children involved. But the plan gets full marks for ingenuity. So”—his gaze flicked between the two—“what happens once you’re inside?”
“Mrs. Drummond and I will pretend to be demanding customers. While we create a scene in the front part of the shop, someone else”—here, she had the grace to glance toward Langley—“can investigate the back door and the boarded-up window.”
Billy appeared to think over her plan. “Let’s say we do that. Let’s say Jacobs is inside—he’s unlikely to be alone. We’ll have men on the streets, before and behind the house, of course. Armed men. Nevertheless, you will both be taking a grave risk. It could all go wrong too quickly for anyone to come to your aid.”
“Then we will have to be resourceful, Colonel Millrose. I certainly do not want Mrs. Drummond to come to harm. If things start to take an unfortunate turn, I’ll say I’ve forgotten something and send my ‘maid’ back to my carriage.” She managed a slight smile for Fanny. “But if my sons are inside that shop, I won’t leave without them.”
To Langley’s utter shock, Billy appeared to be considering the scheme. After a moment, he gave a crisp nod. “All right.”
Langley swore—not under his breath, and without any apology.
No one paid him the least mind.
“I’ll go and get a few things together,” Fanny said, rising. Billy stood too, leaving Amanda alone at the table, her dark eyes wide, as if she were only now realizing the enormity of what she had proposed.
Fanny stepped to the door. “Pardon me.” In place of her usual brittle expression, he glimpsed strength—strength he hadn’t suspected her of possessing.
Or perhaps he hadn’t wanted to see.
“Fan,” he whispered, as she reached past him for the door. “Don’t do this.” If she refused to go along, then perhaps Amanda would come to her senses.
“If you have something to say to me, Major Stanhope,” she said, glancing once over her shoulder, “it might better be said elsewhere.”
He’d been avoiding this conversation for over a year, and a part of him longed desperately to avoid it a little longer, even as he knew he couldn’t. The words exchanged in the workroom earlier that afternoon had felt like having a plaster ripped off. Now it was time to see what scars remained. Exhaling sharply, unable to bring himself to look at Amanda, he opened the door. “All right.”
In the semi-darkness of the empty corridor, Fanny’s pale eyes searched his. “Does she know? How much you love her?”
“I—” Heat flushed into his face. “Is it so obvious, then?”
“Some of us have learned to look past that public face—those public faces—you put on. When I walked into that room earlier today, I realized I had never before seen you truly afraid. But there was no doubt in my mind that you were afraid now…and for her.” Fanny’s voice was still cool, but not cold. “Once, I thought it might make me feel better—to know that you, too, were susceptible to these petty, human emotions.” Her ice-blue gaze faltered. “It turns out, I was wrong. It’s really quite a wretched sight.” Something wry quirked at the corner of her mouth, then was quickly smoothed away. “Tell her. That’s my advice. Tell her before you lose your nerve, or you’ll never be any good to anyone here again.”
“Fanny,” he chided, then caught her hand. “We were friends once. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but nevertheless, I am sorry. Sorry I couldn’t save him, and sorry it’s taken me all this time to say as much.”
She withdrew her fingers from his grip and smoothed her palm down the front of her dress. “I know.”
“And you’re still determined to go with her?” he asked, swallowing past the knot of emotions in his throat.
“I am. Because it’s time for me to start earning my keep around here.” Then she laid her hand on his arm and favored him with the first genuine smile he’d seen on her face in a twelvemonth. “I promise I’ll do my best to keep her out of trouble, Magpie.”
* * * *
Amanda’s knees shook beneath her skirts as she and Fanny approached the supposed dress shop. She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, wishing she had the ability to sense whether her sons were inside.
“Oh, dear,” Fanny clucked. “The sign on the door says closed.”
“What?” Amanda’s eyes popped open. “Well, we’re going inside, regardless. If we have to, we’ll pound on the door until they open it, and we’ll tell them we have an