“There is tea waiting, your ladyship.” Martin ushered her to the drawing room and held the chair nearest the table. “Plus a few cakes we held back in case you need the strength.” His smile took years from his face. “Mrs. Foster can be a handful on her own, but get them all together…” He gave a mock shiver as he left the room.

“Would you care for something, Frederick?” Annabel asked.

Her bodyguard glanced from the window, but only for a moment. “No, my lady. Thank you. I’ll wait until we’re home.”

With every bite and each sip, Annabel remembered pieces of the story that would have been better than what she had chosen. She thought of evidence she had used and hoped she hadn’t used too much or let her tongue slip on a name.

The boardroom door opened, and Thea hurried across the dark tiled floor. Her smile was wide. “All of them are excited about being spies and helping those who live in their counties. Many of us began our endeavors to help our own villages.” The fire in her eyes hinted at a temper to match her red hair. “To suspect that someone has stolen from us, and therefore from them, is distressing.”

“Thank you.” Annabel squeezed Thea’s hand before turning toward the door. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell Jasper how well she’d done. She didn’t need to check to know Frederick was two steps behind.

“Drake and Jocelyn will be in touch soon,” Thea said, following her to the hallway mirror. “Likely this afternoon. Drake understands the urgency better than the others.”

Annabel pinned her hat before taking her reticule from Martin. “I don’t know how I can repay your support and encouragement, Thea.”

“I’m sure something will come up,” the duchess said with a smile. “Go. Give our best to Jasper.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Inky black filled the carriage, so deep Annabel wouldn’t know Jasper was there if his lips weren’t at her ear.

“As much as this plan worries me, I must say I approve of the disguise.”

His fingers traced from her knee up the inside of her thigh, following her inseam.

His warm breath and clear intent made her shiver until she was boneless. “You’re distracting me.”

“What’s sauce for the goose…” He nipped her earlobe and soothed the sting with his tongue. “You should see your arse in a mirror.”

“I don’t believe this is why Jocelyn sent me trousers.” Annabel gathered all her determination and moved away enough to kiss him hard on the mouth. She kept her hand on his jaw. “And we don’t have the time, anyway.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.” His fingers curved around her wrist, his black glove matching hers. “No stubborn risks, Annabel.”

The cab rocked to rest close enough to see Westminster, but at enough distance that the driver wouldn’t make the connection. “It’s a bit late for that, I think.”

The gas lamps gilded his hair and leached the color from his face. His blue eyes glittered like stars. “Promise me.”

“Of course.” She’d spent enough time with him that she could adopt his breezy confidence with ease. The door opened behind her, and the cab shifted with the weight of a new passenger. “And you do exactly as Drake tells you. Save the adventure for later, Jasper.”

“Don’t worry, Annabel.” Drake’s deep voice filled the shadows between them. “He’s on lookout duty. No skulking allowed.”

“Most boring job on the crew,” Jocelyn quipped as she held the door. “We’re going to have much more fun.”

Annabel climbed from the cab and joined her co-conspirator, who was dressed almost identically.

“Trousers?” Annabel looked down her body and wiggled her toes in her soft-soled boots. “Why?”

“They’re easier for movement and make less noise than skirts. Think of them like scratchy drawers.” Jocelyn began walking across the street, leaving Annabel to follow.

“I’ve never worn those either,” Annabel said as she caught up easily. Trousers were also lighter than skirts, and she’d be lying if she said she missed her hobnailed boots.

“They’re more trouble than they’re worth, honestly. Wouldn’t recommend them.”

Annabel tugged her waistcoat. “Like these things.” No wonder Jasper stripped to his shirt sleeves the minute he was home.

“They’re not made for breasts.” Jocelyn crossed into the shadows cast by the hulking castle. It was quiet enough to hear the Thames whisper past. “Watch for bobbies,” she said as she knelt in front of an inconspicuous wooden door.

Annabel’s nerves jangled as she swept her gaze back and forth, straining to see any movement in the shadows. Mad Marchioness Breaks into Parliament was not a headline she wanted her mother, or Jasper’s, to read over their morning tea.

The latch clicked. “Come along,” Jocelyn whispered.

They entered a dim, narrow stairwell. Annabel grew dizzy as she followed its path. Jocelyn was already halfway up the first flight, her steps all but silent.

Annabel followed her, refusing to look down as they climbed. By the time they stopped, she was breathless. “How do you know where we’re going?”

“You’d be surprised what a tenner can buy.” Jocelyn put her finger to her lips before opening the door and checking the hallway beyond. “Let’s go. Mind the carpet.”

The immaculate red carpet.

“We’re in the palace.” Annabel clapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her whisper.

“Only just.” Jocelyn clicked her watch closed. “And right on time.”

Though Annabel followed her down the corridor, she couldn’t help but stare over her shoulder and wonder what she’d find around the far corner.

“We can explore that way next time.” Jocelyn chuckled as she tugged her forward. Their target was a door at the end of the hall. It was flanked by a glass window with a shade drawn over it.

They’d reached the Exchequer office. Jocelyn tried the latch and sighed as it gave under her hand. “Her Highness should really be more suspicious of insiders.”

“I’ll tell Jasper to let her know,” Annabel quipped. It was easier to do this if she didn’t take it too seriously.

The outer office was almost the length of a dining room, crowded with desks and closed cabinets. A tray of neatly stacked pages was squared into the corner of each desk. Pens lay in their rests aligned in front of black glass ink pots.

Annabel’s faith in her plan wavered. This was not an office that was designed to conceal theft. These weren’t men who worked in shadows.

Jocelyn led her to the back, to a room dominated by a desk almost the size of Jasper’s bed. Ledges lined the shelves behind it. She pulled a candle from her pocket and lit it with a match from the jar on the desk. “The guards will be by soon. I’ll watch the door.”

Annabel nodded, already focused on the gold letters on each ledger’s spine.

She pulled her list of Circle members from her pocket and smoothed it out on the desk. After that, she wrestled the first giant ledger free and laid it open on the desk. She had hoped for alphabetical records, but instead she found numerical. Thank goodness Drake had asked for dates as well as amounts.

“What made you think he would have these in his office?” She sorted her list into date order.

Jocelyn was keeping an eye on the outside office. “No one would keep theft in plain view.”

“My father did.” Annabel used Graydon’s pen and ink to write the first figures on her list, halfway down the Circle members.