Sherlock Holmes meets Pride and Prejudice in this bewitching and scintillating romance between an eccentric gypsy detective and a young spinster governess.
Harriet Morgan, a shy, nurturing young woman, watches the finishing school she has seen as he...
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"Do you think she's right?"
Nicu turned to Lord Rathborne. "No."
"How so? Rosa is incredibly beautiful. In fact, if I were being honest, she could rival my wife's and will no doubt be the diamond all the men wish to catch this season. Not only that, but she comes from a very wealthy and highly regarded aristocratic family. Her father a duke and member of parliament while her mother is a friend of the Queen's. She's dined with her on many occasions. Rosa seems like the obvious target. Really, any of those girls could be. All of them are from families of the upper class."
Nicu nursed his drink, watching the cubes of ice gleam in the brandy. "The whole school was highly distinguished and filled with young girls from the upper class." He sat his brandy down, abandoning it in favor of scratching Kappi under his chin.
"Wish you wouldn't let that thing in my study. He's already stolen many things of mine and I can't ever find them."
Nicu grinned at that. "Please, you secretly love him. All of you do. And let's not forget how much Lovey enjoys searching for the hidden treasures."
"Ah, she does indeed," Lord Rathborne stated, smiling. "She's found so many of my things that she has demanded a pony as payment."
Nicu chuckled, but then his smile fell. "Something just doesn't seem right. None of it makes sense."
"I think it makes perfect sense. Rosa is a link to the Queen. A rather weak one, but still a link to royalty. As for the rest, I think that Scotland Yard will be getting a ransom soon enough. What else would they want those girls for?"
"Why the disguise? This plan, it's too well strategized and executed just to kidnap some girls for a ransom. The others that were taken had been from the social hierarchy and yet, nothing, not a peep. No ransom. It's like they vanished."
"If not as ransom," Rathborne stated, "then what?"
"I don't know yet..." Nicu got up, staring out the window at the dark scenery before him. "Something causes me to completely reject the idea it's for ransom. That, that's not what has happened here."
He turned to Lord Rathbone. "I was purposely led there by a woman who claimed to be a sister. And like Gracie, which I doubt is even her real name, they all resembled each other. In an odd, demented kind of way."
"So, what are you thinking? My wife has made me aware that what may be perceived as the obvious answer is not always the case, which is why Esma believes only you can solve this."
Nicu shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his brow sore from contemplation. "The woman I followed; she had a marking on her skin. A daisy right at her wrist." He looked down at his own dark one, his eyes drawing the image as if bringing to marking to life on his skin. The long stem, slender leaves that arched and the tips looking almost wilted. Shaded petals that looked delicate falling from the flower leaving empty spaces around its perfectly textured flower head. "That's when I realized her, Gracie, and the sister, they are all a part of something."
