It had taken him a long time to go to sleep, and the next morning, as he dressed and shaved, he found that Mary Bascombe was still on his mind. And her sisters, of course. They were, he thought, mere babes in the woods here in London, completely unprepared for the pitfalls of the city. Mary had said that they would contact their grandfather, but what sort of grandfather would fail to come to the docks to greet them, or at least send someone in his stead? He could not help but wonder if she had told him the truth or if they had some other plan entirely.
No matter what the girls had planned, Royce had a strong suspicion that they would find it more difficult than expected. Set down in a strange country, not knowing where anything was, they were bound to need help. And there were many men with far from savory intentions who would jump to help four such attractive females. Besides, even though the Boar and Bear was a perfectly respectable inn, it would not do for the sisters to go exploring—which was, when he considered it, precisely the sort of thing they would do.
With a sigh, Royce acknowledged that he would not be able to spend a peaceful morning until he had visited the Bascombe sisters again and elicited from them a more thorough explanation. And, he admitted to himself, he would not mind having another look at Marigold Bascombe. Therefore, after breakfast he set out for the Boar and Bear. Normally he would have walked or hailed a hack, for it wasn’t far, but today he had his carriage brought round, suspecting that before the day was over, he would once again have use for it.
He was somewhat surprised to find the girls tamely whiling away their time in the private parlor—Rose occupying herself with darning while Lily read aloud from a book and Camellia appeared to be repairing the sole of a ladies’ boot.
“Ladies.” Royce swept them a bow as he entered the room, quickly taking in the fact that Mary Bascombe was not among them. “I hope I am not interrupting you.”
“Oh, no!” Lily cried, closing the book with a thump. “I mean, well, yes, you are, of course, but I am very grateful. ’Tis the dullest book imaginable—there’s not a single mad monk or rattling skeleton or even a ghost.”
“Shocking.”
Lily laughed. “You may pull that face with me, but I warrant you would find it dreadfully dull, too. It’s horridly uplifting, all about a boy who wants better things, which seems to me perfectly reasonable, but then these dreadful things happen to him because of his pride. And really, that sort of comeuppance so rarely happens, don’t you think?”
“Too true.”
“Whereas one often meets mad monks,” Rose teased.
“Oh, you know what I mean. That’s not real either, but at least it’s fun!”
“In any case, at least I shan’t have to feel guilty for intruding upon you,” Royce said.
“Goodness, no.”
“Anything would be a relief after hearing about that watery Hubert,” Camellia agreed, then blushed a little. “That is—I didn’t mean that you were just anything, or anyone—I mean—”#p#分页标题#e#
Royce laughed. “Oh, no, don’t apologize. Your bluntness, Miss Camellia, is admirable.” He glanced around. “I see that your sister is not here.”
“No, she has gone to—” Lily stopped short. “I forgot. We are not supposed to tell you.”
“I see. Well, I would not wish you to go against your sister’s edict, of course. But I could not keep from worrying that I had abandoned you to your fate. I wanted to offer you my further help.”
“That is very kind of you,” Rose told him. “But Mary will be able to handle everything. At least … well …” She trailed off uncertainly.
“I see.” Royce studied the girls’ faces. “Has she been gone long?”
“Forever,” Camellia said, with a look of relief that told him he had found the precise point of their concern.
“It has been a good while,” Rose agreed, frowning. “But I am sure that she is all right. It probably takes longer to get places here. We are not used to a large city.”
“It’s been almost two hours,” Camellia pointed out. “How could it possibly take that long? She went in a hack.”
“Indeed? Well, then at least she should not get lost.” Despite his cheerful tone, Royce could not help but feel a twinge of alarm. “Can you not at least tell me to which area of town she was going?”
“We don’t know,” Rose confessed. “She asked the innkeeper, I think, where it was, and he told her, but she didn’t say what area that was.”