He had.
Giving herself a little shake, Mary tried to pull herself together. There would be time enough to dwell on what that meant later.
Assuming her usual demeanor, she quietly stepped out of the shadows, gliding back to the patio into the ballroom. No one gave her a second glance, and she had never felt more relieved to be invisible. She was still frazzled inside, though she was determined not to show it.
Skirting the edges of the ballroom, she headed to where she had last seen her friends, hoping Josie and Lily were still there. Relief suffused her when she recognized Josie’s laughter upon approach.
Unfortunately, the ring of gentlemen around Josie and Lily was quite closely packed. Pressing her lips together, Mary found the shortest of their suitors and went up on her tiptoes, waving her fan over his shoulder. It took two tries before Lily spotted her and turned to the Duchess of Richmond, who was at her shoulder, watching over the proceedings.
A moment later, the wall of shoulders parted.
“There you are,” Josie said, smiling widely. “We have been waiting all evening for you to catch up to us. Where have you been?”
Mary’s lips tingled again as if remembering Hartford’s kiss, and she blushed.
“Never mind that. I need to talk to you.” She kept her voice low and urgent.
Josie and Lily blinked in surprise, then nodded, Josie’s expression sobering, but Lily’s, who already had a serious mien, countenance didn’t change at all. Quickly, Josie made her excuses to the small court that had gathered about them, and the three young ladies hurried off.
Leading them up to the second floor—she wanted to see when Hartford returned—they took a position on one of the balconies across from the doors to the garden. Mary didn’t bother to hide behind a curtain. If Thomas or Aunt Elizabeth looked for her, she wanted them to be able to see her innocuously occupied with her friends. Likely, they would assume she had been in Josie and Lily’s company from the moment she had vanished from Thomas’ side, which was all to the good.
With one eye on the doors to the gardens, Mary quickly summarized the evening’s events, leaving Lily shocked and Josie delighted.
“Why, you minx!” Josie smacked Mary’s upper arm with her fan before leaning in, lowering her voice. “Was he very good?”
“How is that important?” Lily asked waspishly, relieving Mary of the burden of answering, which was just as well. Her lips still did not feel fully recovered, and she did not want to admit it to her friends. She was supposed to be investigating Hartford and his club, not… not kissing him.
Unless kissing would lead to him inviting her to his secret society.
No.
The man was on the hunt for a bride. He would hardly invite a debutante to join in whatever debauchery his club engaged in. Although perhaps after the wedding…
Mary gave herself a little shake. That line of thinking was absurd, and she was going to stop it immediately.
Light glinting off tawny gold hair caught her attention, and she waved her hand at Lily and Josie, who were still arguing the merits of kissing.
“Shh, he just walked back in,” Mary whispered, and both of them turned to look. “No! Do not look at him, not directly. Pretend as though we are talking.”
Sighing, Lily turned her back to the balcony.
“There, now you can watch him while you talk to me,” she said. It was a sensible suggestion, as most of Lily’s suggestions were. “Tell me what he is doing.”
“He is headed to the card room.” Josie cocked her head, watching him as intently as Mary. “Yes, he has gone inside. How anticlimactic. He is not looking for Mary at all.”
“Why should he?” A little ball of unhappiness formed in the pit of her stomach. She refused to acknowledge it. “Likely, he kisses a lady or two at every ball he attends.”
“Hmm.” Suddenly Josie scowled. “Who is that dancing with Joseph?”
Mary leaned forward, and Lily turned around to look as well. The blonde beauty simpering up at the middle Stuart brother was one she easily recognized.
“Miss Bliss,” Mary said with a sigh. Poor Miss Bliss. She really was quite nice, although a bit boring. Her dowry was modest, and she was very pretty, but somehow, she was well into her third season without having made a match of it so far. Thomas had rated her quite highly on his list last year before the scandal with Arabella had snatched him out of the running. Perhaps this would be Miss Bliss’ year for matrimony, although hopefully not to Joseph. It would break Josie’s heart.
Unfortunately for Josie, Mary rather thought Joseph would appreciate Miss Bliss’ mild temperament and ladylike demeanor. He had always been exasperated by how Evie and Josie ran amok.
Josie frowned down at the couple, her fan tapping ominously against the balustrade.
“It is just a dance,” Lily pointed out consolingly, putting her arm around Josie’s waist. Mary came around to her friend’s other side to offer her support as well.
“It is the first time he has danced all evening.” The hurt note in Josie’s voice made Mary want to march down and smack some perceptiveness into Joseph. For some reason, the man was completely blind to Josie’s adoration. Even if he had no tender feelings for her, it would be nice if he could at least be considerate of hers for him.
“Then it is unlikely to be the last.” Mary patted Josie’s arm. Joseph was not so foolish as to single out one lady so particularly with his attentions. It would give both her and her parents’ expectations, not to mention the rest of the ton. “Perhaps we should go down and stand in his way until he claims a dance with each of us.”
For a long moment, Josie didn’t reply, then she shook her head.
“No, watching Hartford is more important. Evie will be waiting for our report since she is not attending the events.” Amusement lilted Josie’s voice at their friend’s antics. Like the three of them, Evie had come to London for the Season, but unlike them, she was not there to immerse herself in Society. No, she was undercover somewhere, although she hadn’t told them where. They were to meet with her every Sunday after church in Hyde Park since they could not write to her directly.
“Forget Hartford, who knows how long he will be—”
“Look,” Josie hissed, interrupting her. “There he is!”
There he was indeed, practically dragging another man out of the card room—a very handsome man, only a bit shorter, with shoulders slightly less broad than himself. Clearly, a rake by his attire, with a handsome face and wavy brown hair cropped just above the points of his collar.
“Who is that?” Mary leaned forward. Whoever it was, he was clearly very close with Hartford. The two men stopped for a moment, their faces close together, so no one could hear their conversation, clearly arguing with the kind of familiarity that only came with a long-standing friendship.
“Lucas Beckett, Earl of Devon, unwed,” Lily replied as if reciting a school lesson. She frowned. “My godmother said he is not good ton and particularly pointed him out as a gentleman to avoid.”
“He looks like a rake.” Josie’s supposition aligned with Mary’s. “It also appears as though he and Hartford are close.” She raised an eyebrow, turning her head to look at Mary. “Do you think…” Her voice trailed off, but Mary knew what Josie meant.