Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick

Author:Amanda Quick [Quick, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Mystery, Historical
ISBN: 9780515139808
Google: tttIRXLVJH8C
Amazon: 0515139807
Barnesnoble: 0515139807
Goodreads: 237115
Publisher: Jove
Published: 2005-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

22

Thank you for seeing us without an appointment, Mr. Cuthbert.” Ambrose held a chair for Concordia and then took his own seat. He adjusted the crease in his trousers, placed the point of his walking stick on the carpet between his knees and stacked his gloved hands on the hilt.

Concordia murmured something vague and coolly polite. Herbert Cuthbert did not appear to hear the thinly disguised loathing in her voice, but Ambrose was very aware of it. Fortunately the black net veil of her hat concealed her expression.

“Not at all, sir,” Cuthbert said. An eagerness bordering on desperation glistened in his pale eyes. “As it happens I had some time free this afternoon.”

Ambrose suspected that the roles he and Concordia had chosen to play today, that of an upper-class couple of obvious means, was the real reason Cuthbert had discovered some free time in his appointment book.

Theodora had captured the essence of H. Cuthbert, he thought. He was, indeed, a less than prosperous man of affairs. Judging by the faded curtains and the shabby furnishings of his office, he could not afford to turn down potential new clients.

“Very kind of you,” Ambrose murmured into his beard.

The false hair, which included wig, mustache and whiskers, was laced with a great deal of silver and gray. It was not his favorite costume because it tended to become uncomfortably warm after a time. But it was an effective disguise. The impression of advancing years was further enhanced by his conservatively cut coat and the heavy scarf around his neck.

Hannah, Phoebe, Edwina and Theodora had examined him with great interest before he and Concordia left the house an hour ago. They had been delighted by the change in his appearance.

“You look even older than you really are,” Phoebe declared. “Rather like someone’s elderly grandfather.”

“But still quite fit for a gentleman of such advanced years,” Concordia had assured him in a suspiciously serious manner.

Cuthbert fixed him with an expression of attentive inquiry. “How can I be of assistance, Mr. Dalrymple?”

“I will come straight to the point. Mrs. Dalrymple and I are searching for a young lady. She is a distant relative who lost her parents some months ago and was sent to an orphanage. We wish to employ you to locate her.”

Cuthbert’s expression congealed. Something that might have been panic flared in his eyes. “Beg your pardon, sir. I’m a man of affairs. I handle financial matters. Wills, investments, that sort of thing. I do not search for lost relatives.”

“Not even when there is a fortune involved?” Concordia asked coldly.

Cuthbert was having some trouble breathing. His cheeks flushed an unhealthy shade of red. He fiddled nervously with the knot of his tie, evidently trying to loosen it.

“A fortune, you say, Mrs. Dalrymple?” Acute interest was rapidly replacing the startled fear in his expression.

“Indeed.”

She was taunting him, Ambrose thought. As he had feared, her animosity toward Cuthbert was threatening his plan. It was time to take control of the situation.

“We will not bore you with all of the unfortunate details,” he said smoothly.

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