“He’d say that if his head was cut off and on a pike,” Daffyd grumbled.

“If he could, yes,” the earl agreed. “He’s a remarkable man. He dresses like a dandy and carries on like a fop, but he’s pure steel beneath. He fences, rides like a demon, and spars with the Gentleman himself,” he told Daisy. “You wouldn’t know it from his conversation. He even worked with the government in secret when Napoleon was marching toward Paris again; dangerous work, too. Did you know that?”

“Aye,” Daffyd said. “What’s more, the little emperor has no hard feelings. Rumor says Lee’s visited him on Saint Helena since.”

The earl smiled. “The man could talk rings around anyone.”

“He’s a master of flattery, even I can see that,” Daisy admitted.

“It’s more than that,” Daffyd said. “He never says what he doesn’t mean.”

The earl shook his head. “Let’s not go on like this, it sounds like we’re at a wake. Lee’s very much alive, and I hope to keep him that way. So,” he said seriously. “Time to get down to nasty details. Do you think the knifing was an accident? A cutpurse who got frightened when Leland lunged at him? Or do you suspect something else?”

Daisy frowned, Helena looked surprised, but Daffyd nodded approval.

“Good question,” he said. “Could have been a mistake: The fellow was trying a simple slice and run, and that don’t make for accuracy. And Lee’s big and he was going at him like a charging war-horse. He could have just frightened the filching cove so much he struck out and cut by accident. I don’t know. Now, I do know we’re a pack of old lags, so we always have crime on our minds. If it was something else, was Lee the mark, or one of us? We’d be fools not to think about it.”

He stared at Daisy. “No one’s angry at me at the moment, that I know of. Anyone mad at you, Daisy? I’m not saying it was you the cove was after; think of the risks he took when he knifed Lee. If he’d nabbed a purse and thrown it away before he got caught, he might have got clean away. Even if he was caught with it, he’d have got off light if your purse was light, too. And ladies don’t carry too much lolly. But flashing a blade at a gent? Everyone knows it’s the nubbing cheat for attempted murder, if the victim’s a gent. Did he mean it or not? Was he just a rattle pate, or a murderer? We’ve got to think of everything.”

“Too right,” Daisy said. She saw Helena’s expression, and translated for her. “Pickpockets have to be careful they don’t nick too much money, or they’d be hanged if caught. And it’s certain hanging for trying to kill the gentry. We don’t know if the bloke was out for money or blood. Was he such a fool that he tried to stab anyone who might catch him? Or was he sent to do murder?”

She looked thoughtful. “As for me having any enemies… I’ve got some who are vexed with me, true. But they’re all back in Botany Bay, and far as I know none of them mad enough to be after my head. It was my hand they wanted. Although I think I see them everywhere, I’ve never really seen them anywhere.”

“Did Tanner have any relatives who disputed his will?” the earl asked.

Daisy made a sour face. “He had no kin, or so he said. That’s why he took a job in the Antipodes. And he had no will. He couldn’t write. The judge gave everything to me, because I was all there was. And I think, because the judge knew Tanner, he thought I deserved it.”

“And you, Geoff?” Daffyd asked. “Anyone angry with you these days?”

“The man who hated me is in his tomb, Daffyd. I don’t know of any others. But I’ll think on. I’ll also send word to some of our old friends who did settle here in London and ask them. And I’ll call in Bow Street. I’ll have to ask Lee, too,” he added unhappily. “But not today.”

“Don’t worry,” Daffyd said. “If I know my man, he’s already dreaming on it. He doesn’t miss much. In the meanwhile, it’s late. I’ll see the ladies back to their hotel. While I’m out I’ll get some old friends to watch their rooms tonight. Never fear,” he told Daisy.

“I don’t,” she said simply. “I’ve got my own blade up my sleeve. I didn’t think to flash it tonight, because it happened too fast. I’ve got a barker, too. I should have brought it with me, but I thought it was safe in London.”

“A barker?” Helena asked, frowning.

“A pistol,” the earl translated.

Helena gasped.

Daisy turned and rounded on her, her eyes flaming. “Yes, I carry a pistol, Mrs. Masters. I learned in a hard school. Lessons for living, they were, and they served me well because here I stand, don’t I? If it distresses you, then we’ll just have to part company.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Helena said, eyes wide.

