Page 77 of My Fair Lord

“I don’t know,” Ned replied truthfully. He reminded himself to find a source of news from England. If he was a free man, he was tempted to stay in America indefinitely. If he wasn’t, then the implications of that would give him lots more to consider regarding Florence.

“I’d like it if you stayed,” Florence said. “I should tell you what happened just before you arrived.”

Ned slowed in anticipation. “Yes, I saw you talking to someone. I wasn’t sure if I should rush across the street and save you from being abducted but you seemed fine.”

“It was the strangest conversation. The man approached me and asked if I was the Miss Wakechild who had arrived on theCity of Bruges. When I refused to confirm it, he told me he is a clerk employed by an attorney who is acting on behalf of an English solicitor. He was looking for the whereabouts of the heir presumptive who was on the ship. He asked again so I thought there was no point in denying it.”

Ned’s heart sped up. “Really? Why did he come looking for you?”

Florence shrugged, as if being approached by clerks was a perfectly normal turn of events.

“I don’t think he’s just looking for me. He mentioned that I had been seen in the earl’s company and someone had told him we had been dancing together. I assume he’s going to try find all the passengers who were at the Captain’s Dinner that he can. There must be quite a number of us who are still in the city. I hope he won’t have to travel all over the country trying to track them down. It could take months. Maybe you should offer to help as you know what people on board looked like.”

“Did he say what he wants?” Ned asked. Something nagged his brain.

Florence grew excited. “It appears Mr Colling’s status as heir presumptive has changed and he is now in fact an earl.”

“An earl? I thought you told me he was expecting a viscountcy.” That was it. She’d said it and he hadn’t really noticed.

Florence pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Yes, I did, now you mention it. How strange. I thought he was a viscount but the clerk definitely said he was now an earl.”

“Maybe he got it wrong, or maybe you were wrong in the first place,” Ned suggested. His heart began to drum.

Florence twirled her parasol nonchalantly. “Either way, it doesn’t matter because I didn’t know where he was, so I couldn’t help. How frustrating for him, to come into his title after all these years and no one can find him to tell him.”

“Assuming he wants to be found,” Ned pointed out.

“You’re right, perhaps he has disappeared intentionally.” She gave a light-hearted laugh. “Wouldn’t that be funny. Like something from a melodrama. A disappearing nobleman.”

Ned gave a thin smile.

“So it appears our friend Mrs Carmine made a good choice after all. I imagine Mrs Carmine will lose no time in becoming the countess of … of where? Did your attorney say?” he asked casually.

“I don’t know,” Florence said. “I wonder if he will marry her. Now Mr Colling has his title, there’s nothing to say he will still want her. Perhaps he will prefer to consider a more appropriate match.”

She sounded so downhearted that Ned was quite startled.

“If he loved her before he had a title, I can think of no reason why he would not continue to do so,” he replied, drawing her arm slightly closer beneath his. “A man who finds love without the weight of wealth or status behind him would be an absolute fool to give it up when he was assured it.”

Florence smiled up at him. “You sound quite the romantic.”

Ned said nothing. He’d never considered himself as a particularly romantic soul but in Florence’s company he would quite like to discover the extent of his skills in that regard.

“I suppose Mrs Carmine is not too young and he will need to think of his heirs,” he mused.

“Now you sound just like my father!” Florence exclaimed. From her tone, it clearly wasn’t a compliment. “He’s obsessed with my brother providing an heir for the company. Is that all that matters to men?”

“It’s important,” Ned pointed out. “Take Mr Colling. He has lived in a state of uncertainty, not knowing if he can continue his life as it is or if he will be elevated to the peerage. Would he want to inflict that curse onto another at his passing?”

“I suppose not,” Florence said.

Ned’s stomach was rolling and if he’d been alone, he would have leapt onto the nearest omnibus to go in search of the attorney.

“Did he leave his name?” Ned asked, knowing full well that Dottie was in possession of a card.

“Mc or Mac something,” Florence said. “I have a card, only I gave it to Dottie.”

They both looked ahead to where Dottie was entering the hotel.