“Beck,” she’d hissed, and hit him on the shoulder. Beck had been partaking of the whisky and appeared to be arguing with Lady Maisie.“Ouch,”he said, rubbing his shoulder.
“He just went through that servants’ door.”
“What servants’ door?”
Lila had to point for him to see, and when she did, the door opened and Miss Raney slipped through. Beck gasped with shock like a young girl. “Come, come,” he said.
“Where are we going?” Lady Maisie asked.
“You are staying right here, darling.”
“No,” she said, and stubbornly followed along as they made their way around the perimeter of the room and to the servants’ door. But just as Lila was reaching for the door, she heard her name. Lord Raney was approaching, all smiles.
Beck instantly saw the conundrum. “Maisie, quick as a lark—make certain Lord Raney doesn’t follow us,” he said, and nudged his daughter forward.
“How am I to do that?” she asked.
Lila wasn’t going to lose this moment. As Beck and his daughter sorted things out, she opened the servants’ door and stepped through into a poorly lit, short hallway. At the end of it was another door. It was a passage for servants.
“Lady Aleksander?”
Lila whipped around—she couldn’t believe it—Lord Raney had followed her through the servants’ door. Where was Beck? “Oh, my lord!” She smiled. “You must forgive me. I was looking for the ladies’ retiring room.”
“I think you’ve gone the wrong way. I’m certain it’s at the other end of the dining room. This is a service passage.”
“Are you sure? I was positive it was this way,” she said. “I’ll just—”
Lord Raney was a gentleman. “Do you think so?” he said as he strode forward to push open the other door.
“What’s happening?” Beck whispered loudly behind her, causing Lila to jump.
She glared at him. “Could you not have kept him from coming through?”
“Did you see how determined my daughter was?” he shot back. “And really—”
“What the bloody hell!” Lord Raney’s voice thundered through the small hallway.
Lila and Beck looked at each other, then sprinted after him.
They burst into the room to find Flora Raney and Daniel Woodchurch standing guiltily together. Her face was red, his beard and hair were mussed. Her skirt was wrinkled where it had been bunched up around her waist. It was terribly obvious what had been happening in this room. Lila gasped. “Dear God! Miss Raney! Mr. Woodchurch!”
“I will kill you,” Lord Raney shouted, and lunged for Mr. Woodchurch. Miss Raney shrieked and tried to throw herself in front of Mr. Woodchurch. Beck lunged for Lord Raney, stopping him before he could inflict bodily harm on anyone.
But the damage was done.
Lila, Donovan, and Beck had never meant to create a scandal. They’d only wanted to catch the lovers and threaten them in exchange for their cooperation. There was a lot of shouting and crying until Lila convinced Lord Raney and Mr. Woodchurch that the conversation should be had at the Woodchurch house on Portman Square. She went out to fetch Lady Raney, and they met the others through a back entrance to the mews.
But their attempts to keep it under wraps were pointless; whispers were already firing through the crowd. Apparently, they were not the only ones who had noticed the growing infatuation and absences surrounding Miss Raney and Mr. Woodchurch throughout the Season. If there was one thing thetonloved, it was a proper scandal.
THISTIME,it was Queenie who told Hattie what no one else would. “You heard about Miss Raney, didn’t you?” she asked at the buffet table.
“Miss Raney? Do you mean Flora?” Hattie laughed. “No, what?”
Queenie had a peculiar smile on her face. “She was caught in a compromising position with someone who is all wrong for her.”
The bottom of Hattie’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean, caught?”
“What do you think I mean, Hattie? And by her own father, too.”
