Jack laughed. “If you want to call it that. But you’ll have to wait until he returns to London. He’s away for a few months.”

Giles looked thrilled and swept her onto the small dance floor. Jack chuckled to herself. She’d have to warn Giles that he ought to watch one of her father’s matches before he took the plunge—if he was actually serious about such a silly notion.

THE NEXT DAY, JACK rode in the park again just in case her mystery man showed up, but she didn’t stay long this time. With a shrug, she decided she’d wasted enough time and thoughts on a man she didn’t know and would likely never know. It was time to forget about the curious stranger and get on with enjoying the Season.

Returning home, she found another single red rose on the side table in the front hall. Jacqueline laughed and ran upstairs with it, placing it carefully on her bed while she quickly changed out of her riding habit and into a comfortable skirt and blouse for the rest of the afternoon, until she had to dress for tonight’s party, which was still hours away.

She opened the new note and read:

Circumstances have conspired to thwart me. I must leave England on a family matter and don’t know when I can return, or if I should. Only you can draw me back to London, Jacqueline Malory. I merely require a little bit of hope that you might want me to return and you can give me that if you will come to bid me farewell. My ship sails at dusk with the tide and is anchored in the Thames near the London Docks at Wapping. I will await you at the Wapping dock stairs until the last minute.

Once again, he signed off with Yours truly. And once again he underlined truly. Jacqueline smiled to herself. Of course she was going to go and . . . She paused. The docks? At dusk?

She read the note again, then again. Why the devil would he suggest such an unsavory location? And his handwriting seemed vaguely familiar in this longer note. She compared it with his first note and still felt she’d seen it somewhere else, she just couldn’t remember—and then she did.

Her smile was back. She was definitely going to meet him at the docks; she just wasn’t sure how yet.

Chapter Eight

OUR PLAN IS IN motion, so there’s no turning back now,” Jeremy remarked. “Nervous?”

“Not even a little.” Jacqueline sat beside him in the chaise, offering a grin to prove it.

“I hope you’re right about this, Jack.”

“So do I. But in either case, we’re prepared.”

“But if it is the blackguard who abducted you and we capture him, just imagine what the elders will say. They’ll see I’m as capable of handling a dangerous mission as my father. Much obliged for the opportunity to prove it, minx.”

She grinned. “My pleasure.”

It was still a long ride to the docks at Wapping. But any of London’s docks or riverfronts could be dangerous even in the bright light of day, let alone near dusk, so she and her brother were well armed for their mission. And well protected. She glanced behind her to make sure all four of her big, muscular guards were keeping up with them on their mounts. They were.

And she hadn’t lied to Jeremy. How could she be nervous when she was exhilarated? No matter the outcome, she’d have answers tonight.

Jeremy was driving his two-wheeled, single-horse chaise, which only had a wide perch that was designed for one but could accommodate two. He used this vehicle to get around London by himself, when he was out and about without his wife and children, since he wasn’t fond of riding a horse. He’d brought it tonight so they could both sit on the wide perch, which would allow them to see far ahead of them when they neared the Wapping dock stairs.

A while later, Jeremy remarked, “You know, if this is actually a suitor of yours, he had time to call on you for any farewelling in a nice, safe parlor. Didn’t that occur to you?”

“My beaus get turned away at the door, so he couldn’t. He might have tried, then left the note instead.”

“No callers a’tall? Hell’s bells, Jack, I thought you were going to have a normal Season. This doesn’t sound the least bit normal.”

“I am, and I was, but—”

“Never mind, there’s nothing normal about the number of your suitors, either. You’re going to force Artie and Henry to retire, you know, if they’ve been having to slam the door shut so often.”

“Nonsense, those two old salts love slamming doors. They complained when they had to let my suitors in!”

Jeremy tsked. “I would have thought you, of all women, would have had no trouble a’tall dismissing the men you aren’t interested in marrying. You’re certainly not known for being subtle, Jack.”

“Nor was I. I warned them I’m not considering marriage proposals this year. They’re just being stubborn. So it’s not my fault if they figure out too late that when I say something, I bloody well mean it.”

“Did I strike a nerve? Or are you nervous?”

“Neither, but maybe you can tell me why a man thinks he can change a woman’s mind about him simply by persevering?”

“You’re joking, right? A no never discouraged me, it merely made me more charming.”

“So it’s just the chase that keeps men interested? Or more likely the competition in this case?”

“Probably both, but foremost, it’s simply you, minx. You’re the prime catch of the Season. It would also be the coup of the century for a young buck to marry James Malory’s daughter without getting trounced first.”

She laughed. “There is that, I suppose.”

“But what if you’ve got it all wrong,” Jeremy persisted, “and we only have to contend with an obnoxiously determined suitor. D’you actually favor this fellow above the others?”

She grinned. “I told you. He piqued my interest because he posed a mystery, professing to want to win my heart but refusing to give me his name. I’d like to solve that mystery before he leaves England.”

“Hell’s bells, Jack!” Jeremy stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. “You’re being played. Sounds like something I might have done if I was determined when I was still chasing skirts. He’s worked his way to the top of that ridiculously high stack of yours, hasn’t he? So his ploy worked. And I’m going to bloody well pummel him m’self if he’s lured you to the docks just to get you alone, away from his competition. He probably wants to steal a kiss before—have they been stealing kisses?”