Never Gamble Your Heart (The Secret Society of Governess Spies #2)

Chapter 30

A letter from the Dove arrived with the morning post. Frankie snatched it from the messenger and ripped it open in the corridor.

Frankie—

You brilliant, brilliant woman! I am at this very moment going through the Scott Silver investment scam with a fine-tooth comb. Your suggestion that the mastermind may be a politician sounds remarkably plausible. I am all too familiar with that breed of human and what they are capable of. The Chartist movement is gaining traction—the working classes want the vote, and it is making the House of Lords nervous. It is very possible someone has taken it upon himself to quell the “troublemaking women” in order to ease the tension. I am cross-referencing the information I already have against men in the Lords. In the meantime, I must alert you that several of my governesses have reported grumblings in their houses about that “upstart Turner woman.” You must be vigilant at the Houndsbury house party; marriage is not the only way to silence a woman.

As for your sister, the detectives I hired are following a new lead. I have recently learned that Lady Elizabeth Scarson ran away from her new husband. The detectives have yet to find your sister—but I suspect when they do, they shall also find Lady Elizabeth.

I will send a messenger along presently to collect the ledgers.

Stay safe, and do not take unnecessary risks.

—The Dove

Frankie took a deep breath and pressed the missive to her chest. The news that Lady Elizabeth had run away from her husband filled her with joy, because the Dove was right: It had Fidelia written all over it.

Frankie found Jasper in the grand entryway, having just returned from his morning errands. He smelled of horses and summer heat, and his hair was windswept and the heels of his Hessians were dusty. Frankie walked straight up to him and said, “I need to speak with you.”

Jasper nodded solemnly. “Does this have to do with what happened in the foyer yesterday?”

Frankie blinked. “What are you talking about?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I compromised you. Mayhap not in public, but it was done anyway. If you wish me to marry you, I will honor my duty.”

“As romantic as that is, I need to discuss something else.”

Jasper arched a brow. “You do not care that Cecelia caught me kissing your throat?”

Frankie flushed and wrinkled her nose. “It is not the first time she has seen us kissing. Do you want me to care?”

Jasper made a noise of disgust. The butler appeared at his side balancing a silver tray stacked with mail, and Jasper nodded his thanks as he took the correspondence and followed Frankie into the library. He was sorting through the letters when he said, “So what is the matter you wish to discuss?”

“Do you still have the invitation to the Houndsbury house party?”

“I believe it is somewhere, although I ought to have thrown it straight in the rubbish. House party indeed! I would rather eat a live frog.”

“We need to go.”

Now she had his attention. Jasper set the stack of mail on a side table and crossed his arms over his chest. “We do not need to attend a ton party that will host the biggest names and purses in the kingdom. Believe me, that way lies trouble. You are stirring up enough trouble right here.”

“All eight of the remaining Scott Silver investors that I told you about yesterday will be in attendance.”

“Even more reason to avoid it.”

“Jasper!” She huffed in exasperation.

Jasper withdrew the list of eight names she’d given him from his pocket. “Tell me more about this.”

Frankie launched into her discovery from the day before, and when she finished, Jasper studied her with a gleam of pride in his eye. “You clever fox. If it were socially acceptable to have a woman of good standing in my hell, I would woo you until you accepted a job at Rockford’s.”

Frankie brightened. “I can dress like a man.” Before he could tell her no, she shook her head. “No, never mind. I think I shall look forward to a nice, calm governess placement on the coast when this is over.” Far, far away from the scrutiny of the ton . Far enough that maybe without the constant reminder of her unworthiness, her sister would have a fair chance at finding a suitor.

Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and studied her with an expression she could not read.

Frankie cleared her throat and returned to the topic at hand. “My best shot at drawing out one of the Eight is at the Houndsbury party.”

“There are a thousand ways to compromise a woman at a house party. They become unruly at best. Madam Margaret or I would have to be with you every moment, and even then—what if I looked away at the wrong time and something happened to you? Something worse than being caught with one of those cads?”

His worry echoed the Dove’s, and it gave Frankie an uneasy feeling of foreboding. “I have no choice.” Not if she wanted to help stop them from ruining the lives of more women.

“There is always a choice.”

She could see that it was on the tip of his tongue to refuse to take her, when through the opened library door she spotted Cecelia drifting down the corridor, as bored as any fifteen-year-old girl could be. “THE HOUNDSBURY HOUSE PARTY WILL BE THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY EVENT OF THE SUMMER!”

“Why are you shouting, Frankie?”

Frankie leaned closer to the door. “THERE WILL BE A BALL AT THE END OF IT!”

Cecelia dashed into the room, her hands clasped over her chest and her eyes shining. “Oh, Uncle Jasper! Please reconsider letting us attend! I promise I will not scheme while I am there and I won’t do anything illegal if only you will let me go. I am terribly tired of rattling about this old house and it would do wonders for my image to be seen at the largest party of the summer. I have heard talk of it all over Town and I have been in a state of despair knowing that you will not allow me to attend. But with Miss Turner and Aunt Margaret with me, surely it would be appropriate.”

Jasper glared at Frankie. “That was low.”

She smiled innocently at him.

Jasper sighed and relented, as she knew he would. He did not have the heart to say no to both of them. “I will write to Lady Houndsbury expressly.”

Cecelia screamed and ran from the room, excitedly babbling about the new gowns that had been delivered the night before. Before Frankie could follow behind, Jasper laid a hand on her arm and said darkly, “If she causes trouble, I shall hold you responsible. Trust me, Frankie, you do not want to be indebted to me.”

Frankie shivered at the hot promise in his eyes, and thought that maybe she wouldn’t mind so terribly much.