are truly lovers, rather than merely trysting partners. I don’t know how to describe what has bloomed between Nathaniel and me, but I hope someday the same wonderful intimacy befalls you. I feel as if I have found a missing part of my heart.”
The words were painful, so very painful, to hear. “Then I am happy for you, Thea. I will meet you here at noon.”
They parted at the coach, Althea sailing off in the direction of her favorite modiste, two footmen in tow. Constance went the other way, back toward the smaller shops and older houses. When she came to a nearly shabby two-story stone building on a slightly tired side street, she pushed her way inside without knocking.
The sign on the door said simply INQUIRY AGENT, BY APPOINTMENT ONLY, though Constance had long since passed any need to make an appointment here.
“My lady.” The trim older woman at the desk rose. “Good day.”
“Miss Harper, good day. Is Miss Abbott in?”
Miss Harper was a master at hiding her emotions, but Constance always saw pity in those calm gray eyes.
“I have standing instructions that for you, my lady, Miss Abbott is always in. Please have a seat in the parlor and give me a moment. Shall I have a tray brought up?”
The ladies did a good job of creating a sense of normalcy for clients dealing with desperate situations, as if a tea tray could turn heartbreaking business into a social call upon a trusted old friend.
“No tray, thank you.”
Miss Abbott joined Constance in the parlor two minutes later. She was tall and substantial, and she dressed in severe good taste, usually in gray or some other half-mourning color. She often carried a cane, an affectation many women adopted only when substantially older than Miss Abbott. Most would call her handsome rather than pretty, though she was pretty. Constance had seen that within seconds of meeting her. The skill Miss Abbott used to disguise her feminine appeal had weighed in favor of retaining her.
Heaven knew, the men Constance had hired previous to Miss Abbott hadn’t had expertise sufficient for the task they’d been paid to do.
“Good day, your ladyship,” Miss Abbott said, taking the second wing chair. “I will be direct. I have not found her, but neither have I found her grave.”
“No progress, in other words.” Exactly what Constance had been expecting and dreading to hear. “Will there ever be?”
Miss Abbott looked at her hands. They were pale, not a ring or a bracelet upon them. The lapse in composure was small and telling.
“After five years, my lady, I would be misleading you if I said I expect to find her. I will not stop looking until you tell me to, but these days…Young women immigrate, they move to the cities in search of positions or husbands, they follow the drum when they find those husbands. She could be anywhere in the world by now.”
Constance had embarked on this search nearly ten years ago, the very day after her pin money had become hers and hers alone to spend. When Quinn had acquired a title, the task had become more difficult for requiring utmost discretion. Constance was tempted to give up, to admit defeat, but the object of this search was still young enough that Miss Abbott’s conjectures regarding marriage were premature.
“Keep looking. I expect I will soon become engaged to a man of considerable standing, and my efforts must become even more discreet, but do keep looking. She’s out there, and we will find her.”
Miss Abbott’s gaze was kind. “I would not blame you if you made another choice. Nobody would, particularly if you are about to acquire a husband of considerable standing.”
The scent of considerable scandal hung unacknowledged in the air, but guilt outpaced even that worry. “I would blame myself if she needed me and I failed her. Keep looking.”
“Of course, my lady.”
Someday, Constance would have to explain this situation to Robert, but when years of searching had produced no result, that day was not soon.
“You did what?” Nathaniel came half out of his chair to roar that question.
Robert hid his smile behind a sip of cider. “I do believe that is the first time you have raised your voice to me—truly shouted—since we were boys. I am touched, brother. Please pass the salt.”
Nathaniel set the salt cellar down so hard the silver spoon bounced. “You proposed to a woman you barely know? I grant you Constance Wentworth is a formidable female, but what on earth