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The title?”
    “My advice is to avoid my relatives.” He grinned. “Tell ‘em you
can’t do anything until my body is found. That will knock some wind
out of their sails.”
    After a long-suffering sigh, Petre shook his head and gave up.
“I can see you’ve made your decision, Lord Monnow.” A twisted smile
crooked his thin lips. “If Miss Peyton knew what you were about,
she would realize how foolish she was to spurn you.”
    “Ah, Miss Peyton. If she had not already run off with Greeley, I
would have suspected her. She might find murder almost as exciting
as love.”
    The lawyer smiled, although the expression did not lighten his
troubled eyes. “No one kills for excitement.”
    “Don’t they?” He rose, rubbing his hands on his stiff breeches
before changing the subject. “In any event, I regret imposing upon
you, but if you could manage a change of clothes and some funds,
I’d appreciate it. Nothing too fancy, mind you. Just a plain jacket
and trousers suitable for a servant.”
    “But Lord Monnow ….” Petre stared at him before gesturing up and
down Hugh’s tall form.
    He waited, a slow smile curving his lips. “Is there some
unforeseen difficulty? Perhaps my estate has descended into such
shambles over the last two days that it can’t bear the additional
expenditures?”
    “I’m sorry, my lord, it’s not the money, you know that. It’s
simply that you are, ah ….” Petre broke off, his sharp cheekbones
mottled red.
    Hugh struggled to keep his smile from broadening. “I’m …
what?”
    “You’re rather large . I doubt we have anything that could
come close to fitting you.”
    “Then you will have to further impoverish my accounts by
acquiring something that will.” He placed a hand on Petre’s
shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “You will not dissuade me
with these minor matters. You may as well admit defeat. It will
save you a great deal of aggravation.”
    Petre shook his head again, twisting his hands together. “Much
as I hate to disagree with a client, I cannot believe any of
this will avoid aggravation. Quite the contrary.”
    “Then I can only hope your fees will provide you with sufficient
solace to assist me,” Hugh drawled.
    With a slight bow, Petre hurried out to begin the tasks upon
which Hugh had so callously insisted.

Chapter Six
    “ She
ought also to have been accustomed to the care and management of
young children ….” — The Complete Servant
    Helen’s carriage stopped for the night at the Crown and Treaty
in Uxbridge. She had been unable to convince the coachman to return
her to Ormsby instead of her sister’s townhouse in London, perhaps
because she had refused to tell him her precise destination. The
thought of him relaying this information to her family made her
cautious about telling him anything.
    So tomorrow, they would arrive in London instead, and she would
immediately inform her sister that she had received an invitation
from their grandmother and had to leave for a visit. Oriana would
understand. Grandmother was the dowager Duchess of Peckham and she
was nothing if not dictatorial. One did not refuse an invitation
from her, even if one had just returned from a ball at Ormsby in
Gloucestershire.
    Nonetheless, doubts plagued her. Ormsby had been full of guests
for the ball. What if one of them had found the necklace? It would
be just too mortifying to question them – or worse, to ask the
earl. He would think she was a puddinghead, which she could not
precisely counter at the moment. She felt like a
puddinghead.
    “They’ve given us the use of a small room, Miss Archer,” Sally
said, interrupting Helen’s dire thoughts. The lady’s maid took
Helen’s cloak and gave a series of rapid orders to the innkeeper
regarding their supper and sleeping arrangements.
    Entering the tiny private room, Helen was about to take a seat
on one of the benches near the flickering fire when she noticed
another occupant poking the smoking logs with a