them.”
“The boys are with their guardian, my dear,” her mother reminded her patiently. “Everything’s fine. I don’t see any need for worry.…”
“Drink this,” Rebecca pleaded.
At first, Amanda refused. Her head was muddled enough already. If everyone would just be quiet, so she could hear what Langley was saying. But then she thought of Jamie and Philip, George, a codebook so valuable another man might already be dead because of it.…
She snatched the glass from Rebecca’s fingers and tossed the sweet liquid down her throat, wishing it were brandy.
Her sputtering cough drew Langley’s notice, though he avoided her gaze. “I’ll be after them as soon as a horse is brought round, Lady Kingston.”
“After them?” Mama frowned, first at him, then at her. “Why on earth—?”
Amanda returned the glass to Rebecca, scrambled to her feet, and took her mother’s hand. “The boys may be in danger.”
“Danger? Surely you don’t mean to suggest that Lord Dulsworthy—?”
“I can’t explain right now, Mama,” she interrupted with a squeeze of her fingers. “There’s too much. You’ll just have to trust that Mr. Stanhope knows what he’s talking about—more than he can say.”
Langley turned back to Mr. Hurst. “I would not ask if it were not of vital importance.”
Charles glanced downward. He was holding a closed book in one hand, and pinned to its cover by his thumb was a small, cream-colored rectangular card on which something had been written. Amanda would have been willing to wager most anything that on the reverse of that card was an etching of a bird.
“Yes, Mr. Stanhope,” Charles agreed with a nod. “But it’s a part of town into which I’ve never traveled—a place in which I have no wish to be seen. You understand, I think, my hesitation?”
Disgust etched hard lines on Langley’s face. “Lives are at stake, Mr. Hurst. Surely a man of sense, such as yourself, values life above reputation?”
Rebecca rushed to her husband’s side. “Oh, Charles!”
“I’m going too.” Amanda released her mother’s hand and stepped into the fray on feet that were not quite steady.
“Forgive my bluntness, Lady Kingston.” Langley still would not meet her eye. “But you most certainly are not.”
“You would rather waste time trying to stop me? They’re my sons. And this—all of this—is my fault.”
“How can you—?” He bit off the next words, though Amanda suspected she knew what they would have been.
How can you be so obstinate?
And if Langley wasn’t thinking it, then Mama certainly was. “Amanda,” she scolded. “I won’t hear of you putting yourself in danger—neither to life nor reputation.”
“Well, Mama,” Amanda snapped, “at least my gowns will be safe.”
Mama closed the distance Amanda had put between them, one hand extended, worry notching her brow. “You’re…you’re not well, dear. I think it would be best if you lie down for a bit. Some cool spot. If you would help us, Mrs. Hurst…”
At just that moment, a servant stepped into the hall. “Your horse is ready, sir.”
Rather than move toward the door, Langley’s dark gaze darted among Amanda, her mother, and the Hursts. Why was he hesitating?
“Have the horses put to Lady Kingston’s carriage, quick as you can,” he told the servant, who nodded and was gone in an instant. “You,” he said, turning toward Mr. Hurst, “take the horse and deliver this message instead, to General Scott at the Horse Guards—and only to him. Explain that while Lady Kingston was out for a walk, Lord Dulsworthy collected her sons and we do not know where he’s taken them. Tell him—tell him the Magpie sent you.” He nodded to the card. “Show him that, if you perceive he has any doubts.” Charles nodded and was off.
Amanda shook herself free of her mother’s clinging hands. “And you?” she demanded of Langley. “What do you mean to do?”
He looked her up and down, still never meeting her eye, and shook his head. “It seems I’ll be in the carriage. With you.”
An eternity later, as they stood beneath the portico, Rebecca and Mama murmuring together, Langley pacing off to one side, Amanda heard the crunch of gravel that announced the arrival of her carriage.
She could hardly wait for the groomsman to put down the step before she clambered inside. Langley sprang in afterward, thumping the side of his fist against the ceiling to urge the driver into motion. With fingers she could hardly make work, Amanda managed to lower the window and called out a parting reassurance to her mother and her dear friend. “Don’t worry. The boys and I will be fine.