Love and Larceny Read Free Page B

classmate’s betrothal troubling. Then he remembered Daphne
mentioning that Sir James had yet to declare himself.
    His carefully tied cravat suddenly felt
over-tight. One day soon he would declare his feelings to Daphne,
and he was none too sure of her answer.
    The best he could hope was that he could
commend himself to her on this trip, one way or another. And he
could start by determining where this mystery was leading them.

Chapter Three

    Daphne spotted Wynn in the doorway and
beckoned him closer. The other gentlemen might be clustered around
the wood-wrapped hearth, but they were already spoken for. After
her gaff earlier, she was determined that she and Wynn would look
like a courting couple, which meant he ought to be near at
hand.
    Besides, she wanted him to hear the answer to
the question Emily had just posed about why Hannah had asked them
all here. Daphne scooted Ariadne over on the sofa to make room for
Wynn.
    “You will, no doubt, think me overly
cautious,” Hannah said, artist’s fingers clasping together in the
lap of her lavender silk dinner gown. “But after the trouble we had
earlier this year, I do not like taking chances, and neither does
David.”
    They all nodded. Daphne had told Wynn as much
as she could about her and her friends’ first trip to Brentfield in
March, when it began to appear that someone was trying to kill Lord
Brentfield and make off with the art treasures the estate boasted.
Only Emily’s insights had pointed to the culprit.
    “And have there been accidents this time?”
Emily wanted to know now.
    “No,” Hannah admitted. “But things are
missing.”
    Daphne frowned, glancing around at the
opulence. “How can you tell?”
    Hannah blushed. “Well, you see, there is an
inventory. When David and I returned from our honeymoon, I wanted
to explore the collection. So we started at the top of the list and
soon realized we could not locate some of the pieces.”
    “And you checked the secret passages,” Emily
pressed.
    “First thing. They were clear of artwork, as
far as we could tell. David is still concerned about the safety of
the passages, so we couldn’t check them all. But the footmen tell
of knocking and hammering noises only to find nothing moved or
changed.”
    “Have you considered a haunting?” Ariadne
asked, finger tapping against her muslin gown as if she longed to
write the scene even now. “All the trappings are there: an isolated
house, a lonely couple, the dark of the moon.” She shivered in
obvious appreciation.
    Daphne refused to shiver. “I think your staff
is lily-livered. Why didn’t the footmen pursue the matter, track
the noise to its source?”
    “Likely because few are as brave as you,”
Wynn put in.
    Oh, but he was doing well. All her friends
were smiling at him. Daphne beamed as well. “Thank you.”
    “Mr. Fairfax is quite right,” Hannah said.
“You certainly would have chased after the noise. But I cannot
berate the footmen for lack of courage. They did their best. As
soon as they started after the noise, it would stop. Our new
butler, Mr. Harrop, even instituted nightly patrols for a short
time, but they saw nothing untoward. Besides, the house creaks and
moans at the best of times. And we have had workmen in to repair
things. That may have been what the footmen heard.”
    “But you don’t believe that,” Emily
challenged.
    Hannah shook her head. “I cannot. Not when
priceless art went missing sometime during my honeymoon.”
    “We’ll discover the truth,” Daphne promised,
rubbing her hands together. “I can hardly wait.”
    Unfortunately, she had to wait longer than
she liked. Lord Brentfield came in just then and had to be
introduced to the gentlemen and offer his greetings to Hannah’s
friends. A tall, slender fellow with soft brown hair and blue eyes
that sparkled with mischief, he made sure to compliment each lady,
setting more than one to blushing with pleasure.
    “And our valiant Amazon,” he said as he bowed
over