CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY

I had not got far into my search when a man stepped out in front of me, blocking my path.

“Lady Felicity.” Edward Laing smiled. “How nice to see you. Won’t you dance?” It was clearly not a request.

“You’re here,” I murmured as he pulled me on to the dance floor. I hadn’t been sure whether he would attend or not. On the one hand, it had seemed unlikely he would put himself in harm’s way. On the other, as I was learning, Laing was full of surprises.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, the smile still on his lips. He looked every bit the affable gentleman, not a hair out of place, a perfect fit in his surroundings.

Was it possible we had it wrong? That the palace wasn’t the target at all? As I was twirled round the sweltering room in the arms of a villain, I found my head swimming.

“I’m only surprised,” I said stiffly, keeping my words careful. “You’ve been curiously absent.”

“Have you missed me, Felicity?” he asked. “Didn’t you get the flowers I sent?”

“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth. “And I noticed the men keeping watch too. They’ll report that I kept my end of our agreement.”

“I expected nothing less.” He inclined his head. “People are nothing if not predictable, particularly if one knows where to apply pressure.” His eyes moved over my shoulder and his smile widened. “Speaking of which, I think I must take my leave.”

With that, he came to an abrupt stop, bowing over my hand and striding away through the crowd.

I spun to see what it was he had noticed, and felt my stomach drop at the sight of Ash sauntering towards me in an impeccable dinner suit. A shock of fear that he was in danger mixed chaotically with a burst of pure joy at the sight of him, leaving me weak at the knees.

“What are you doing here?” I gasped, reaching for his arm at the same time as he asked, “Was that Laing? Why did he have his hands on you?”

When my words registered, his face showed surprise. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? You asked me to meet you here. Do you think I’d go to the trouble of wrangling an invitation and come to this hellish place for anything less? Do you have any idea how uncomfortable these suits are?”

I gaped at him. “ You’re uncomfortable?” I asked, gesturing wildly at the acres of fabric that were trying to consume me whole, and to the feathers that quivered on top of my head. “ You? ”

A smile tugged at Ash’s lips. “You look … fluffy.”

“That doesn’t matter at the moment,” I said, snapping back to attention. “What does matter is that I didn’t ask you to meet me here. Laing must have.”

“Laing?” Ash’s brow crinkled. “Why would he do that?”

“Possibly because the place is rigged with explosives, and he would be quite happy to get rid of you.”

To his credit, Ash absorbed this without any discernible surprise. “But wouldn’t that mean blowing you up as well?” he asked. “I thought he wanted to marry you.”

“Yes,” I said. “I did too, but either he’s decided I’m expendable after all, or I’m to be removed before the bomb goes off. He doesn’t know that we know it’s here. At least…” I paused. “I don’t think he does.”

With Laing you couldn’t be sure of anything. My head ached and I couldn’t blame it all on the ridiculous feathers.

Thankfully, Ash seemed to follow this garbled explanation. “So what you’re saying,” he said slowly, “is that I wore the dinner suit for nothing?”

A giggle slipped through my lips, a rising hysteria mixed with genuine gladness that he was here. “I think you look handsome,” I said, and it was perfectly true. Ash was drawing more than one set of eyes, his tall, rangy figure the picture of elegance. In other circumstances I would be happy to stand and admire him.

“Of course you do,” he said smugly. “Now, I suppose you’re searching for the device?”

“Yes,” I said. “And four eyes are better than two.”

Together, and as discreetly as possible, we began to search the room, including the tall flower arrangements that were scattered about the place. But there was nothing: no sign of where such a device might be concealed.

“I’ve checked all the arrangements along this wall,” Ash replied. “It’s not there. And I don’t see anywhere it could be. There’s so little furniture here, because they’ve left all the space for dancing.”

I was inclined to agree, when suddenly Mari and Oliver appeared at my side. Mari was pink-cheeked, while Oliver looked even more serious than usual. Mari gave me a brief nod.

“You found it?” I asked.

“Not us,” Oliver replied. “One of Max’s men. In the card room.”

“Ash!” Mari exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes narrowed. “And why are you all dressed up? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you even wear a jacket before.”

Oliver glowered. “Who is this man and why have you seen him in a state of undress?”

