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Penelope’s friend scrunched up her nose, forming an expression of pained regret. She seemed to be a sweet young woman. Refined and uncomplicated.

“Penelope and I were caught out a little over a month ago. We’d attended a soiree. One that was wholly disreputable. Mother would have never known if I hadn’t been so stupid as to leave my cape where she would find it. She said she could smell the cigar and pipe smoke clinging to it from several feet away.”

“I see,” Audrey said. “How was the soiree disreputable?”

“It was at a young lord’s home. He’s rather popular with the demimonde.”

Grant had mentioned that he’d seen Miss Harwood at a party like this.

“And your mother wouldn’t want you to admit that you and Miss Harwood were there,” Audrey surmised. “Did something happen at this soiree?”

Lady Susan nibbled her bottom lip, looking nervous again. “Not at the party, but before that, when we were in St. James’s Park.”

“What were you doing in the park?” It would have been past dark, and the light from the gas lampposts would be too intermittent to provide much safety.

“The carriage races are sometimes held there,” Lady Susan replied.

Though Audrey had never attended the races, she had heard others tell of them. Dangerous and illegal were the first two words that came to mind. Unchaperoned was a third. Should anyone of good society learn that Lady Susan was in attendance, her reputation would suffer a severe blow. She was a debutante in her second season, Audrey guessed. Not so rich or beautiful to have been snapped up during her first season. Lady Tenney would be even more determined now to protect her daughter’s character.

“What happened during the races?”

Lady Susan’s eyes settled on a spot behind Audrey. Following her attention, she saw Greer had come to stand next to the wide trunk of a walnut tree.

“You can trust my servants, just as you trust yours,” Audrey assured her.

The young woman pursed her lips, then answered, “A man pulled Penelope aside. He found us among the observers. He seemed to want to speak to her.”

Seemed? Audrey wondered at the choice of wording. “Did you hear him speak? Or see his face?”

She shook her head. “No. It was dark, with only the moonlight and a few lanterns to light the racecourse through the park. The man kept his hat low and his collar high. It was quite noisy among the observers. I just remember that Penelope broke away from the man long enough to tell me she’d be right back.”

“How long was she gone?”

Lady Susan tucked her chin, then replied, “Ten minutes or so. When she finally came back, she was…I don’t quite know. She wasn’t upset, but she wasn’t happy, either. She seemed confused. And when I asked her who the man was, she refused to say.”

“Did she give a reason for her secrecy?”

“She said I’d tell my mother, and then my mother would tell her brother, and it would all be ruined.”

“What would be ruined?” Audrey asked. But unsurprisingly, Lady Susan shook her head.

“I don’t know. She insisted I stop speaking of the matter, so I did.”

Audrey had to ask the question that had barreled forward in her mind: “Could it have been Tobias Sinclair?”

To her great relief, Lady Susan instantly rejected the suggestion. “No, it definitely wasn’t him.”

“You are certain?”

“Absolutely. This man was taller than Lord Sinclair, but not as broad-shouldered.”

Color stained her cheeks, and Audrey recalled what Tobias had said earlier about Susan Ritchson. “Are you sweet on Lord Sinclair?” she asked pointedly.

The blush spread. “That is quite personal, my lady. Why do you ask?”

Audrey stayed silent and waited for an answer. It was a questioning tactic she’d learned from Hugh. And as it usually did for him, it worked.

“I was sweet on Lord Sinclair,” the young woman said after a few moments. “I thought Penelope was wrong to string him along the way she was while Mr. Messinger was away on the Continent. But I am not blind. I knew he did not return my feelings.”