We watched the first two dances and then, when Mr Watson called a halt and gathered some of the young men around him to demonstrate a tricky turn, I strolled over to Miss Reece, James at my side.
‘Miss Reece? Cassandra Lawrence. We met the other evening at a reception. May I introduce Mr Franklin? Mr Franklin, Miss Reece.’
She didn’t look exactly overjoyed to see us, but her manners were good and she produced a smile for James and commented that she hadn’t seen us at the classes before.
‘I am completely adrift and fear that nothing I know will be any us
e in London,’ I explained. ‘I’m from America, you see. Mr Franklin and his brother the Earl of Radcliffe are distant cousins and have been so kind, introducing me to Society. But I am sure you dance beautifully, Miss Reece. I find it hard to believe that you need tuition.’
‘Oh, I missed the early part of the Season,’ she said with a ladylike wrinkle of the nose. ‘I am as adrift as you with the latest dances, Miss Lawrence.’
I did my best to look interested but not nosy. ‘You have not been unwell, I hope?’
‘In disgrace and exile,’ she said with a laugh that did not ring quite true. The more I looked at her, the more I was convinced that the smiles were a strain for her. ‘I make no secret of it. Mama and I had a falling-out over a suitor and I was sent off to my great aunt in Harrogate to think over the advantages of marrying a distant cousin with ten thousand a year, no chin and bad breath.’
‘Ghastly! You held out, clearly.’
‘Harrogate was almost enough to undermine my resistance,’ she said. ‘The dreariest place.’
‘Did you find it so?’ James said. ‘I was stranded there the year before last when I went to stay at a friend’s hunting lodge and broke an ankle. Once I was hobbling about on crutches I found it surprisingly entertaining.’
‘For gentlemen, perhaps,’ Miss Reece said, dismissively. ‘And the dreadful Yorkshire weather – why, I hardly went out of the house, it seemed. Excuse me, Mr Watson is organising the next set.’
‘Strange,’ James said as she walked off to the other end of the room.
‘What?’
‘I’ll tell you later. Let’s try this one.’
‘What was it?’ I asked as I stood beside James on the pavement waiting to cross Pall Mall. ‘Oh look – is that Carlton House with the crowd outside?’
‘Do you want to have a look? I expect Luc can get you inside to one of Prinny’s little entertainments if you want.’
‘Only with an armed escort and wearing chain mail,’ I said with a shudder. ‘I was groped by dear Prince George last time and I have no desire to meet him again in some shady conservatory.’
We did some rubber-necking, then strolled up Haymarket. ‘Tell me what was strange about Miss Reece.’
‘What she said about Harrogate. There are some excellent shops, a theatre, concert hall, assemblies, tea shops, interesting walks and drives. It is a resort town, even if it is no longer the height of fashion. It is designed for entertainment.’
‘Perhaps her elderly relative is infirm and didn’t go out much, or not going to entertainments was part of her punishment for refusing that suitor,’ I suggested.
‘Yes, that could be it. But her comments about the weather – it has been unseasonably dry in the North, just as it has down here. My friend with the hunting lodge has mentioned it several times in letters.’
‘Certainly strange, although it could simply be a reflection of her mood or she’s fishing for sympathy.’ I shrugged. ‘I can’t see how it could have any bearing on the case unless Talbot or Coates had some connection with the town.’
‘Not that I know of,’ James said, as we walked slowly uphill and turned into Piccadilly. ‘We are seeing a mystery in every little discrepancy, I suspect.’
‘We need luncheon and a conference,’ I said, stopping outside a pastry shop. ‘And cake for this afternoon.’ No wonder corsets were worn by everyone. With solid Georgian cooking, no sessions down at the dojo and walking everywhere at a ladylike dawdle I was going to need tight lacing myself before much longer.
We strolled into the Albany with cake boxes dangling by their ribbon bows from our fingers.
As usual the porters pretended not to see me, but the one at the desk jumped up. ‘Mr Franklin, sir, the second post has just arrived.’
‘Thanks Fred, I’ll take it,’ James stopped at the desk while I continued up the path under the pleached limes.
The front door was wide open. I glanced down to make sure my skirt was clear of the steps and froze. ‘James!’
He broke into a run. ‘What is it?’