough matches to fool Lord Frampton’s eye. But finding the exact match is best.”
“Assuming we do find what we need, the next step is to duplicate the look of those purloined letters. Do you have any idea how many letters that lovelorn idiot sent?”
“Eight letters in all. I questioned Lady Simmons on this because even one letter left behind would be damaging and entirely defeat the purpose of my work.”
