“Perhaps I should sort things out with Lenore first,” Phin said. “She’s enough of a minx to come up with the perfect explanation for the mad business.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Freddy said, just as the baby decided, for no apparent reason at all, to cry. “Rose, darling, I swear to you, your good name will not be sullied as the silly adults play their silly games,” he told her.
Phin couldn’t help but smile as baby Rose fussed even more. “I’ll leave you to your company, if you don’t mind,” he said stepping sideways and heading toward the hall. “I’m off to Trafalgar Square to ask an engaged woman to throw over her fiancé for me.”
Freddy laughed, but he wasn’t capable of much more of a goodbye, as Rose needed his full attention. Phin saluted him one last time, then hurried out to the hall. As soon as the butler showed him to the door, he turned his steps toward Trafalgar Square, feeling strangely uplifted by the odd conversation he’d just had. Life was as twisted as a maze, and anyone who didn’t explore it thoroughly was missing out on some of the finer things it had to offer. He pitied the proper men and women he passed in the street on his way to Trafalgar Square. Their lives might have been the sort of thing that earned them praise on a Sunday or that fell in line with what all of the moralizing pamphleteers wrote about, but he doubted they were anywhere near as fun.
Trafalgar Square was a mash of people from all walks of life, as it usually was, as Phin joined the throng. Street performers mingled with ladies and gentlemen in the latest fashions from the continent. Men and women with every color of skin and dressed in the style of every imaginable nation blended in with working-class folk selling everything from souvenir post cards to roasted nuts. A Salvation Army band made an ungodly racket near the steps of St. Martin in the Fields while at least three other speakers commanded the attention of miniature crowds spread out in front of the National Gallery. And there, in the midst of it all, were the unmistakable ladies of The May Flowers in their bright colors and plumed hats. The flower of the week each of them wore pinned to their bodices was a fetching, autumnal chrysanthemum blossom.
Phin warmed at the sight of them, not only because Lenore stood out prominently among their ranks as they lined up behind Lady Diana Pickwick near the edge of the fountain. Whereas half or more of the men listening to Lady Diana’s speech shook their heads and frowned in dismay, Phin loved the fact that women were finally speaking up and getting the voice they so deserved. He wasn’t progressive only when it came to nocturnal activities and salacious publications. He would have been the first to line up to vote for whatever measure in Parliament would give women an equal say, if his father’s title had been enough to give him a peerage. Men like him did exist, they were just so badly outnumbered at present that he felt as rare as a kangaroo in the arctic.
“Which is why, dear friends, women’s suffrage must be taken seriously,” Lady Diana raged, seeming to come near to the end of her speech. Behind her, Lenore’s face brightened, then turned scarlet, as she spotted Phin. “We must be given the right to vote.”
Lady Diana’s words were followed by a round of applause and boos before those listening to the speech moved on to the next diversion with almost laughable speed. Lenore said something to one of her friends, then hurried away from the crowd of May Flowers who rallied around Lady Diana as the meeting broke up.
“What are you doing here?” Lenore asked, all brightness and beauty with a little bit of sheepishness that Phin found utterly charming.
“Your esteemed fiancé told me I would find you here,” he said with a rakish grin.
“How very kind of Freddy,” Lenore said in a flat voice, pretending to frown, though her eyes gave away her amusement. “I shall be sure to thank him profusely once I return home.”
“Why don’t I walk you there?” Phin offered his arm. “I have something quite delicate I’d like to discuss with you.” There was no point wasting time with his declaration, not when Freddy already knew what he intended.
“I should really stay and support Diana and the others as they canvas the crowd,” Lenore said, looking as though she’d rather come with him. She took his arm all the same, though. “Diana has put so much work into—”
“It was you, I know it was.”
Lenore stopped cold and Phin’s attention was snagged as well as none other than Lady Hamilton marched straight up to Lady Diana wagging a finger in her face. Phin exchanged a startled look with Lenore before they gave their full attention to the confrontation.
“I’ll find you out, you know,” Lady Hamilton railed on. “Only a woman as brazen as the head of the May Flowers would dare to publish such trash. You’re likely using it to fund your cabal’s nefarious schemes.”
“Good heavens.” Lady Diana pressed a hand to her chest. “I have no idea what you could mean, my lady.”
“Don’t play innocent with me,” Lady Hamilton said. “Either I will find you out or Detective Gleason will.” She turned to pull forward a nondescript man who was lingering behind her. Phin had assumed the man was merely watching the unfolding scene, but as soon as Lady Hamilton drew attention to him, he straightened and nodded respectfully to Lady Diana. “Det. Gleason is one of the finest private investigators in London. I’ve hired him to get to the bottom of this ordeal and to expose the author of the salacious libel hurled against my daughter.”
Lenore snorted with laughter. “Oh dear. Did you hear that?”
She turned to Phin, but Phin wasn’t laughing. In fact, his stomach felt as though someone had poured molten lead into it. The very last thing he needed was a private investigator on his tail. Lady Hamilton on her own was one thing, but Lady Hamilton combined with someone who might actually know what they were doing was a disaster.
Lenore’s laughter turned to a disdainful stare, and she rolled her eyes. “Come on, man. Now is your chance.”
“My chance for what?” Phin asked her, one eyebrow arched.
“To make yourself known. To claim all of the fame and glory of being the author of Nocturne for yourself. Here. I’ll get you started. Over here.” She raised her hand and waved as if to draw everyone’s attention.
Phin grabbed her arm and wrenched it down to her side so fast he feared for a moment that he might have hurt her. “Hush,” he warned her. “You can’t say a word.”
Lenore spun to face him, eyes wide. “Whyever not? You’d be famous.”
“For all the wrong reasons,” Phin said, stepping closer to her. “I am not the only one whose livelihood is at stake here, should Lady Hamilton follow through with her threats to press charges.”
“You’re not?” The reality of the situation seemed to slowly dawn in Lenore’s eyes. She glanced around as if checking to see if anyone had noticed her efforts to draw attention to him. Fortunately, the square was so crowded and there was so much going on that one more outburst drew almost no attention at all.
“I rely on the money Nocturne earns to send home to my ailing father and three sisters,” Phin said under his breath. If he was going to make Lenore his wife, she would need to know the full story of his reality. “They have no means of income other than what I and my brother can send home, and Lionel has recently left a relatively lucrative career, if that’s what you would call it, to work in a decidedly less glamorous role as a legal clerk.”