“What a pity.” He sneered, ruining his good looks. “But handy for me. I’ll have another task for you to carry out at Lord Harwin’s. Until tomorrow. And remember, I’m very good at uncovering secrets. If you try to deceive me, everything will be revealed.”

Laughing softly, he walked out of my parlor and down the stairs. I heard the front door open and close.

I stood there rubbing my arm with a shaking hand. I wasn’t worried about Georgina’s secrets. I was worried about Georgia’s secrets and those of the Archivist Society. Sir Henry could be a dangerous man with all the digging he’d done into my background. But somehow I knew he hadn’t written my threatening letters. He received too much enjoyment from bullying me in person.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RETURNING to my room, I filled Emma in on Sir Henry while she helped me dress. Once Phyllida rose from her nap and joined us, we changed the topic.

I had no idea what Blackford had in mind when he called for me later. I wore a new Georgina Monthalf gown of turquoise satin with emerald earrings. He looked me over intently before he said, “Exquisite.”

“Am I really going to Blackford House after dinner?” I hoped he was teasing.

“Bring a dark cloak so it looks like you’re sneaking out for an assignation.”

“What am I really doing?”

“Visiting my house so that it looks like we’re having an assignation.”

“Should I take my maid?”

“Not unless you want everyone to think we engage in shocking, rather than scandalous, behavior.” He shook his head. “Besides, I’d like to keep Emma’s name out of this if you don’t mind.”

“Because she’s a young innocent?”

“And because Sumner might take offense. We need him on this investigation, Georgina.”

So he had seen the growing interest between Emma and Sumner. I thought he was completely oblivious to the concerns of others.

“Have you heard anything from Jacob?” I asked.

“Sumner arrived at my house earlier and said Jacob’s been rebuffed by the clerk he now thinks is the best candidate to be in the pay of the Germans.”

“How will we get any news while we’re out in the country?”

“I booked a room in the closest inn for Sumner to use while we’re at Lord Harwin’s. We’ll shuttle messages back to London through him. If worse comes to worst, I have a code set up with my man of affairs to use in a telegram.”

I was impressed. “You’ve thought of everything.”

“I’d better. Britain’s security rests on keeping those plans out of the hands of the Germans.”

I shook my head slightly so the dangling emerald earrings brushed my neck. “The life of Ken Gattenger rests on our finding the plans and the thief, who might not be in the employ of the Germans.” I thought of Sir Henry. “We have to consider that possibility.”

“What happened with Stanford this afternoon?” He studied my face as he reached out and took my hand.

“I told him Gattenger said it would float. Has he checked that out yet?”

“He ran through a set of blueprints at the prison this afternoon. All the calculations say it should be a success.”

“Good. I admitted I was broke, that Edgar died while under suspicion of financial chicanery, and I told him Phyllida doesn’t know. He thinks I’m at his service for any more errands he may have in exchange for his silence. He told me there would be one at Lord Harwin’s.”

Blackford smiled. “Involving the blueprints?”

“I don’t know.”

We rode to dinner in his unmarked carriage. I wondered how often he’d taken a woman to Blackford House in this manner. Dragging my mind away from our supposed purpose, I said, “We had some excitement earlier today. Phyllida’s new hat was stolen.”

The duke raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t say anything.

“Some young thief knocked Emma over and stole the hatbox. Nothing else. Emma and I chased after him and caught him in a dead-end alley. The bobby arrested him, Emma gave a statement, and Phyllida and I rode home in a carriage belonging to the German embassy.”

“Baron von Steubfeld?”

I nodded.

The duke leaned forward on the seat. “Why was he there? And what did he say about this strange crime?”

“He was having luncheon at the Grosvenor Club, and he didn’t say much about the crime. He seemed puzzled by it. So was the thief, who was paid by a man whose face he didn’t see to steal a lady’s hatbox from Gautier’s.”

“If we assume he stole the wrong hatbox, who had the one he should have grabbed, and what was in it?” Blackford looked out the side window of the carriage and murmured as if he were talking to himself.

“I think a hatbox could hold the plans to the warship.”

“Easily. Von Steubfeld wasn’t carrying any packages, was he?”

“None. And both Lady Bennett and Lady Peters had hatboxes identical to Phyllida’s. Could this be how they plan to get the ship designs to Germany? The dowager duchess and her daughter should be leaving for Germany soon. No one would be surprised if they carried a hatbox.”

“They’ve already left. All their luggage was searched by agents of our government disguised as baggage guards. Nothing was found, and the ladies haven’t yet realized we explored every inch of their trunks on the train to the coast.”

“What about at their seats in the rail carriage with their possessions?”

“Neither lady carried anything large enough to hold the blueprints. Their servants were searched, discreetly, out of sight of the ladies. I suspect there will be a complaint filed with Whitehall by the German embassy on behalf of the dowager as soon as she speaks to her servants.”

We pulled up in front of an elegant town house. “We’ll talk later. Leave your cloak in the carriage.” The duke climbed out first and then turned to me, his arms outstretched.

I’d planned to leave my evening cloak in the carriage. I certainly didn’t need extra clothes in this heat to stay warm. Blackford’s gruff tone clashed with the solicitousness he displayed for anyone watching as he lifted me down and ushered me into the house. At a distance, he appeared to be treating me like a lover.

Our hosts, Lord and Lady Fleetwhite, met us at the double doors as we were announced into the drawing room. The only thing I knew about him was he was important at Whitehall. I knew nothing about her. When I was almost immediately introduced to Mr. Goschen, the First Lord of the Admiralty, I felt like I had stepped into another world. Last night I had met the prime minister. Tonight it was a member of his cabinet.

There were two other, younger men in the room who were introduced as Sir William Darby and Mr. Frederick Nobles. I curtsied my way through the introductions, praying my shock and confusion didn’t show.

One of the things Phyllida had taught me was the importance of having an even number of men and women at dinner parties. She said she learned the necessity of balanced numbers at social events at about the time she learned to walk. Since Lady Fleetwhite was the only other lady present, I knew something was not right.

We went into the dining room, where instead of being seated by order of precedence, I had the duke on one side and Sir William on the other. Lady Fleetwhite sat across from me, with Mr. Nobles on one side and Mr. Goschen on the other. Lord Fleetwhite sat at our end of the table. The other half of the table sat empty of place settings or decoration, putting us close enough together so that no one needed to raise his voice to be heard.