Page 6 of Unmasking the Diamond
Standing in the center of the drawing room was Cloward. He was a compact man, shorter than Luca by half a head, his dark hair cropped untidily, and his red waistcoat stretched across his broad chest. He looked utterly out of place amid the carved wainscoting and gilt frames of the townhouse.
Cloward tipped his head in a quick nod. “My lord. Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
Luca dispensed with niceties. “Did you discover who Mr. Fairchild is and how I may contact him?”
“I did.” Cloward drew a folded slip of paper from his brown jacket pocket. “Trust me when I say that this information was not easy to acquire. The truth was locked away as though it were the Crown jewels. But I had no trouble picking the lock ofThe Morning Post’s editor-in-chief, Mr. Lyttelton.”
“Did anyone see you?”
The Bow Street Runner shook his head. “No, my lord. I know how to be discreet.” He extended the slip of paper with an almost ceremonial air. “If you require further assistance, you know where to find me.”
Luca accepted the paper, his fingers brushing the worn edge. He waited until Cloward’s boots had receded down the corridor before unfolding it.
One name stared back at him in stark ink.
Miss Charlotte Winslow.
Luca’s breath caught. “Good gads,” he murmured. Of all the people… Miss Winslow was Mr. Fairchild?
This revelation brought with it a far greater problem. Miss Winslow detested him. Her disdain was evident in every quip, every arched brow, every studied glance that dismissed him as though he were an irritant beneath her slipper.
How, then, was he to persuade her to write for his newssheets? To leaveThe Morning Postand joinThe London Gazette?
Luca pressed the slip of paper flat against his palm, his mind already whirring. He had hunted Mr. Fairchild for months, but what he had caught was no phantom. It was a woman—brilliant, vexing, and utterly opposed to him.
And if he wanted her pen, he would have to win over Miss Winslow herself.
2
Charlotte lingered just outside the dining room, her hand resting lightly against the doorframe as the sound of her sister-in-law’s laughter spilled into the corridor. Jane giggling. Again. Charlotte pressed her lips together, resisting the powerful urge to roll her eyes skyward. Her brother was hardly the sort of man to inspire peals of merriment—he was sensible, brooding, and dreadfully practical—but Jane appeared to find him endlessly diverting. Blasted newlywed couples.
But one could not stand in the hall forever. To sulk out here would only result in her starving, and Charlotte refused to let Alistair drive her from the table by his domestic bliss. Best to sweep in gracefully, endure the fresh torment, and obtain sustenance.
Lifting her chin, she glided into the room with all the poise of a practiced Society lady. “Good morning,” she said, her smile perfectly fixed in place.
Jane’s head turned, her eyes alight. “Good morning,” she replied warmly. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Well enough. And you?”
That question earned another bubbling laugh from Jane. Charlotte studied her curiously. She had never seen Jane in such high spirits, though perhaps she ought not to complain. Happiness sat well on her new sister-in-law—though the perpetual giggling did begin to grate on her ears.
Alistair lowered the newssheets and fixed Charlotte with a knowing look. “I am surprised you did not request a tray in your room.”
“I thought it best to remind you both that I still exist and reside in this townhouse,” Charlotte replied overly sweetly.
“As if we could ever forget,” Alistair responded lightly.
Charlotte slid into the chair opposite Jane and folded her hands neatly in her lap. “Now, what was the cause of such girlish mirth? I could hear you from the hall.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Jane said. “Alistair only made the funniest remark about cheese.”
Charlotte arched a brow. “Cheese? Pray tell, what is amusing about cheese?”
Jane shared an indulgent look with her husband before declaring, “A man who does not like cheese cannot be trusted. Surely, he must be hiding something.”
Charlotte stared at her for a long moment. “Fascinating. And you found that amusing?”
“I did,” Jane said with conviction.
