He gave her a sheepish smile. “Under my bed.”
“I wager you a penny if you go to fetch it right now, it’s missing.”
Duncan shook his head. “You think she’s bold enough to steal into the men’s quarters and into my room and take the bowl?”
“I think she’s terrified. Unless she is a very good actress, she doesn’t want to hurt Johnny any more than you or I.”
Duncan stared out over the park, squinting at London in the distance. “If she’s a puppet, we need to know who is controlling the strings.”
“I’ve thought about that. I don’t know how they communicate; else we could trick her into meeting us at the summer house.”
Mention of the summer house conjured memories of Lucy’s mouth on his, her body pressed against him. He pushed the thoughts away. “If we can’t lure her away, we take her.”
Lucy gave him a sharp look. “We abduct her?”
“With Lord John’s permission, of course.”
“And question her, I assume. Where? The summerhouse?”
“It’s far enough away from the house that no one will wander by,” he said. “The problem will be in taking her without being seen.”
Lucy put her hands on her hips. “If we can’t abduct someone in the middle of the night without being caught, we’re not fit to be Royal Saboteurs.”
He nodded. Now that they had a suspect, he was eager to act. “Tonight?”
“Yes. Here’s the plan.”
She outlined it for him. As always, her thinking was simple and straightforward and frightfully clever. He went over it with her to be certain he understood, then gave a look at the sky. “I must get back. Do you have time to speak with Lord John and appraise him of the situation?”
“Yes. Meet me at half past one.”
“I’ll be there.”
***
HOURS LATER, LONG AFTERDuncan’s body wanted to collapse in bed, he stood in the dark kitchen and watched the coals in the oven turn from red to black. He wouldn’t have known Lucy was there except he sensed a change in the air. When he turned, she was standing in a corner of the room.
His mouth went quite dry at the sight of her. They’d agreed to dress in dark colors and pull black hoods over their face to obscure their features in case they were seen. He’d brought the hood and dressed quickly in black trousers, dark linen shirt, and black coat. His ginger hair was under a black tricorn.
He’d assumed Lucy would wear a dark dress, but then he should have learned long ago never to assume anything with Lucy. She stood in the corner wearing a loose black shirt tucked into a pair of black breeches. Black boots reached to her knees, and she’d tied a dark scarf over her forehead and wrapped it under her tail of dark hair.
“What the devil are you wearing?” he asked. “You look like a pirate.”
She shoved a fist on one hip. “It was the best I could do with what I had. You didn’t expect me to try and abduct a woman in full skirts?”
He had expected that, but he could appreciate that breeches would make things much easier. Not for him, of course. Now he had a distracting view of her legs. When she gave him her back, he’d have an even more distracting view of her bottom. How was he supposed to focus on their mission?
“Is there a problem?” Lucy asked.
Duncan shook his head. He was a Royal Saboteur, a professional. Even if Lucy was running about naked, he should be able to complete his mission.
“No problem at all. I was waiting for you to lead the way. Would you rather I do it?”
It was dark, but he had no trouble reading the withering look she gave him. “Follow me,” she whispered and moved out of the kitchen. He could admire how, without her skirts, she moved silently. She crept as delicately as a cat, keeping close to the wall, until they reached the door to the chamber Ada shared with two other maids. Lucy had told him one was the kitchen maid and the other Molly. She’d waited for his reaction when she’d said Molly’s name, but Duncan hadn’t given her one.
Molly hadn’t so much as looked at him since he’d caught her outside the summerhouse. That was fine with him. It meant he needn’t think about her. Until now.
Lucy had conceded that Duncan was the larger and stronger of the two and would be best suited to physically taking the nursery maid from her bed. Lucy would keep watch and lead the way.
