A Little Mischief (23 page)

Daniel pulled in a deep breath, and then took a sip of his champagne. “I’ll never forget it.”

“While you were searching the ground for his body, I was looking around and I found this.”

They weren’t getting anywhere. Daniel remembered the first time they met and how she took so long to tell him the story of Gretchen standing over Throckmorten in her garden. He had that same feeling now.

He summoned his patience and answered, “All right. Gretchen dropped it and you found it. I’m grateful, Miss Winslowe.”

“We’re alone now, Daniel, you can call me Isabella. This is not Gretchen’s.” She held the handkerchief out in front of him. “It belongs to someone else.”

Daniel paused as the implications of her words soaked in. “How do you know this?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Mr. Throckmorten must have been in the garden with another lady before Gretchen showed up. That lady must have stabbed him. Gretchen was angry enough with him to hit him when they were in my garden. Perhaps another woman was angry enough to stab him.”

Isabella could very well be on to something with this angle, and, if what she suspected was true, this would put a different light on Throckmorten’s murder.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before now?” Daniel asked.

“Like you, I assumed it was Gretchen’s and put it here in my reticule. I forgot about it until tonight when I opened my purse to search for a dance card. I noticed the handkerchief and remembered when and where I’d picked it up. I took it out to fold so I could return it to her this evening, and that’s when I realized the initials aren’t Gretchen’s.”

“Whose handkerchief is it?”

“That I don’t know. Yet. It has three initials, but I haven’t taken the time to try and figure out who it might belong to.”

Daniel pondered this new information. Thinking out loud, he said, “But if a woman had stabbed him, how would she have carried his body out of the garden?”

“I supposed it would have been difficult for a lady to have carried him out of the garden.”

“Isabella, that would have been impossible.”

“Well, there are some ladies who might be strong enough to have accomplished such a task.”

“No, there aren’t, but she could have left him there and gone for help. That could have been when Gretchen came upon him, and then we showed up.”

“Yes. And whoever did this dastardly deed moved the body while we were talking to Lord Stonehurst and his lady wife.”

“That seems a logical way for things to have happened. This will be more information for the runner. Let me have the handkerchief.”

Daniel reached to take the handkerchief, but Isabella snatched it back before his hand closed around the white square of cloth, and it slipped through his fingers.

“Not so quick, my lord,” she said, eyeing him with a bold stare.

There was something compelling about her when she looked up at him with such defiance, and it made Daniel want her all the more.

For a brief moment he fantasized about gently shoving her against the wall and pinioning her with his body while he playfully wrestled the handkerchief from her hands in a mischievous tug-of-war that ended in her total surrender to him. As the victor he received a passionate kiss.

“Daniel Colebrooke, what’s this?” Chilton called from behind him.

“What next?” Daniel muttered under his breath as his fantasy faded.

“Are you trying to steal this young lady’s handkerchief? What a villain you are! Did you lose all your manners while you were traipsing the countryside in search of your holdings?”

“Chilton, what perfect timing,” Daniel said at his friend’s ill-timing.

“Indeed. How do you do, Miss Winslowe?” Chilton bowed after he stopped beside her.

Isabella curtsied and smiled. “Very well, Mr. Cummerford, and you?”

“Very well, until I saw this scoundrel trying to accost you and take, of all things, your handkerchief. What an oaf.”

“Thankfully, you came by just in time, and now I can safely put it away with no fear that Lord Colebrooke will take it from me.”

Isabella made a great show of dropping the handkerchief into her reticule and pulling the drawstrings tight before slipping it back onto her wrist.

“Are you two finished?” Daniel asked, finding no amusement in their good-humored banter.

Chilton looked at Isabella and grinned mischievously. “I don’t know. Are we, fair lady?” he asked her.

“Not if we can make him suffer a little longer. He’s been such a brute. Should we try?”

“I would enjoy that, but alas, I have a young lady who is waiting for me to bring her a glass of punch.”

“Don’t keep her waiting. She might find another, less handsome, and less charming gentleman to bring refreshment to her.”

“Well said, Miss Winslowe.”

“Should we pick up our conversation another time, Mr. Cummerford?”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Chilton said and finally looked back to Daniel. “Are we still on for tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, my house.” Daniel all but growled the words. He didn’t like the way Chilton was flirting with Isabella and she with him.

Chilton bid Isabella farewell and walked away. Daniel said, “You two seemed very congenial.”

“Really?” she asked innocently.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know him well, but Mr. Cummerford is always a pleasant man.”

“What changed? Not two days ago you seemed to think him capable of killing Throckmorten.”

“Nonsense, I was merely pointing out that he had visited Mr. Throckmorten’s home. However, I agree with what you said at the time. He’s not the type of gentleman to lose his temper and stab someone, neither over money nor over a lady.”

She was damned intuitive. Daniel liked that about her, too. Chilton was a calm and patient man and always had been, even in their youth.

“And how do you know this about him?” Daniel asked.

“I’ve noticed that he watches a certain lady, but I’ve never seen him approach her at any of the parties.”

“Chilton watching a lady? Are you sure?”

“Reasonably.”

What young lady could Chilton be interested in? And why hadn’t he mentioned her to Daniel? Probably for the same reason Daniel hadn’t mentioned his attraction to Isabella to Chilton. They no longer had the need to tell each other everything about their lives.

It was best to leave this conversation for another day and return to the one he and Isabella were discussing before Chilton interrupted them.

