Henry rolled his eyes.
“Then I am not the right gentleman for her.”
“No, you are not.” Lord Falconer chuckled as Henry grinned. “By the way, I think your cousin is a fine fellow.”
Henry, trying to catch his breath, could not resist a little mockery.
“Is that because he told you repeatedly how much he admired your willingness to try new methods when it came to your fields and crops?”
Lord Falconer grinned, his eyes glinting.
“Mayhap. Though, I did wonder…”
His smile faded and he frowned, though his eyes remained on the crowd rather than returning to Henry. Waiting for some minutes, Henry sighed aloud when his friend said nothing, elbowing him lightly.
“Ouch!”
“Well?” Henry arched an eyebrow. “Tell me, what is it that you wanted to say?”
“It is only that I did wonder if he had anything to do with the ring?”
A line drew itself between Henry’s eyebrows.
“The ring?”
“Your father’s talisman ring,” Lord Falconer explained, sounding a little exasperated as he finally looked at Henry. “Could he have some use for it? After all, he has his own estate, but it sounded to me as though he was struggling with all the financial matters once his father died.”
Henry shook his head.
“I believe that there was some difficulty, yes, but it has since been resolved. He has worked hard and gleaned the benefits of it. Besides which,” he finished, as Lord Falconer nodded solemnly, “he was not present in London – or at the ball – when the ring disappeared.”
Lord Falconer’s shoulders dropped.
“That is true enough, I suppose. I had forgotten that.”
“So no, he could not have been responsible or even involved in the attempted theft of it, if that is what it was.” With a sigh, Henry shrugged. “I do not know what to make of it all. I think for the time being, I shall forget all about it and–”
“Where is your ring this evening?”
Henry blinked, lifted his hand and stared at his fingers – all of which were entirely without rings. Lifting his ring hand, he looked at his signet ring, thinking that perhaps he had placed the talisman ring on the right hand instead of his left but again, it was not there.
“Oh, no.”
“It is lostagain?” Lord Falconer threw up his hands. “Then itmusthave been your cousin. He–”
“It cannot have been him,” Henry interrupted, grasping his friend’s arm in an attempt to quieten him. “It was on my finger this evening before I left for the ball. My cousin has not been invited to this ball and I have danced at least five dances already tonight.”
Lord Falconer rolled his eyes.
“Why did you continue to wear it? If you knew that there was a chance it might be pulled from your finger – whether by accident or deliberately – then why wear it again?”
“Because… because it has been a few days since the first happening and I told myself I was being a little ridiculous.” Hearing that his excuse sounded weak, Henry closed his eyes tight and winced. “It seems as though I should have left it at home, however.”
“I remember you saying that you did not feel quite like yourself without it, but I did not realize that meant you had thoughts of wearing it again. I thought you would have kept it safe until the mystery had been solved.”
“I did not think therewasany mystery!” Groaning, Henry rubbed one ringless hand down his face. “I believed it had slipped from my hand accidentally. Except now… now it seems that I have had it taken from my hand.”
Lord Falconer nodded.
