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Baines took a deliberate sip of wine.

Manners’ smile widened. “I see that you have not.”

“There is nothing to tell.”

“An interesting assertion, indeed, from a man who has spent the last ten minutes looking as though he intends to challenge every gentleman in the room.”

Baines glanced across the gathering. Judith was speaking with Lady Beckenham near the windows. Her expression was animated, her posture relaxed, and she appeared entirely unaware that the man who had kissed her beside a stream and nearly repeated the experience inside a linen cupboard was suffering an increasingly unreasonable desire to carry her away from her own dinner party.

He returned his attention to Manners. “Do you suppose Renforth intends to arrest someone before the pudding?”

“I sincerely hope not. Harcourt’s chef is on holiday, and I am looking forward to a decent meal.”

“Your concern for the nation is touching.”

“My concern for the nation has survived several campaigns. My concern for dinner is more immediate.”

The troop had gathered earlier in the day to forge a plan of entrapment that evening. Their first object was to catch someone in the act instead of waiting for another disclosure to appear in print. As a precaution, Renforth would plant three different fictitious confidences, each calculated to provoke a response in a guilty party. The details were harmless, in that if repeated they would not provoke further fighting.

Renforth wore formal evening dress, his dark coat impeccably cut, his expression grave without being forbidding, and his manner with Lady Beckenham sufficiently unhurried to suggest that nothing more troublesome than an ordinary social engagement occupied his thoughts.

Lord Harcourt, a tall, silver-haired gentleman in his early sixties, joined them, whilst Sir Lionel advanced upon them with enthusiasm. “Renforth! Harcourt! Delighted you could come. You are acquainted with my niece, Judith, are you not?” he asked as she came forward to greet them.

Harcourt bowed over her hand. “My dear Miss Finch, I see Blackthorn remains under capable command.”

“I will not contradict you in that,” she returned with a smile.

Renforth greeted her with particular warmth, and Baines watched the exchange with interest. Judith knew Renforth well enough to dispense with unnecessary ceremony, yet she had taken care that his arrival should appear entirely ordinary to the other guests.

She had even arranged for Lady Dunsmore to intercept Harcourt, a manoeuvre Baines considered worthy of a military dispatch.

“His lordship has always enjoyed Lady Dunsmore’s conversation,” Judith had explained earlier.

“Has he indeed?”

Now Harcourt found himself listening to an extended complaint concerning Scottish roads while Renforth drew Lady Beckenham away from the others. The first movement of the trap had begun. Meanwhile, Lady Dunsmore interrupted her complaints long enough to instruct a passing footman to obtain her shawl, then resumed her discourse as though she had never paused.

Baines kept his attention upon the guests rather than the door.

Lady Beckenham stood tall and elegant in a gown of dark wine-coloured satin, her hazel eyes alert beneath an arrangement of dark curls. She had known Renforth for years, and Baines suspected she understood rather more about his presence than she intended to acknowledge.

“Lady Beckenham. I had hoped we might meet before you returned south.”

“You are an elusive man, Colonel. I was not expecting the pleasure of your company.”

“Duty has kept me occupied.”

“Duty has always come first with you,” she remarked with a tone that suggested history between them.

Baines and Manners moved nearer, ostensibly to hold their own conversation, but they listened closely while pretending to drink and converse.

Renforth lowered his voice just enough to make the conversation appear private. “I am, of course, here concerning the recent disturbances. There is some discussion of transferring the instigating prisoners south rather than keeping them near the affected districts.”

Lady Beckenham’s expression remained composed. “Surely it would be more sensible to make examples of them locally?”

“Possibly. There is concern that moving them will cause more disturbance.”

“Then I assume you will advise them with wisdom.”