The Lady Travelers Guide To Scoundrels And Other Gentlemen. Victoria Alexander

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      “But I did not feel I could shirk the duties you have entrusted to me without telling you why I chose to do so.”

      “Prudent of you.” Uncle Edward tapped his pen thoughtfully on his desk. “And you feel the need to take this upon yourself?”

      “I’m afraid so. I don’t see any other option. I’m not sure I trust anyone else to do this with the expedience I think it warrants. And I do think time is of the essence.”

      “Nor will anyone put the effort into it that you will, am I correct?”

      “I believe so, sir.”

      “Then you have considered the possibility that something dire might have happened to Lady Heloise.”

      “Frankly, that is my greatest fear.” Derek shook his head. “The responsibility would then fall fully on Aunt Guinevere and her friends. It would devastate them, sir, and destroy their organization’s reputation as well as their good names.”

      “Without question.” Uncle Edward paused. “Do you think it’s wise to bring Lady Heloise’s niece along with you?”

      “I think it’s a disaster in the making.” Derek shuddered. “But I have no choice in the matter. She threatened to follow if I did not permit her to accompany me, and Aunt Guinevere pointed out the blame would then be laid at my feet if anything happened to her.”

      “She’s right there.”

      “Oh, and it’s not Lady Heloise’s niece but her cousin. Second cousin actually. She is Lady Heloise’s ward.” Derek had thought it wise to check into Miss Prendergast’s background and had called on the services of an old friend, Phineas Chapman, who had turned a brilliant mind to the art of investigation. It seemed there wasn’t much to uncover.

      India Prendergast had been orphaned as a young girl when her missionary parents had died of some unknown tropical illness in the South Seas. She’d then made her home with Lady Heloise, apparently her only relative. She had graduated with honors from the prestigious Miss Bicklesham’s Academy for Accomplished Young Ladies. Derek knew quite a few women whose formative years had been spent at Miss Bicklesham’s. Fortunately, the lessons of propriety and decorum taught at the academy did not impress themselves upon those ladies in the way they obviously did Miss Prendergast. She’d been briefly employed as a governess and had an even shorter tenure as a teacher at Miss Bicklesham’s before becoming the secretarial assistant to Sir Martin Luckthorne. Derek had never heard of the man, but apparently he was well regarded in assorted intellectual, scientific and antiquarian circles. While only in his early forties, he was considered somewhat reclusive and a bit eccentric. There was no Lady Luckthorne, which one might think would cast a pall of impropriety over Miss Prendergast’s employment if, of course, one had not made Miss Prendergast’s acquaintance.

      According to Chapman, Miss Prendergast had never been engaged, her name had never been linked to any man’s and, at the age of twenty-nine, she was considered a true spinster. Apparently there had been no effort to see her wed, either. Odd, as Chapman said—although Lady Heloise lived frugally—she did seem to have a surprisingly significant fortune. But Miss Prendergast had had no coming-out season, no introduction to society; indeed, society seemed to have no idea of her existence. Odder still, given Lady Heloise’s resources, that Miss Prendergast chose to be employed rather than work at charitable causes or those things with which most ladies occupied their time. Aside from her life with Lady Heloise and her work with Sir Martin, there was little to say about Miss India Prendergast.

      “So you intend to wander aimlessly around Paris looking for this woman?”

      “Not aimlessly,” Derek said. “I do have something of a plan. I intend to check with hotels and the embassy, make inquiries at the train station and wherever else she might have been and that sort of thing. If necessary, we will progress on to the next point in her itinerary.” It seemed quite clever when he’d first thought of it but, saying it aloud to his uncle, it did seem rather aimless at that.

      “I am inclined to offer you my assistance, Derek,” the earl said.

      “I didn’t ask—”

      His uncle held up a hand to stop him. “Precisely why I intend to give it.” He leaned forward over his desk and met Derek’s gaze firmly. “If something has happened to Lady Heloise, the situation will only be worse if Miss Prendergast is present when such information is discovered.”

      “I don’t even want to consider that possibility, sir.”

      “Nor do I, but it is a possibility. Admittedly a dismal one, but a possibility nonetheless. Here’s what I’m going to suggest.” He paused thoughtfully. “First, I am pleased that you have taken on the task of protecting your great-aunt and her cohorts. There is nothing in this world more important than family and a family’s good name.”

      Derek nodded.

      “Secondly, I have a fair number of influential connections as well as more money than even you can spend in a lifetime. I can afford to send out a small army of investigators to track down a missing traveler in a swift and efficient manner. Men who are well trained and know what they’re doing.”

      It was indeed a generous offer. “Still, sir, it is my problem.”

      “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your objective to find Lady Heloise as quickly as possible so as to appease Miss Prendergast, thereby avoiding destroying an old lady’s good name?”

      As well as keep her out of prison. “Yes, sir.”

      “And shouldn’t you employ every means at your disposal to do so?”

      “Yes, of course, but—”

      “And am I not offering assistance that might help you do just that?”

      “Nonetheless, sir, this is my responsibility.”

      “Good God, you’re stubborn.” Uncle Edward grinned. “But then, so am I. Here’s my proposal. Travel as planned with Miss Prendergast to Paris and keep her there. The longer she’s out of London, the less likely she is to cause problems for Lady Blodgett. You did say she had contacted the police?”

      Derek nodded.

      “You will restrict your search to the confines of Paris. I will hire trained investigators to proceed with the utmost haste in searching elsewhere.”

      Derek drew his brows together. “Regardless of my lack of training, you do realize there is every possibility that I will find Lady Heloise.”

      “If she is alive and well, there is indeed. And we will hope for that. Do not mistake my words, Derek. You are an intelligent man, and my offer is not due to any lack of confidence in you. Rather, I want to help. Besides, I have always been fond of a good mystery.” The older man’s eyes twinkled in a way Derek could not recall having seen in a long time. In recent years, whenever they talked, the look in his uncle’s eyes tended toward irritation. “I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but I am quite fond of detective novels and stories of mystery. And, as much as I hate to admit it, all these responsibilities I am currently training you for tend not to be terribly exciting. After a while, one does long for a taste of adventure.”

      “Determining the whereabouts of an elderly СКАЧАТЬ