Forbidden to Love the Duke(21)
Still, Ivy couldn’t help noticing that Rue seemed to be stealing glimpses of people in the street as if she were searching for someone she knew.
But Rue didn’t have any friends in London. At least none that Ivy was aware of. She couldn’t be looking for an acquaintance, unless, against all odds, she had met someone during the night. Her sister in a rendezvous with a stranger? Never. Rue chased away callers from Fenwick.
* * *
Sir Oliver Linton found it disconcerting that a lady would ignore him in public. The unfortunate woman appeared unaware of his fame. In this case, however, perhaps it was for the best. Upon reflection, he decided that being seen entering a pawnbroker’s shop did not enhance his reputation, and so he drove about for a good half hour before he parked, leaving his adoring passenger to manage for herself. Alone, he walked back, his head bowed, to the shop he frequented more and more these days.
The pawnbroker did not glance up at his entrance. “Good afternoon,” Oliver said with false cheer. “Any steals today?”
“For me or for you, sir?”
Oliver approached the counter, his gaze lighting on the strand of pearls laid out by the man’s gnarled hands. “Are those genuine?”
“Yes,” was the curt reply. The pawnbroker rubbed a soft cloth over the necklace and slipped it into a bag. “A sad transaction, though.”
“I’m no judge of jewelry, but that necklace appears to be very old. Did it belong, by any chance, to the lady in the gray cloak I noticed outside?”
The pawnbroker looked up steadily. “It was her last valuable possession, or so she believes.”
Oliver laid his elbow on the counter. The pawnbroker nudged it off. “Is hers a tragic tale?”
“As you shall never meet, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. She lives far from here in an old manor. As legend goes, in days past, a royal visitor to the house hid a treasure inside. As a thank-you for the family’s hospitality.”
Oliver mulled this over. “Wouldn’t the visitor have gifted the owner in gratitude before leaving?”
“I have told you enough. History has it that the royal visitor escaped the house an hour before his enemies descended upon it.”
“Then there wasn’t time to explain.”
“One assumes.”
“Does the young lady know of this?”
The pawnbroker evaded an answer. “I underpaid her.”
“How ruthless of you. She seemed to be an innocent lady in dire straits.”
“And that is why she is grateful to accept whatever I offer her.” He gave a droll laugh. “I show you the same courtesy.”
Oliver glanced up at the weapons mounted on the wall above the counter. “Except that I’m not a gullible young lady in dire straits.”
“You’re always in trouble, sir. That’s why I enjoy your visits. By the way, Lady Moffatt’s husband was in the other day. He noticed the cuff links you had pawned and remarked that his wife had bought him a similar pair.”
Raising his brow, Oliver turned briefly to watch a potential customer peer into the window. For an instant he thought the owner of the necklace might have changed her mind. “So,” he said, returning his attention to the pawnbroker. “Did he buy the cuff links back?”
“No. He was looking for a bracelet as a surprise for his mistress. He was also looking for the man whom he suspects cuckolded him.”
Oliver shook his head. “London is such a sinful city, isn’t it? Where did you say the lady who pawned the necklace lives?”
“I didn’t. Leave her be. At least when she comes to me, she returns home with something to show for her trouble.”
“Do you believe that the tale of the hidden treasure is true?”
“I’d stake my life on it.”
At that moment the doorbell gave a discordant ring. The pawnbroker made a face, indicating Oliver had overstayed his welcome. Then he turned to greet his new customer. Oliver tipped his hat and inched to the end of the counter where an account book lay open. A smudge of fresh ink drew his eye to the last entry.
Receiv’d a double strand of pearls from Lady Ivy. Fenwick Manor. Kent.
Oliver murmured his farewell and hurried out into the street. He should be sitting in his garret working on the ode he had promised to write for Lord Moffatt on the occasion of his fortieth birthday. But Oliver had spent the advance a month ago, and his lordship was neither pretty nor in need of rescue.
Oliver, however, was in need of funds to buy those pearls and return them to their owner. This was the second time today he’d been warned that his affair with Lady Moffatt had been discovered by her husband. It wouldn’t hurt to have a place to escape to in the country. Oliver had fought and won two duels in the past year. There was no point in pushing his luck.