He blinked. And something more humane appeared in his dark blue gaze. ‘I apologise. I was thinking about something someone said.’
A flash of light went off in her brain. ‘Your cousin. He said something that upset you, didn’t he?’ She pressed a hand to her stomach to still the sense of unease she felt.
His expression shuttered.
‘I see.’ She folded her hands in her lap. ‘You do not trust me.’
‘It isn’t that.’
‘Then what?’
‘It is old family business. I’m sorry, I should not have let it affect me that way. But there is something else I need to tell you. We have the name of Madame Vitesse’s brother. He is Henri Latour and he has black hair and brown eyes and a scar at the base of his right thumb.’
She gasped at the detail. ‘How do you know this?’
‘If I know it, the Home Office knows it, too. You need to trust me in this, Minette. Convince Madame Vitesse to put us in touch with the man right away and give me the information, or they will make a mess of the whole business.’
He had not answered her question, but it was no longer of importance.
‘I apologise for not trusting you, Freddy. And I will persuade her to tell us everything. If you will promise to trust me.’
If he didn’t Nicky’s life would be ruined.
He regarded her for a long moment. ‘I trust you.’
Her foolish heart gave a little skip. But her foolish heart did not always listen to reason. She only dared trust Freddy in this. After that she was on her own, as she had always been.
* * *
Minette called on Madame Vitesse the next morning. The interview proved uncomfortable, to say the least, once the woman realised what she was asking.
The woman folded her arms across her chest. ‘You have not yet kept your side of our bargain.’
Minette lifted her chin. ‘Why should I, if someone else obtains the information before I do?’
Madame Vitesse blinked. ‘No one but me knows where my brother is.’
‘You know that is not true. Someone knows. A street sweeper. An innkeeper. A landlady. There is always someone. And those seeking him are not all as honourable as Falconwood. He will keep his word to you. I will wear your gowns.’ She reached out and grasped the other woman’s hand in her own. ‘Why would I not? They are beautiful. Unique. I have had more compliments this past week than ever before.’ She gestured around the upstairs workshop at the women plying their needles. ‘You already have more work than you can handle alone.’
Madame Vitesse swallowed. ‘He is the only family I have left, apart from the children.’
‘We both know what it is to try to protect our families,’ she said softly. ‘If I don’t find this man we seek, if others reach him before me, those I care about will be in danger.’
The woman took a deep breath and leaned close. ‘You will find Henri in the evenings at the The Town of Ramsgate in Wapping. He has work at the docks. There he goes by the name Henry Tower. It is what the English call him.’
Minette squeezed her hand. ‘Thank you. I promise you will not regret it. Now, let me try on the ballgown.’ She had to hurry. Freddy would want to hear this news.
‘Merci, Mademoiselle. You are very kind.’
‘Not at all. We Frenchwomen must stick together.’
* * *
Freddy left his phaeton with his tiger. She had apologised for not trusting him. Twice. Freddy didn’t believe it. The lady doth protest too much. Shakespeare might be every schoolboy’s worst nightmare, but he was also an insightful man. If Freddy had to make a wager on it, he’d bet his estate that Minette didn’t trust him one little bit. And he couldn’t help but wonder who had abused the trust of such a very young woman.
He glanced down at the note he had received at his lodgings.
I have what we need. Call for me in your phaeton. I will tell Nicky we have arranged to go for a drive, but come late, after six.
Given his visceral understanding, how was he to convince her to trust him to visit the seamstress’s brother without her? Appeal to her sense? The risk? Danger came in a variety of guises. If the Home Office boys followed them, who the hell knew what they would do with the information that his French fiancée was involved in Sceptre business?
The butler bowed him into the Mooreshead town house. ‘The ladies are in the drawing room, Your Grace.’
‘Thank you. No need to show me up, I am expected.’ He climbed the stairs to the first floor and found Nicky working on some embroidery while Minette read aloud. A picture of domesticity that tugged at a chord in his chest. Longing. Good God, since when had he found such dullness appealing? He didn’t.
Minette put the book down the moment he entered. ‘Freddy, what took you so long? I thought you were to come earlier.’
‘One of my horses threw a shoe.’ He bowed to Nicky. ‘Good day, Lady Mooreshead. I hope I find you well?’
‘Very well indeed,’ Nicky said with a warm smile. She looked radiant. ‘I am glad you are finally here to take this fidget out for a drive.’
Minette laughed. ‘She made me read to stop me from pacing. It won’t take me a minute or two to get my hat.’
She dashed from the room.
Nicky shook her head. ‘So much vivacity. I am glad you are able to take her out. Gabe is so busy with the estate and Parliament he scarcely has a moment to spare.’ She touched a hand to her stomach then blushed. ‘The very thought of getting into a carriage makes me feel unwell at the moment.’
A child. What would it be like to bring another being into the world? One to care for and who would follow in your footsteps? Bile rose in his throat. Not his footsteps. He forced a smile. ‘Then I am glad to relieve you of the duty and make it my pleasure. It is the only chance we have to converse alone.’
Nicky’s eyes shadowed. ‘You are sure about this, Freddy? I would hate her to marry for such a reason and be made unhappy.’
Frank words indeed. His shoulders tensed. The ice inside him spread outwards. ‘I will do nothing to make her regret our union.’ She would be a duchess, and have everything any woman could ever want. As long as she didn’t want children. Thankfully she need never know it was by design rather than accident.
Minette appeared in the doorway, bonnet on her head and sunshade in hand.
‘We are lucky it is not raining,’ she said, once they were settled in his phaeton.
‘Don’t count your chickens,’ he said, looking up at the fluffy clouds floating above their heads. Some of them had the darkness of rain in their hearts.
‘Your tiger doesn’t come with us?’
‘He will wait for our return. I assumed we needed a bit of privacy. What did Madame Vitesse have to say?’
‘I know where to find her brother. He is using the name Henry Tower and working at the docks. We can find him at an inn, The Town of Ramsgate, in Wapping, at the end of the workday.’
‘The reason you asked me to delay our drive until later.’
She nodded. ‘I am hoping we will find him there this evening.’
‘Devil take it, Minette, gently bred girls do not visit dockyard taverns. I will tell you everything when I return.’
She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. ‘Nonsense. It’s an inn. A public place.’ She