A Lily Among Thorns(57)

Oh. Elijah hid his relief. “René, it would kill me if he found out. If any of them found out. It would kill my father. He’s a clergyman.” He took a deep breath to still the tremor in his voice. “I wish—I want—it’s over. It has to be over.” Saying no to René was harder than he had anticipated. Elijah reminded himself that this man worked for Bonaparte. That every day, Englishmen died because of him. “I’m sorry.”

Unexpectedly, René nodded. He didn’t even point out that in Paris, they had made love on the other side of a paper-thin wall from René’s mother and sister—because after all there had been nowhere else—trying so hard not to make a sound and trying even harder not to laugh at their own efforts. Elijah wondered for the thousandth time if they had heard, if they had known. If they had cared. “Very well,” René said. “But if you change your mind . . .”

Elijah tried to smile. Traitor, he thought viciously, and didn’t know if he meant René or himself. “I know where to find you.”

René didn’t smile back. “I think that you should leave now.” Elijah nodded, ducked his head, and put his hand on the doorknob.

René did smile then. “You cannot go like this.”

“What?”

René nodded his head in the general direction of Elijah’s—oh. In the general direction of Elijah’s open waistcoat and rumpled shirt. Elijah tucked in his shirt. He tried to fasten his first button and fumbled, twice. He swore under his breath.

“Let me.” Gently, as one would for a child, René buttoned Elijah’s waistcoat. “Now raise your chin.” Elijah did, and René retied his cravat. He gave him a light push. “Now go.”

Elijah went. He found his cravat pin under his bed the next morning.

Solomon was awakened by someone pounding on a door. He opened his eyes and blinked, startled to discover his bed curtains had changed color overnight. Then he remembered that he was in Serena’s bed. Alone, it would appear. The pounding was coming from his own door in the other room.

“All right, I’m coming, possess thy soul in patience.” Since they certainly couldn’t hear his mutter, and he lacked the energy to yell, the pounding didn’t stop. He got up and tiptoed back into his room, shutting the connecting door as softly as he could so the person knocking wouldn’t realize he’d been anywhere but his own bed. Then he threw on his dressing gown and opened the door.

Elijah was in the hall, fully dressed. His presence didn’t feel like any less of a miracle than it had yesterday.

“‘He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him,’” Solomon said groggily.

Elijah ignored this. He pulled a note from his pocket, holding it in front of Solomon’s as yet unfocused eyes.

I’ve considered, and I’ll advise against arresting Re Sacreval just yet if Lady S. can provide useful help in bringing down his network. We should discuss this in an open space.

“A picnic?” Solomon said unenthusiastically. “What a lovely idea. I’m sure Serena would love to.”

Elijah smiled, but he didn’t look as if he’d slept well.

Serena really ought to be home supervising breakfast, not in the Green Park with Solomon and his brother. Especially with Ravi as their newest waiter. He might need her if any of his old customers showed up.

She had supervised breakfast every day for the past five years, and now she had failed to do so for three days running. Sophy was perfectly capable of dealing with most things, but if someone started trouble . . .

It was still early enough to be rather chilly, and they were almost the only people in the park. Serena wished she had brought gloves. Still, cold tongue, warm bread, and hard-boiled eggs made a satisfying meal, and none of them seemed to want to get round to business. If Serena was right about the nature of René and Elijah’s relationship, no doubt Elijah was about as eager to see René hang as she was. But by the time she pulled Ying’s strawberry tarts from the bottom of the basket, she was cold and guilty enough to want to get back to the Arms as soon as possible. “Well then,” she said. “Solomon said you wanted to speak to me.”

“Yes,” Elijah said. “Sol tells me it would not be in your best interests right now to have Re—Sacreval arrested.”

“Since he legally—well, illegally, really—owns the Arms, no. It would not be.”