Harriet poured a cup of tea for her sister, before filling her own cup and taking a seat at the small table in her private sitting room. The knocker had been removed from the door earlier that morning – at approximately the same time that her brother had discovered her secret mission the day before. He thought he was punishing her, but truly, she was happy for it. This way, she did not have to pretend to be interested in any of the gentlemen who might come to call.
She smiled as she took a sip of her tea. “Edmund has agreed to allow the colonel to offer for me.”
“He has what?” Samantha’s features were the very personification of the word astonishment.
“He has finally seen reason.” That was how she chose to view the events of the past few days – they were merely a lesson in reasonableness for her dear brother. “And he has been restored to the position of my favourite brother.” She placed her teacup gently on its saucer. “Although, I do believe, you might be his favourite sister at present.” She chuckled softly. Edmund would eventually forgive her for her antagonism.
“Please, do tell, dear sister. In what adventures have you engaged since I last saw you?” Samantha asked eagerly. “I find that since I married, I must do all my adventuring from the safety of a sitting room through tales that the less restricted get to live.” She laughed right along with Harriet at such a melodramatic comment.
Samantha may be married, but she still found time to join Harriet in a few fun pursuits now and then. That would likely change once her child was born, but Harriet did not wish to think about that at the moment.
“Whatever you have done must be quite spectacular,” Samantha continued. “I did not expect Edmund to acquiesce so quickly. I knew it would happen, but I expected it to be closer to Christmas than Michaelmas.”
“I found Father’s watch, and I must thank you for the use of your hair comb for your ball. Please remind me to give it back to you before you leave.”
Her sister’s mouth popped open in surprise and then, closed as her brow furrowed. “Do those two things go together?”
Harriet nodded.
“And you found Father’s watch? The one that Andrew lost when he was killed?”
Again, Harriet nodded. “The design on your hair comb matches very closely the design on the watch case.” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall in a half shrug. “I used it to describe the sort of design I was looking for in a watch.”
One eyebrow arched over a pointed look. “I assume you were not shopping on Bond Street.”
Harriet shook her head. “Jimmy and I took a short tour of the area where Andrew was found. There is a small shop there that buys items from those in need and then resells them for a profit.”
“You visited a pawnbroker?”
“Shhhh. We do not need the whole house to know.”
“A pawnbroker? Harriet!” Samantha shook her head. “I am glad you at least had enough sense to take Jimmy with you.”
“It was not a pawnbroker as you might be imagining. The owner’s shop looks like any other, but I had heard whispers about special items being held in the back.”
“And so, you inquired if there was anything that matched your – my – hair comb that was not in one of the cases in the front of the store. Do I have the right of it?” Samantha asked.
“You are precisely correct. I simply could not believe my good fortune when the man presented his selection of goods and there was the very piece for which I was looking.”
“You did not look too eager to have it, did you?”
“Oh, no,” Harriet assured Samantha. “I did as mother used to do when she knew what she wanted but did not want us to know what it was that she wanted. I examined the ones I did not want before settling upon the one I truly sought.”
Samantha sighed. “She was such a good mother. Loving. Cunning. And not without a sense of fun and adventure. I do hope I can be as good a mother as she was.”
Harriet took her sister’s hand. “You will be. I absolutely know you will be, for you were the best older sister for which a girl, such as myself, could ever ask.”
“Thank you. I admit to being quite nervous about it. It is silly I suppose to be nervous so soon. You can barely tell I am increasing, and yet, I feel so strongly that I must protect this child and do right by him or her.” Samantha waved the thought away. “But do not let my nerves keep you from telling me how finding Father’s watch led to Edmund capitulating.”
“When I returned home, I saved it in my room until bedtime. Then, when I had heard Edmund close the door to his bedchamber, I quietly and carefully placed it on his desk for him to discover this morning, which is why the knocker was not on the door, why you had to use the servant’s entrance to see me, and why we are taking tea here and not in one of the family sitting rooms.”
“Oh, but the knocker was just being returned to the door when I arrived. It seems your punishment was not as long as supposed.” She smirked. “Or our brother has finally realized that allowing other gentlemen to call on you is greater punishment than keeping them away.”
Harriet chuckled. “Well, then, the joke is on him since no one has come to call, and things are just as they should be. But I tell you, he was as livid as I have ever seen him this morning. I actually feared he might expire from trying to rein in his temper for a few minutes when I refused to do exactly as he commanded.” She blew out a breath. “He even threatened punishment. That is why I supposed the knocker would remain off the door all day.”
Samantha’s eyes grew wide. “Edmund threatened to punish you?”
“Indeed, he did, but not without proper provocation. I questioned and pushed and refused to be moved. I had to, Sam. He simply had to know that I am not the sort of lady who would compromise his best man in any fashion. You know I would not do anything to harm either Edmund’s or Richard’s business – whatever it may be.” Here she gave her sister a pointed look.
“Whatever, indeed,” Samantha said with a laugh. “What have you discovered?”
Harriet moved her chair closer to her sister and lowered her voice. “Whatever he is doing is for the crown. It is coming from somewhere high enough that he cannot be badgered or completely tricked into saying. Therefore, while it seems that it has something to do with maids and prostitution –”
“Harriet!” her sister scolded. “Such language.”
“Why dress it up when it is just the two of us?” She shook her head. “As I was saying, while it appears to be about one thing, I believe it is something far more involved.” She drew a breath. “Spying perhaps? Secrets being sold? Smuggling? As I pondered it today, I grew more and more convinced that it must be something of that nature, for why else would some high ranking official be giving directions? For a lost maid? To stop a procuress from finding new, disease-free girls to fill her brothel?”
“Really, Harry,” Samantha muttered.
“But do you not agree?”
Samantha’s head bobbed gently from side to side as she thought before slowly starting to nod. “I cannot disagree. It seems plausible.”
Harriet blew out a breath. “It is quite an exciting thought. However, I must not do anything to confirm my suspicions. I promised Edmund that I would attempt to behave since he has promised to tell Richard that he can offer for me when next he sees him.”
“Ah, see, now there is the reason the knocker was not left off the door. Our brother knows just how hard that is going to be for you and has deemed it punishment enough.” She chuckled. “To think that giving you what you want would be a punishment. You, my dear sister, are a very strange young woman.”
“Strangely wonderful,” Harriet countered with a smile.
“Indeed, we would not have you any other way – Edmund excepted. He might currently wish to have you be more traditional, but I know your colonel loves you just as you are.”
“Miss,” Harriet’s maid poked her head into the room. “I apologize for interrupting, but I thought you should know that we have a caller – well, not we precisely, but your brother does.”
“And I need to know who this is, do I?”
Her maid nodded but did not say a word, only smiled broadly.
No, it couldn’t be. Could it?
“Colonel Fitzwilliam?” Harriet asked.
“You did not hear it from me,” she replied. “Jimmy saw him and said he looks right worn through and through.”
He was here. But why? That was a troubling thought that caused her to draw a deep breath as she thought it.
“He should be in Hertfordshire.” She looked at her sister. “Something must have gone wrong. I do hope another maid has not gone missing.” She rose. “Do you mind if I leave you?”
“No. Go to him. Discover what you can. I will finish my tea and see myself out the way I came in. But…” she said as Harriet turned to leave. “I want to know all tomorrow.”
“We shall have a nice discussion over tea,” Harriet assured her before slipping out of the room to go find her colonel.
