Alex blushed prettily, peeking around a cream-colored evening gown. "Yes. How did you know?"

"You've hardly been the model of discretion," Vivi pointed out.

Alex held up a turquoise-colored riding habit for Vivi and Ella to consider. "Am I that obvious?"

"Only to those who know you best," Ella said, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head at the dress and pointing, instead, to the buttercup-colored Empire walking dress that Vivi was holding. "That one."

Within minutes, Alex was dressed and the three girls had made their way to the terrace of the manor, where they joined the duchess and Will, who were seated under a large linen canopy, out of the sun. As soon as they dropped into the chairs set out for them, Alex announced, "I'm famished!"

The duchess reached for a nearby teapot and poured her daughter a cup of tea while continuing to list the tasks she needed to complete prior to the arrival of several early guests that afternoon. "I'm still not entirely sure how to arrange all the rooms — I thought I had it all complete, then realized that I placed Lady Twizzleton and Lord Vauxwel in adjoining rooms. That won't do." She placed two biscuits on the saucer and passed the makeshift breakfast to her youngest child.

"Why can't you just move one of them to an unused room?" Will queried.

"My dear boy, there aren't any unused rooms."

"Mother!" Alex exclaimed around a mouth filled with biscuit. "Whatever do you mean, there aren't any rooms? There are twenty-three bedchambers in this house."

"Twenty-four, actually. It seems the party has grown in size."

"It certainly has! How many young, eligible men did you invite?" Alex's exasperation showed.

"Not as many as I would have liked," the duchess replied. Will snickered, only to stop immediately when she explained, "I had to invite eligible young ladies as well... and their parents, of course."

Alex smiled sweetly at her brother. "Of course. Ah, sweet justice. You have to deal with girls and mothers."

Will scowled. "At least I'm not the only eligible male in attendance."

"To that end, where are Nick and Kit and Blackmoor?" Alex queried, attempting to sound casual.

"Christopher and Nicholas are still abed," the duchess replied, shaking her head. "I'm sending their valets to wake them in a quarter of an hour if they fail to emerge on their own. As for Blackmoor, he was up very early to go back to Sewell hall and check on some estate affairs. I expect him back before this evening's dinner."

"Indeed," Will agreed, "Blackmoor swore he'd not leave me to face the wolves alone."

Alex sipped her tea to cover her disappointment that she wouldn't see Blackmoor until the evening. She had been hoping to spend some part of the day with him — she would have settled for seeing him at a distance. She sighed quietly into her teacup, wondering if he would come back sooner rather than later to see her.

Her brother gave her a wry look. "I feel exactly the same way," he said sympathetically, clearly thinking that she was accepting her fate as the unmarried daughter of an inveterate matchmaker.

Alex understood his meaning and smiled to herself, amused by his misinterpretation. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"Well, both of you will have to endeavor to overcome your disappointment," the duchess said distractedly, looking down at the list in her hand. "Eleanor, Vivian, do you girls mind my moving you to the adjoining rooms? That way, I can put Lord Vauxwel between Gavin's uncle and Lord and Lady Waring, and Lady Twizzleton next to the Stanhopes."

Alex's head snapped up at her mother's words. She met Ella's gaze to confirm that she'd heard correctly. Ella nodded mutely.

"Mother, did you say Lucian Sewell will be here?"

"Indeed, I did. I know he's an odd man, but I couldn't very well invite Blackmoor and leave him off the list. especially since he's been such a help since the earl's death."

Vivi coughed to cover her innate response to the duchess's words. Alex, a chill running down her spine, spoke, choosing her words carefully. "Of course. I was merely surprised. When do you expect him to arrive?"

"My understanding is that they are on their way presently and should be here not long before dinner."

"They?" Ella blurted out.

"He and Baron Montgrave. They seem to be very close. I thought it might make Lucian more comfortable."

"I'm sure you did," Alex replied, her voice strained.

"Girls?" Her mother spoke, looking from Vivi to Ella. "You don't mind having adjoining rooms, do you?"

Ella shook her head as Vivi answered, "Not at all, Your Grace. We would be happy to share."