Ash’s eyes sparkled and he opened his mouth, but before he could say something outrageous, I cut him off. “This is Ash, and he’s not important right now. Take me to the bomb.”

“Now that’s hurtful,” Ash murmured as a smirking Oliver led the way.

Glancing over my shoulder at the room, I froze for a second as my eyes met Laing’s. He was standing a little apart from the crowd, watching us with a look of cool calculation.

The moment stretched between us, long and slow, and then … he smiled. Touching his fingers to his head in a jaunty salute that managed to be mocking, he turned on his heel and strode from the room.

What did it mean? I wondered. Does he know we’ve found the bomb? But if so, then why had he seemed so calm? So … pleased with himself?

“Felicity?” Mari’s voice snapped me back to the moment.

There wasn’t time to worry about it now, I told myself, and we exited the ballroom, heading for the card room. The Aviary would be keeping an eye on him; we’d found the device. We were almost safe.

A small, bemused-looking crowd milled outside in the corridor (though perhaps “corridor” was the wrong word for a space so big and grand), and two footmen stood in front of a nearby door.

“Heard them say something about a leaking pipe,” huffed one of the gentlemen in the crowd. “In Buckingham Palace! Should’ve ignored the wife and stayed at White’s where it’s civilized.”

“And I was about to trounce Scott with the hand I was holding,” his friend grumbled.

We slipped past them and through the door. The footmen stepped aside wordlessly, so I assumed they had already been briefed on our arrival.

Inside, we found several card tables set up in an ornate room. The place was empty except for Sylla – resplendent in a gown of amethyst tulle – and a man, who I took be one of Max’s.

“Fenton here found it a few minutes ago,” Sylla said without preamble. She gestured to the overturned table beside them. Hidden underneath was a slim wooden box of the same glossy walnut as the table itself. The top of the box had been removed, revealing the neatly packed dynamite, the tangle of wires and the familiar gold pocket watch.

I don’t think I had truly believed the bomb was real until that moment, and my breath caught. Ash’s warm hand slipped round mine and squeezed.

“How on earth did you find it?” I asked.

“I was thorough,” Fenton replied, a clipped soldier-like response that earned one of Sylla’s rare looks of approval.

Fenton kneeled beside the device.

“The good news is it looks as I expected.” He ran his eyes over the device, then with a finger traced the line of several of the wires.

Now that I was so close, I could hear the gentle tick, tick, tick of the pocket watch, each second bringing us closer to disaster. My palms were slick and I wiped them on my skirts.

“Pass me the clippers,” Fenton said, and Sylla held out the small wire cutters.

“You should all go.” Fenton turned to look at us over his shoulder. “Until I disarm this there’s still a chance it could detonate.”

“We’re fine where we are,” Sylla said calmly.

Fenton’s eyes moved to mine. In response, I crouched down beside him. I was going nowhere and I wanted to see what he was doing. Mrs Finch and Winnie would want a full report.

I felt almost alarmingly calm in this moment. I certainly wasn’t about to run away and let a palace full of people – including my mother – get blown up. What if there was some way I could help? Ash hunkered down at my side, pressed his palm to the centre of my back, a small, steadying touch.

Fenton turned his attention back to the bomb, his focus so complete that I was certain that, for him, the rest of us had ceased to exist.

It took only a couple of minutes, though it felt like hours. Fenton snipped through wires and carefully separated the various elements of the device, lining them up neatly on the floor.

“It’s done,” he said finally, and I felt Ash exhale a long, slow breath of relief.

“We’ll still need to be careful with the removal,” Fenton said as coolly as if he had carried out some simple domestic chore, rather than saving hundreds of lives, including the future king of England. “There’s enough dynamite there to blow a nasty hole in the palace. I’ll go and report to Max – he’ll want a quiet removal.”

With that, he stood up and left.

“He did well,” Sylla murmured, which was the most effusive thing I had ever heard her say.

“I saw Laing leave a few minutes ago,” I said, and she nodded.

“Your work here is done,” she said. “You may leave Laing to the Aviary.” The smile she gave me then was one that made me glad she was on my side.

Oliver and Marigold drifted away, his arm round her waist, whatever he was whispering in her ear making her giggle.

“Now what?” I asked Ash, feeling strangely deflated.

“Now, we dance,” he said, reaching for my hand and tugging me towards the door.

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