stretch her legs, but she dare not move. If anything went wrong and Goss returned she did not want to rouse his suspicions. So she must wait until Alex, who was to discreetly follow Goss to his contact, returned to tell her that it had all gone according to plan.
The minutes ticked by. She saw Sophie stir once or twice before sitting up, though in a pose which still suggested a recent swoon. If all went well, Goss would not return. But until they were sure he had been apprehended Sophie must continue to play her part.
The church clock chimed eleven. Surely it would not be much longer?
But no! There was Alex, hurrying towards her along the empty street.
‘We’ve got him!’ he exclaimed as he joined her in the doorway.
‘At last!’ Cicely was delighted.
She lifted her veil, which was beginning to stifle her, and threw it back over her hat. It caught on the hat pin. She raised her hands to free it, only to find them brushing Alex’s strong fingers, as he too moved to release her veil. She stilled, her mouth a round ‘o’ as she looked up into his face.
His expression was penetrating. He was looking down at her with the light of passion burning in his eyes. She felt his fingers close round her hands. Then he drew them to his lips. A tingling sensation spread over her skin, despite her gloves: the electricity that coursed through her whenever he touched her could not be stopped by mere lace. He turned her hands over and kissed her palms. She shuddered, the power of his touch sending waves of desire through her.
‘Well? Did we get him?’
Sophie’s voice broke into their private moment, and Cicely quickly withdrew her hands, so that by the time Sophie reached them there was nothing untoward for her to see. Fortunately, Alex’s back had blocked her view of what had just happened, for innocent though the gesture had been in one way, in another it had been full of forbidden passion.
‘Yes.’ Alex replied to Sophie’s question. ‘He went to see his contact, as we hoped he would, and was in the process of negotiating a price for the tiara when the two private detectives I’d hired took him in charge.’
‘Do we have him? Really have him?’ asked Cicely. ‘Will the police be able to make the charges stick?’
Alex nodded. ‘They will have sworn statements from us saying what took place here tonight - leaving out the part about it being a trap, of course - and the testimony of the private detectives. The Honourable Martin Goss will be going away for a very long time.’
‘Hooray!’ said Sophie. ‘Then I had better be getting back to the dinner party. It will be finishing soon. All of Mother’s guests are at the spa for the good of their health, and the evening will end at an early hour. Wait for us in an inconspicuous corner of the Kurhaus. I know Mother wants to invite you back to the villa for coffee,’ she said to Alex. ‘She wants to hear all about it.’
Cicely and Alex escorted Sophie back to the Kurhaus, where the dinner party was already breaking up. They stayed in the background whilst Sophie and her mother said goodbye to all their guests, and then the four of them returned to the villa, where they set about talking over the night’s events over a cup of coffee.
‘I am so relieved it all went well,’ said Mrs Lessing, who had not liked the scheme and had doubted the wisdom of going along with it, despite her agreement.
She had been particularly anxious when Sophie had walked out of the Kurhaus with Mr Goss, and had almost called a halt to the proceedings there and then. Even the knowledge that Alex and Cicely would be keeping an eye on Sophie had not completely stilled her maternal worries. But it was over now, and successfully so. Martin Goss had been caught.
‘Your sister will at last be vindicated,’ said Sophie, who had heard all about Katie’s ordeal at the hands of Martin Goss.
‘Yes.’ A look of satisfaction crossed his face. ‘She is no longer in service, so in one way it no longer matters, but she will still be delighted to know that no one will now believe she stole that wretched bracelet.’
‘And Gladys, too, will be vindicated,’ said Cicely. ‘I will make sure that news of Goss’s arrest reaches everyone who attended the ball at Oakleigh Manor, so