Page 60 of Crash Landing
She cast him a questioning look. “What sort of decoy?”
“It ought to be simple enough for Timmons to make a show of piling our trunks onto my ducal carriage. Perhaps have Andrew andone of the maids with similar height and hair coloring to you climb into the carriage with him.”
“To what purpose?”
“Their destination will be Bath, where Lady Simmons is presently staying. She and her husband like to take the waters and mingle with others in the Upper Crust spending their summer there.”
“How do you know this?”
“I believe I told you she was after me for a while, so I learned a few details about her husband’s routine.”
She frowned. “You mean you learned his schedule so you would know when he was not present and could conduct your assignations.”
“She pursued me, not the other way around. But there were no assignations, I promise you. Besides, their current whereabouts were reported in one of the London rags.”
“So, your carriage heads to Bath while we ride for London?”
“That’s right. We’ll be on horseback,” he reminded her. “So we won’t be able to bring much, only what can fit in our travel pouches. And once we have those infernal letters, we had better plan to leave before first light on the chance Frampton decides to put his men to watching Gull Hall.”
“Sneaking out while it is still dark?”
He nodded.
“Frampton might not be on his guard if the fake letters switch works.”
“That man is always on his guard,” Trajan insisted. “But I don’t think he realizes it is the Princess of Wales who put you onto this task. He’ll think you are reporting to Lady Simmons, and this confusion will work to our advantage. If he sends men after us, hopefully they will ride for Bath and not realize we are making for London.”
“And what if he is not fooled?”
Trajan laughed. “Then we will be in a heap of trouble, won’t we?”
In truth, Frampton was not Trajan’s only concern. The Princess ofWales might also cause problems, for these royals could be fickle or forgetful whenever it suited their purpose. He was going to stand beside Florence and make certain the princess lived up to her agreement.
He would not let anyone cheat Florence. For this reason, he needed to be with her at all times. If she fell, he had to be there to catch her.
But she could be thickheaded at times.
“If questioned by Frampton,” she rattled on, “your cousins could—”
“Stop, Florence. I think you are giving me a blistering headache. Let me make this simple for you.” He pointed to her. “You.” And then pointed to himself. “Me.”
“Yes?”
“Together. Always.Itravel with you.Iprotect you. Whatever the ultimate plan, we stay together.”
“Gad, you are such an ape.” But she was smiling and casting him a moon-eyed look, so he took the remark as a compliment.
Another thought crossed Trajan’s mind, one he knew she would resist. “We have not given enough consideration to the fact you may be walking into a trap and that Lady Frampton has fooled you into believing she is innocent and harmless.”
Florence stared at him, miffed. “She is innocent. I saw it in her eyes.”
He leaned forward and caressed her cheek. “And if you are wrong?”
“Then there will be nothing but rose cuttings in what she gives me, and that will be that.”
“You had better be sure of this before you hand over the fake packet of letters.”
“I know. I will do my best to be sure before I give her anything or ever say anything to her.” She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes a moment.