"Excellent. I'm off to make those changes, then." The duchess stood, then turned back to her children. "Do not go far, you two. And do not let your brothers disappear, should you see them. I may well require your combined assistance. In fact, William —" He groaned, knowing that he was about to be assigned a task. "Why don't you go and wake them?"

"I shall go as soon as I have finished reading this article." He nodded toward the paper he'd been trying to read. Seeming to accept that compromise, the duchess turned on her heel and exited the terrace into the house.

Alex watched her go, then turned to Will, buried in his newspaper. Cautiously, she asked, "Will, how do you feel about Blackmoor's uncle?"

"Strange fellow, but harmless," he said, distracted. "I suppose I understand why Mother invited him, but I find it very odd that he would attend. As helpful as the uncle has been, Blackmoor is thoroughly able to see to his duties himself by now. I think it's time for him to return to his prior life."

"Indeed," Ella said, meeting Alex's eye.

With a shake of the newsprint, Will closed the paper, folded it to its original position, and placed it on the table in front of him. Raising himself up to his full, looming height, he offered a short bow to the girls and spoke, taking two more biscuits from the tray. "I suppose I ought to raise the miscreants. Be warned... when we return, they shall devour everything in sight." Garnering a smile from the three friends, he entered the house to find his brothers.

Alex snatched another biscuit off the tea tray herself, nodding her agreement with Will's prediction. She needed to eat her fill before Nick and Kit arrived, or she'd have no chance of leaving this particular meal full.

Once Will was out of earshot, she spoke quietly to her friends. "Lucian Sewell and the Baron Montgrave are on their way here? I would guarantee they aren't coming because of my mother's reputation as a hostess."

"Likely not," Vivi said. "I think that when Blackmoor returns from the hall, we should sit our fathers down and discuss our next steps."

"Agreed."

Ella nodded, then pulled a familiar volume from her reticule, saying, "Well, I can cross one next step off of our list. I spent much of last evening reading A History of Essex.  And guess what I discovered."

"What?" Alex leaned forward, hoping for a major revelation.

"Absolutely nothing. Aside from the fact that Essex has a thoroughly uninteresting history." She placed the book on the table between them.

Alex lifted the book and ran her fingers over the embossed letters on its cover. "I gave the earl's copy back to Blackmoor. Where did this copy come from?"

"Your father's library. It's incredible to me that there isn't a house in the county that doesn't have a copy of this exhaustively boring book. Even more so that the earl would have used it for his last missive."

"Perhaps it had something to do with his love of the land," Vivi suggested.

Ella shook her head. "Perhaps, but it simply seems too random. There has to be a reason he chose this book."

The two girls continued their hypothesizing as Alex turned the book over and over in her hands, reviewing the last few days in her mind, trying to remember everything she could about the book and where they had found it. Ella was right. This was not random. Yes, it had been luck that they had found it... but it was no accident that caused the earl to choose that book to carry his final words. What was special about a book that could be found everywhere?

Ella's voice echoed in her mind, There isn't a house in the county that doesn't have a copy.  As the words turned over in her brain, she remembered Gavin saying the same thing — Every household in the county must own a copy.

"That's it!" Alex exclaimed, her voice filled with astonishment. She looked up at her friends, both of whom were wide-eyed. "The earl didn't choose the book because it was so close to his heart. He chose it because every house has a copy! It's not the volume in London that has the information. There must be a second copy at Sewell hall!"

The words came in a flood of anxiety. The book held the information that would damn Montgrave and Lucian Sewell and save Blackmoor. She had to get to it — and to Blackmoor — before anyone else did. With the men set to arrive that evening, before dinner, she had only a few hours to do so. She stood from the table, so quickly that she toppled her teacup, leaving Vivi to right it for her. "I have to find Blackmoor. Now." Ella stood. "We will help you."

Alex shook her head. "No. This, I have to do alone. I don't know what will be in that book but, whatever it is, it is bound to upset him. He has to face that without an audience." She clasped Ella's hands, looking from her to Vivi. "Help me by keeping my mother off the scent? Again?"

"Because we were so excellent at doing so the last time," Ella pointed out wryly.