courteous conversation. He complimented them on their gowns, their hair, their jewels, asked them if they had enjoyed the wedding, and whether they lived in Semorrah or had just come for a visit. He was not conscious of flattering anyone until Nathan drew him aside at the reception and laughed at him.
“So you’ve become a flirt, now and very abruptly,” his brother said. “Are you planning to leave a trail of broken hearts among the merchants’ wives since you cannot find your angelica anywhere?”
“I’m just talking to them.”
“And a fine job you’re making of it. I heard Lady Susan tell her daughter she was half in love with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“But Gabriel, what has sparked this sudden amiability? I could have sworn you were bored out of your mind yesterday. And what’s more, so could everyone else.”
“I think she’s here.”
“Who’s here?”
“Rachel. I think—but I’m not sure.”
Nathan glanced quickly around him. “In this house?”
“Maybe. I felt—while we were singing, my Kiss flared up. And this morning—I think she’s in the house, or very near.”
“The Kiss has been wrong before,” Nathan said wryly.
“No, I don’t think so in this case. Josiah told me— But I must talk to all the women of the house, you see that, and I feel very clumsy about it. Unfortunately, it’s not a task you can help me with.”
“And you’ve had no response since the Te Deum this morning?”
Gabriel was silent. Nathan exclaimed, “You have! Is the lady married? Is that the problem?”
“It was very faint,” Gabriel said. “When I was speaking to the lady Mary—” Nathan laughed aloud, appalled. Gabriel grimaced. “I know. I complimented her on—her hair, I think it was— and she blushed, and I felt the slightest heat in my arm. But surely not enough—”
“That would truly be the greatest irony Jovah ever enacted,” Nathan said, his voice solemn but his eyes alight. “To unite you with Lord Jethro’s newly acquired daughter-in-law moments after you sing at her wedding—”
“But I think it can’t be her. Perhaps someone else she spoke to, someone who commented on her hair. Someone she was thinking of when I spoke to her. And it’s not as if I can ask her to list everyone she’s spoken to today—”
“Stay calm. The case is not desperate. In fact, it’s better than it was yesterday, don’t you see? How long do you think we can stay in Jethro’s house, searching? Can you make an excuse to remain another few days?”
“Raphael is leaving tonight, but Ariel and her sister will be here through morning. We can stay at least as long. After that— but it may do us no good to stay. She may be leaving with one of the other households. She may not belong here at all.”
“A guest?” Nathan asked, watching his brother. “Or—a servant of one of the guests?”
“Let us hope it is a guest, the adopted daughter of some minor merchant. I would hate to think my angelica had been serving as a lady’s maid any time these past eighteen years.”
“If she has, she has,” Nathan said philosophically. “Let’s get on with the search while everyone is still here.”
But Gabriel had no luck, though he managed to talk to virtually every female guest present—even those too young and those too old to be, by any stretch of diplomacy, twenty-five years old. The ball ended, the wedding was over, and everyone would be going home—and he was no closer to solving this most critical puzzle.
Very well, then. Gabriel did not like it, but it seemed she was among the serving class, most probably a visitor to the mansion, come in the train of some merchant’s wife. He slept lightly for a few hours, then rose to prowl the lower corridors of the great house, stalking up and down the cramped hallways where the abigails and lady’s maids were quartered. But the Kiss remained cool and dark against his arm. She was not there.
He returned to his room, to spend the
“So you’ve become a flirt, now and very abruptly,” his brother said. “Are you planning to leave a trail of broken hearts among the merchants’ wives since you cannot find your angelica anywhere?”
“I’m just talking to them.”
“And a fine job you’re making of it. I heard Lady Susan tell her daughter she was half in love with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“But Gabriel, what has sparked this sudden amiability? I could have sworn you were bored out of your mind yesterday. And what’s more, so could everyone else.”
“I think she’s here.”
“Who’s here?”
“Rachel. I think—but I’m not sure.”
Nathan glanced quickly around him. “In this house?”
“Maybe. I felt—while we were singing, my Kiss flared up. And this morning—I think she’s in the house, or very near.”
“The Kiss has been wrong before,” Nathan said wryly.
“No, I don’t think so in this case. Josiah told me— But I must talk to all the women of the house, you see that, and I feel very clumsy about it. Unfortunately, it’s not a task you can help me with.”
“And you’ve had no response since the Te Deum this morning?”
Gabriel was silent. Nathan exclaimed, “You have! Is the lady married? Is that the problem?”
“It was very faint,” Gabriel said. “When I was speaking to the lady Mary—” Nathan laughed aloud, appalled. Gabriel grimaced. “I know. I complimented her on—her hair, I think it was— and she blushed, and I felt the slightest heat in my arm. But surely not enough—”
“That would truly be the greatest irony Jovah ever enacted,” Nathan said, his voice solemn but his eyes alight. “To unite you with Lord Jethro’s newly acquired daughter-in-law moments after you sing at her wedding—”
“But I think it can’t be her. Perhaps someone else she spoke to, someone who commented on her hair. Someone she was thinking of when I spoke to her. And it’s not as if I can ask her to list everyone she’s spoken to today—”
“Stay calm. The case is not desperate. In fact, it’s better than it was yesterday, don’t you see? How long do you think we can stay in Jethro’s house, searching? Can you make an excuse to remain another few days?”
“Raphael is leaving tonight, but Ariel and her sister will be here through morning. We can stay at least as long. After that— but it may do us no good to stay. She may be leaving with one of the other households. She may not belong here at all.”
“A guest?” Nathan asked, watching his brother. “Or—a servant of one of the guests?”
“Let us hope it is a guest, the adopted daughter of some minor merchant. I would hate to think my angelica had been serving as a lady’s maid any time these past eighteen years.”
“If she has, she has,” Nathan said philosophically. “Let’s get on with the search while everyone is still here.”
But Gabriel had no luck, though he managed to talk to virtually every female guest present—even those too young and those too old to be, by any stretch of diplomacy, twenty-five years old. The ball ended, the wedding was over, and everyone would be going home—and he was no closer to solving this most critical puzzle.
Very well, then. Gabriel did not like it, but it seemed she was among the serving class, most probably a visitor to the mansion, come in the train of some merchant’s wife. He slept lightly for a few hours, then rose to prowl the lower corridors of the great house, stalking up and down the cramped hallways where the abigails and lady’s maids were quartered. But the Kiss remained cool and dark against his arm. She was not there.
He returned to his room, to spend the
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