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calling on Mrs. Coates, but by luck the dame had not left home yet, so Lady Faith avoided the unpleasantness of having to enter the party unattended. It was bad enough without that. She was the object of much interest, a little ill-concealed pity, but no rush of attention from chivalrous gentlemen. It was mainly dowagers who quizzed her about Lord Thomas. Her rehearsed speech was repeated so often that she was tired of it. In the end, she took a glass of wine and slipped into the vacant library to await the time when she could reasonably ask Mrs. Coates to leave.
    She went to the farthest, darkest corner of the room and sat alone in the shadows, thinking. Mr. Elwood and Thomas had run off. It seemed she was the only woman in London who believed Thomas was innocent, but she still clung to the notion that Thomas had been tricked into behaving so foolishly. It was Elwood who was the creator of this wretched scheme. The whole idea was his; Thomas had said he had only been invited in to permit Mr. Elwood access to people who could afford to buy the shares—and possibly to be the scapegoat when Elwood fled? This new idea began to intrigue her. Of course, Thomas was a scapegoat! When he found out he’d been used, he’d come back and tell the whole story. Was it part of the plan for him never to come back, then? How could Mr. Elwood be sure of it?
    It came to her like a horrible bolt of lightning. The only way to be sure Thomas never told the truth was to do away with him! Elwood meant to kill Thomas! That was why he had sent him out of town with his trunk. He was going to lure him to some abandoned spot and murder him. And here she sat at a stupid rout party, wasting her time. She shot up from her seat and looked helplessly around the empty room. She must get home now, at once, and tell her aunt what she had figured out. She hurried toward the door and nearly capsized Mr. Delamar as he came in.
     

Chapter Three
     
    “So here you are!” Mr. Delamar exclaimed. “I had begun to worry you’d gone haring off on some new mad scheme.”
    Surprise lent a sharp edge to her voice. “What are you doing here?”
    “Looking for you. Your aunt told me where you’d gone.”
    “But how did you get in?”
    A satirical smile lifted his brows. “I was invited, ma’am. Some people, you see, mistake me for a gentleman. Not all the ladies have your discernment.”
    She realized she’d been rude, and even regretted it, but the more important matter prevented her from wasting time on social niceties. “I have to go home at once.”
    “Your aunt had a much better idea. She suggested I act as your partner, to inform the world you were considering jilting Thomas.”
    “I have no intention of jilting Thomas! I must go home at once.”
    “I see you have some monumental new notion you want to share with your aunt. I am completely in her confidence. Tell me instead—while we dance. Just one dance. I promised Lady Lynne.”
    The beginning strains of a waltz filtered along the corridor. She looked at Mr. Delamar and saw such determination that she decided to humor him. He was an immensely determined young man, and if she could convince him of Thomas’s innocence and of his danger, he would be a great help. Who better than a bloodhound to chase after that sly fox, Elwood, and bring him to justice? The Harbinger would later do an excellent job of explaining Thomas’s innocence.
    “Very well,” she said, and put her hand on his arm. When they entered the ballroom, the hostess darted toward them. It was not Lady Faith she was honoring, but Mr. Delamar. “Guy, I was wondering where you’d got to! I was afraid you’d only come to jot down a few notes for your paper and run off again without dancing. I have half a dozen young ladies eager to meet you.”
    “All in good time, Mrs. DeGrue. Lady Faith has promised me this waltz.”
    “Beware of him!” Mrs. DeGrue smiled spitefully at Faith. “He will pick all your secrets out of your brain and