From London with Love by Diana Quincy

Author:Diana Quincy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-02-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“I don’t suppose I could convince you to let me go and speak with Titus Bean alone?” Sparrow asked as he accompanied Emilia and Sophie to the gallery for her after-hours visit the following day.

“Of course not.” She took her worn leather satchel from him. “Besides, you should want me to go along. You need someone who knows a little something about the art world.”

She pulled out her supplies and settled in front of the museum piece to resume her work while her maid wandered over to examine something on the opposite wall. “Sophie,” she said to the maid, who was clearly curious to see more of the museum. “Pray go look around, there’s no need for you to mind me as if I were a child.”

She saw her lady’s maid catch Sparrow’s eye. Whatever passed between them seemed to satisfy the girl because she said, “Very well. I won’t go far.”

After Sophie was gone, Emilia asked, “Just how well do you two know each other?”

He reached for one of the pens she wasn’t using and fiddled with it. “We worked together in Paris.”

“What kind of work?”

“She’s a smart, resourceful girl and an excellent informant.” He absentmindedly tapped her pen against his open hand. “In my previous line of work, it helped immensely to have people like that at all levels of society.”

“Is that why you told Papa to hire her? So she could spy on me and report back to you?”

The tapping pen stilled. “Did your father tell you that?”

“No. I surmised as much.”

“Very clever of you.” The tapping resumed. “But no, Sophie is not there to spy on you. She’s there to help keep you safe.”

“As she did the other day by the Serpentine.” A chill passed through her when she recalled how close she and her father had come to being grievously injured…or worse. “If it hadn’t been for Sophie…” Her voice trailed off.

“Yes.” His face clouded at the mention of her recent brush with mortality. “As you’ve recently witnessed, having Sophie by your side is an immeasurable asset.”

“I know it too well.” She was grateful for Sophie’s quick actions at the park and had repeatedly told the girl so.

Sparrow wandered over, straining his neck to catch a glimpse of her sketch. “How is your drawing coming?” he asked, and she sensed he was keen to change the subject.

She shifted her body to hinder his view. “It’s coming along well.” While she focused completely on her work, he gave up on having a look at her sketch and appeared to content himself with wandering around to examine the nearby pieces on exhibit.

Emilia’s pen moved quickly over the sketch pad as she shaded in the area around the subject’s groin. So much fuss was made about what men had between their legs. Her grandmother had once told her men were superior to women because they could father children, which struck Emilia as ridiculous because everyone knew you needed a female to complete the act of conceiving a child.

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