gold. Solomon thought he recognized the work as Serena’s.
They had already heated wine for the syllabub, set pheasants to roasting, and put two small hams in the oven to warm. Ravi was bound to appear at any moment and the marquis showed no signs of going upstairs. Elijah was beginning to fidget, but at last Sacreval seized a carton full of fruit and flowers. “I am going en haut to make sure the buffet table is presentable. Jack, Emma, take those tubs and follow me.” The pair hastened to obey, and Solomon heard Elijah breathe a sigh of relief.
But a quarter of an hour later, there was still no Ravi. Half an hour more passed. The first guests trickled in, and he had still not arrived. At five to nine he burst in, ran up to Elijah, and said urgently, “May I speak to you, sir?”
“Of course,” Elijah said, leaving Solomon to finish the syllabub.
Elijah had not returned when Sacreval came in and said, “Is the syllabub ready?”
“Yes, monseigneur.”
“Merveilleux. Where is that brother of yours? I need the pair of you to flank the buffet table. Twins at a masquerade, it is too perfect. We must show you off, non?”
“He stepped out. He’ll be back any moment.”
Just then, Elijah walked in, biting his lip.
“You,” the marquis said imperiously. “Put on your mask, help your brother with that punch bowl there, and follow me.”
“Yes, monseigneur,” Elijah said ironically, and a dull flush crept across the marquis’s face.
Carrying an enormous punch bowl up a flight of stairs was even harder than Solomon had expected. He was glad the punch itself was carried separately, by professionals.
At quarter past nine the marquis was still at the buffet table, so Solomon could not ask Elijah what had happened. Then Lord Pursleigh appeared.
“Fancy a game of piquet, old fellow?” he asked Sacreval jovially. “I heard an anecdote just the other day that I think you’ll find hilarious.” He winked.
Something had gone very wrong.
Solomon glanced at Elijah, who did not seem surprised, only intent on listening without appearing to. The marquis nodded, looking disgusted by his confederate’s lack of subtlety, but before he could follow Pursleigh to one of the little tables set up along the side of the room, his arm was seized by the viscount’s dainty wife.
“You can have him in a little while, Pursleigh,” she said with a faint pout. “But first he must play with me. Last time he was here he trounced me thoroughly, and I want to show him I’ve grown up a bit since then.”
“I hope not too much,” Sacreval said. “You made such a charming girl.”
Solomon gagged inwardly. Lady Pursleigh dimpled, and her husband frowned. “Jenny, wouldn’t you rather dance with some of these besotted fellows?” He gestured at the cluster of costumed young men his wife had abandoned. “I let you muck up my house with laurel wreaths and broken scepters in honor of our victory over Napoleon,”—he said “victory” with an unpleasant sneer— “now you let me enjoy a game of piquet.”
“Your husband asked me first,” Sacreval told her. “But after our game, I am yours to command until I am needed for the laying out of the supper.”
Lady Pursleigh’s pout deepened. Her pretty blue eyes fixed appealingly on her husband. “Pursleigh, I only want him for half an hour and then you can talk boring old politics as much as you like. I want to hear what they’re wearing in Paris!”
“If you insist,” Lord Pursleigh said with ill grace.
The marquis gave him an apologetic shrug. “Half an hour, then,” he said, and turned to kiss Lady Pursleigh’s hand.
She slipped him a little pink note in a manner she evidently thought inconspicuous.
The marquis palmed it with a deal more grace, but his gaze shot apprehensively to Lord Pursleigh. The viscount, to Solomon’s surprise, smiled maliciously. “All grown up, ain’t she?”
When the pair was ensconced at a table at the far end of the room (playing with a fresh deck brought by a servant who carried a great stack of them), to all appearances flirting outrageously, Solomon made his way around the buffet table to Elijah. “Did you see that? She passed him a love note not two feet from her own husband! I thought I’d sink from embarrassment and I wasn’t even involved.”
Elijah was watching them with narrowed eyes. “I did see it. I can’t help wondering if we’ve made the same mistake here we made with Brendan, only the other way round.”
Solomon blinked. “Surely if she