this morning, and I’ve not seen her since. She’s alone and….”
The viscount reached out and took hold of Max’s arm, squeezing it. “Say no more. In fact, I have also been following a trail that led me here, so let us away inside and see what we can discover, yes?”
Max let out a harsh breath. “Yes. Yes, thank you.”
Kline smiled and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry so, man. We’ll find her, both of them come to that, no matter how merry a dance they lead us.”
“Come along then. Let’s see if you can make yourself understood, for I might as well have been speaking ancient Greek for all the good it did me. Ironically, that’s a language I do understand moderately well.”
Kline laughed and followed him back inside the theatre.
Twenty minutes later, and rather lighter in the pocket, and they were furnished with the disturbing information that no one had any knowledge of a Viscountess Kline, but that Baron Alvanly had been there to meet a Mrs Abercrombie. Max had filled the viscount in on all the ridiculous details of their escapade to date, to which he had listened in incredulous silence.
“Oh, God,” Max said, clenching his fists. “If I’d not been such a fool, we might have found him together. If that bastard has got his clutches into her, if he’s hurt her—”
“We’ll find her, Max,” Kline said firmly. “And Alvanly might be a thief and a blackguard, but I have never heard of him ill-treating a woman. All the same, I think we must make haste, and we’ll accomplish more if we split up.”
Max nodded his agreement. “I’ll follow Alvanly to Paris. The fellow said the Hotel St Vincent, so I’ll start there. I don’t know whether to pray Phoebe is with him or not. You see if you can hunt down this Abercrombie woman. If she’s as flamboyant as the chap said, you ought not have too much difficulty.”
Kline nodded and reached out to shake Max’s hand. “Good luck, I’ll catch you up in Paris as soon as possible.”
***
Phoebe sighed as Nina refilled her glass. “I wish you would let me send word to Lord Ellisborough. He’ll be so worried.”
“Perhaps it will do him good,” Nina said, selecting a delicate fruit tart and popping it into her mouth.
“Oh, no!” Phoebe said at once, shaking his head. “He thinks me nothing but trouble, and that I need protecting and looking after from the world at large. This will only confirm all his suspicions, I’ve no doubt.”
“Well, go to him, then.” Nina gave a shrug and gestured to the door. “I am not holding you captive, dear.”
“No, but I’m too curious to leave yet,” Phoebe admitted. “I would like to know what is going on. How did you get involved with Alvanly, and why have you been masquerading as Lady Kline?”
“Oh, how dull,” Nina lamented. “I would much rather talk about Lord Ellisborough. I can’t help but think you are in love with him.”
Phoebe blushed. “That’s none of your business.”
“Neither is mine yours, but I’ll share if you will.” Nina picked up the tray of cakes and tarts and held it out for Phoebe to take one.
“Oh, very well,” she said, huffing and taking a tiny walnut tart. “Max… Lord Ellisborough is… He’s the sort of man any woman would wish for in a husband.”
“But not you?”
“Yes, sometimes, but—”
“But you have no wish to be protected and cosseted?”
Phoebe glanced up, a little startled by the accuracy of her observation. “Well, sometimes, perhaps. It is nice to be made much of on occasion, but… I am not fragile, I’m not the sort of woman who swoons or has fits of the vapours. I’m pig-headed and too curious for my own good, and not the least bit delicate. I can swear and shoot and fence, and pick a lock and cheat at cards, and I want to make my own decisions and my own mistakes. I’m not stupid enough to think I can do everything by myself, but I would like to be included, and not left at home in case I break a fingernail. If I am to become some man’s property, I must know that he will consider my feelings, that he will ask my consent and involve me in decisions that affect our future. If not—”
“If not, you are merely a possession and not a person.”
Phoebe nodded, seeing the complete understanding in Nina’s eyes. The woman gave a tight smile. “I was married once. It was