“I was about to tell you, that is to ask you,” Daniel corrected himself before she had the chance, “to let me have the handkerchief. I’ll hand it over to the Bow Street runner I’ve hired. He will find out who it belongs to.”

Isabella smiled cunningly and shook her head. “I don’t think so, my lord.”

“Why?” he argued. “It might help him find Throckmorten’s killer so that we will have no need to worry that anyone will find out about his liaison with Gretchen.”

“Oh, I believe it will help.”

He stepped dangerously close to her. “So why not let me give it to him?”

“You are in control of Mr. Throckmorten’s journal, and you may choose to do with it as you wish. I am in control of the handkerchief found near his body, and I choose to handle it myself.”

“Isabella,” he said, wanting to explain again. “I don’t want you involved in this unsavory, madcap situation. We’re talking about a murder. This is not the kind of thing a lady becomes involved with.”

“Then call me improper. I keep telling you I was drawn into this the afternoon I found him in my garden. Say whatever you will, I don’t intend to bow out of this now.”

That she argued with him no longer surprised him, but what she said did. “That’s the first time you’ve admitted he wasn’t dead the first time you found him.”

“Really?” She smiled impishly. “I thought that was assumed when we saw him walk into the room at Lord Gleningwold’s party.”

Daniel placed his champagne glass on the table beside her untouched punch. He had to fold his arms across his chest to keep from pulling her in his arms and kissing her. Everything she said made him want her more.

“You are enjoying this search for Throckmorten’s killer, aren’t you?”

“The suspense and finding the clues, very much so. I’m truly sorry Mr. Throckmorten is dead, but everything that has happened since we found him has been fascinating. I feel like I am helping to put together a large puzzle of events.”

“Tell me, what are you going to do with the handkerchief?”

“The same thing you will or have done with the journal. Study it. I’ll sit down and make a list of all the ladies I know who have the same initials as the ones on the handkerchief. I’ll compare them to the ladies who were in attendance at Lord Gleningwold’s party. From there I will research the ladies and try to establish a connection to the deceased.”

Daniel was silent for a moment as he digested what she said. From the determined expression on her face, he could see she was fully committed to what she’d just proposed. Daniel was once again drawn to her inner strength, her adventurous spirit, and her open-mindedness. How had a quiet girl from the country become so enchanting?

He stepped a bit closer to her and softly asked, “And will you share that list with me when you have it, Isabella?”

“That depends, my lord.”

She made everything a challenge, and though it was inexplicable to him, he loved it. He not only found her exciting and enterprising, he enjoyed spending time with her and trying to outwit her.

“On what?”

Her voice was breathy as she said, “Whether you share your list from the journal with me.”

He smiled and then chuckled. They were back in business together.

He chuckled lightly and took a step back. “I suppose I’ll have to.”

“Don’t make it sound so dreary.”

“Nothing involving you could ever be dreary.”

Daniel looked down into her eyes and yearned to hold her. He wanted to taste the sweetness in her mouth. He wanted to feel the warmth of her skin beneath his hands. He wanted to caress her cheek, kiss her lips, and fondle her breasts. He wanted to explore every intimate part of her.

Daniel cleared his throat and whispered, “You are bright as sunshine and tempting as a glass of the finest brandy.”

“I think that is the nicest compliment you have paid me. Thank you. So, shall we meet in a day or two and compare notes?”

How could he wait that long to see her again when he was already remembering how perfectly their bodies fit together when he’d held her in his arms and how sweet the depths of her mouth when he plundered it with his tongue? How she had desired him as much as he wanted her?

“I’ll send a note letting you know when I will pick you up for an afternoon ride in the park so we can compare notes.”

“I will look forward to that. Now, perhaps we should bid each other good evening. We’ve been standing here so long, it looks as if everyone has left the room but us.”

Daniel glanced around the refreshment room. He couldn’t believe it. At the moment the room
was
empty of guests and servants.

“Maybe we should part,” he said, “but we’re not.”

Without conscious thought, without really knowing what he was going to do or where he was going, Daniel grabbed Isabella’s hand and pulled her through a nearby doorway.

Sixteen

Daniel followed the dimly lit hallway to the end and darted into a room where trays of food were lined on tables waiting to be carried into the dining room. He knew there was a chance someone might see them, but right now that was a risk he was willing to take.

The next door he opened took them outside to a small open space. It was dark, secret, and welcoming. They walked down two steps to a stone terrace that was enclosed by a tall yew hedge. A pale shaft of lamplight filtered from inside the house through a small window lighting on a brief section of ground that looked like an herb garden.

Unable to wait, Daniel dipped his head low and covered Isabella’s mouth with his. Her lips were supple, moist, and responsive to his burning hunger. Her warm body leaned into him, meeting him, letting him know that she wanted this, too.

For a moment he let his mouth devour hers, relishing the feel of her lips against his. He sucked her sweetness with fervor before finally lifting his head so that he could look into her lovely face. Starlight glistened brightly in her eyes, making her more beautiful than ever. Her lips were full, lush, and a tempting rose-colored pink.

He whispered, “If you don’t want this, now is the time to tell me.”

Without hesitating she said, “Does this answer your question?”

She reached up and curled her arms around his neck. She let her lips brush lazily, deliciously over his for a moment before pulling his bottom lip gently into her mouth, then letting it go.

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. He was enraptured by her.

They both knew the danger, the price they would pay if they were caught. But not even that fear could force him to let go of her.