It wasn’t exactly a fair fight, Kendra knew. But she wasn’t feeling in the mood to make things fair. When Lady Frances came at her again, she met the attack with one of her own, grabbing Lady Frances’s wrist and twisting her arm around in a quick maneuver that had the other woman on her knees in seconds, shrieking.
“Bleeding ’ell!” Snake declared, astonished.
Kendra looked at the fair-haired child who had delivered the note and realized that she didn’t even know his name. “What’s your name, kid?”
His eyes were as round as saucers as they darted between her and Lady Frances. “Luke.”
“Okay, Luke. Was this the woman who gave you the note for me?”
Luke studied Lady Frances’s face, now caked with blood beneath a swollen nose. “Nay, she ain’t the one. This ’ere one’s pretty—or she was before ye punched ’er. The gentry mort that gave me the note weren’t ’alf as pretty. Face as plain as puddin’, it was.”
Kendra sucked in a harsh breath. Lady Louisa. She turned to Lady Frances and demanded, “Where’s your sister?”
“Let me go!”
Kendra released the woman’s arm. “Where is Lady Louisa? At home? Or at that musical recital?”
Lady Frances glared at her as she got to her feet. “Why should I tell you?” Her voice sounded nasal. Kendra made a move toward her and Lady Frances squealed, hastily backing up a step. “She could hardly go to a sodding musical recital! Not after your visit. She was distraught and invited Lady Rebecca out for a ride.”
There was no reason to assume anything bad was going to happen, Kendra knew. But she still felt an icy frisson run down her spine. “Where’d they go?”
“Putney.” Frances attempted to wipe the blood away with her glove. “Look at what you’ve done! You are a lunatic.”
“Miss Donovan?” The Duke, joined by Alec and Sam, appeared at the entry to the park. “Harding said you—” Aldridge caught sight of Lady Frances, and gaped. “Good God, Lady Frances! What happened?”
Snake was nearly dancing with his excitement. “This ’ere mort planted the other one a facer!”
Kendra ignored them all and grabbed Lady Frances’s arm. “Where did they go in Putney?”
Lady Frances stared at her in outrage. “Unhand me! I shall call the constable on you for striking me!”
“I’ll do more than fucking strike you—”
“Miss Donovan!” The Duke was aghast.
Kendra looked at him. “Lady Louisa murdered Lady Dover.”
Lady Frances gasped. “You’re mad!”
“No.” Kendra was trying to keep calm, but her sense of disquiet was growing. She leveled her gaze at Sam. “The hair comb you found under the sofa; you assumed it had fallen off in the struggle. You were right—but it didn’t fall out of Lady Dover’s hair.”
The Bow Street Runner stared at her.
“The comb was decorated with rubies and moonstones,” she continued. “Lady Dover was dressed in a light blue gown. She would never have worn rubies in her hair with that gown.”
The Bow Street Runner still looked uncertain, as if he couldn’t believe the answer to a murder investigation could hinge on something so frivolous as a hair ornament.
Kendra almost couldn’t believe it either. “Damn it. I should have realized it as soon as I saw the comb. Madame Gaudet said Lady Dover was a woman of discerning tastes . . .” She turned back to Lady Frances and squeezed her arm. “Does your sister own a Spanish comb with rubies?” When she said nothing, Kendra ordered, “Answer me!”
“Yes! Yes—but this is absurd . . . Your Grace . . .” Lady Frances’s gaze swung to Aldridge. “Your ward has gone insane. Look at what she did to me!”
Kendra let her go and fixed the Duke with her own look. “We need to find them. Now.”
Aldridge turned to Lady Frances. “Do you have any information that would narrow down our search?”
“I . . . our family would picnic by the River Thames. It used to be the Fairchild estate.”
“I know the site,” Aldridge said. “I shall have my phaeton brought around.”
“My horse is ready,” Alec said, and began jogging toward the street.
Kendra caught up with him as he crossed, heading for the mews. “I’m going with you.”
He glanced quickly at her. “I shall be riding horseback.”
“I know.”
56
I think we ought to return home,” Rebecca said, feeling oddly breathless as she took a step toward where Sophia was grazing.
“She told me about the baby,” Lady Louisa said, in such a quietly savage way that the hair on the back of Rebecca’s neck rose.
Rebecca turned to face the other woman again. A memory floated up, both unexpected and amazingly clear. She recalled how her parents had brought her to London as a child and they’d toured the Exeter ’Change on the Strand. A leopard, its coat shiny and black as pitch, had prowled back and forth inside a cage, its tail swishing, its strange yellow eyes restless. Then, the creature’s gaze had suddenly fixed on her and it had dropped into a crouch. The bars that separated them mattered naught. In that one terrifying instance, she’d known the difference between predator and prey. Her mother had broken the spell, grasping her hand and tugging her away from the leopard’s cage. She’d never felt that way again.
Until now.
Rebecca’s throat felt so tight it was difficult to get the words out. “That must have been difficult for you to hear,” she said softly.
“She was a vile, despicable creature. A Haymarket ware.”
“She didn’t deserve to be murdered.”
“Yes, she did.”
In a move that took Rebecca by surprise, Lady Louisa darted forward. With a cry, Rebecca picked up her riding habit’s heavy skirts and ran toward the woods. Only then did she realize that she hadn’t been Lady Louisa’s intended target. The other woman was launching herself at Sophia, slapping the mare’s flank that sent her bolting toward the trees and field beyond.
Kendra supposed that it was somewhat unusual for people to see a gentleman on a horse galloping through the streets of London with a woman riding astride behind him. But she didn’t give a damn about the shocked faces that she saw as they rode past, her skirts hiked up to her knees, her arms clamped around Alec’s waist.
Alec must have been thinking along similar lines. “You may have to marry me now. Your reputation is unlikely to survive this,” he said, his voice flying back to her.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about my reputation. Can you make this horse go any faster?”
“I don’t want to tire Chance out too quickly. Even if Lady Louisa killed Cordelia, there is no reason to believe Becca is in danger. They’ve ridden before without consequence.”
He was right. Except Kendra couldn’t shake the terrible fear that was curdling her stomach. A month ago she hadn’t anticipated the danger . . .
“I’m not going to lose another friend,” she whispered, and pressed her face into Alec’s back. “Ride faster. Please.”