“Aye, I know.” Daisy sighed. “Don’t pay attention to me, Helena. I’m tired and angry, but not at you. See how anger works? Likely it was a cull who got too excited and panicked who cut the viscount. He looked like murder on wheels when he came at the cove,” she told the earl. “But even if it wasn’t that, I’m ready. Who knows what enemies a person can make just by breathing? Tanner had dozens who wanted him dead, so I learned from him. He always went armed, hand and foot. And you, Helena?” she asked suddenly, “anyone mad at you?”

“My friends are all in the countryside,” Helena said nervously. “And I’ve no enemies. At least, so I think.”

“There it is,” Daisy said impatiently. “So. What time can we come back tomorrow?”

The earl and Daffyd stood looking at her, the earl with a slight smile, Daffyd with a wide grin.

“Heart of oak, no fainting or wailing, and no retreating,” Daffyd said with approval. “That’s the daisy, all right! You know what? I think all girls should go to Botany Bay instead of finishing school.”

The laughter that greeted this made Daisy feel better. But nevertheless, she looked into the shadows when she left the earl’s house a little while later.


Daisy was up early the next morning, even though she had not slept much, or well. That, she thought, was Leland Grant’s fault. She had gotten into bed and thought about his wound, wondered at his stoicism, and then, in the small hours, worried about his survival. He was such a cool, sardonic man, it was difficult to picture him helpless. And he was young and strong. But she’d seen death come to young and healthy people too many times. And so every time she’d closed her eyes, she’d thought of the possibility of seeing his knowing blue eyes closed forever. She’d only drifted off to sleep at last by promising herself she’d see him in the morning.

The man was an enigma; she was both attracted and distracted by him. But whatever he was, he’d offered his life for hers, and she didn’t forget a debt. At least, that’s what she told herself when she’d realized how upset she was by the attack on him, and how much he dominated her thoughts.

She dressed in shades of pink today, from her bonnet to her walking dress, colors carefully chosen to brighten a sickroom. She’d also bought a bag of sweets and a book the bookseller promised her was all the rage with the gentry these days.

She and Helena got to the earl’s house just in time to see Daffyd leaving it. He’d only had time to say good-bye to Geoff and tell Daisy that Leland was feeling better before he left London. That reassured Daisy. She knew that as much as he wanted to get home to his wife, he wouldn’t have gone if his half brother was in danger.

She picked up the hem of her skirt to go up the stairs when Helena stopped her with a light touch on the arm.

“A lady can’t visit a gentleman in his bedchamber unless they are related, however ill he may be,” Helena said apologetically.

“You hold with that, Geoff?” Daisy asked the earl, tapping a toe on the floor of his marble hall.

He bit back a smile. She looked ready to explode, her patience clearly held by a thread. He looked at her companion.

“I was hired to keep Mrs. Tanner company as well as to tell her how things were done in London,” Helena said helplessly. “I can’t approve what I know Society would not.”

Daisy looked mulish. “I know what’s proper but I can’t and won’t desert a friend in need. The viscount got cut trying to help me, didn’t he? Fine thanks if I let him rot away alone upstairs without so much as a thank you, because ‘a lady doesn’t go into a fellow’s bedchamber unless they’re related!’ I keep telling you-I’m not a lady! And if I were, I wouldn’t want to be that kind of one. Anyway, if he’s in bed with a knife wound in his chest, and I’m fit as a fiddle, I don’t see how he could compromise me! If he even wanted to, that is,” she added.

“Anyone would want to compromise you, Daisy,” the earl said gallantly. “Though I doubt even Lee’s up to it this morning. He’s not exactly rotting away upstairs, by the way. He’s well attended and is doing fine, but yesterday took a lot out of him and the doctor’s draught slowed him further. He’s no danger to anyone but himself, if he insists on doing too much.”

“What say you, Mrs. Masters?” he asked Helena. “Daisy clearly will have her way. I don’t want her climbing in the window. Why not agree and look the other way-metaphorically, that is. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Helena frowned. “But the servants…”

“Don’t gossip, they’re loyal to me, to a man and woman,” the earl said. “I trust them implicitly.” He saw her hesitation, and took pity. The woman obviously had morals and didn’t want to take her salary if she couldn’t provide what she’d promised.

“If Geoff thinks it’s all right, then, certainly, so do I,” Daisy announced.

Helena saw the fond look on the earl’s face as he looked at Daisy. “Very well,” she said with resignation, “What can I say?”

They went up the stairs, into the long hallway, and finally paused outside an oaken door.

The earl eased the door open. “Lee?” he called, “are you ready for company?”