Where the Heart Chooses

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

The social season ended, and Lady Portia prepared to take me throughout the country on a round of house parties that would occupy the months until Parliament sat again. There would be fox hunting, teas, and visits, and in the evenings, tiptoeing down the corridors at night to slip into a different bedroom.

I’d heard Sir Joseph was bringing Folana to the estate where we were staying, and I fully intended to do that with her. But then I received a note from her, telling me she’d been called out of the country for some time. And Sir Joseph was nowhere to be found to be questioned.

Eventually we returned to London and fell back into the mad dash of entertainment as everyone readied their daughters, nieces, and granddaughters for the final presentation to the queen, which was set for March 18.

I was relieved that was behind me. It had been an interesting experience, but by now I’d grown tired of the late nights and vapid young men who wanted only one thing and so were definitely NSIT—not safe in taxis.

Folana was still away.

* * * *

“Telephone, Miss Portia. It’s your father.” Ackerman handed me the receiver.

“Thank you.” I waited until he disappeared into the butler’s pantry. “Hello, Father. How’s everything on your side of the pond?”

“Excellent, my dear! Never better!” His bluff tone told me it was anything but. “Regrettably, your brother’s engagement has been called off, and we’ll need you to cut short your stay with your godmother.”

“Of course. How is Tony holding up?”

“As well as can be expected. Unfortunately, the young lady was not everything we hoped she’d be.”

Meaning she’d realized our country would always come first with Tony, and apparently she had no intention of dealing with a rival with whom she could never compete. I just hoped she wasn’t his one.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Well, well, better to learn of it now than later. He has missed you.”

“I’ve missed him too. How soon must I leave, Father? I’ll need the opportunity to get a thank you gift for Lady Portia.” I’d have to find something for him as well. Mother had been taken care of from the beginning. I’d come across a length of peach brocade at Dior’s house and had purchased it from him.

“There’s a used bookshop near Fleet Street, The Best of Times. I’m sure you can find something suitable there. Your flight is scheduled for 11 A.M. tomorrow, and your ticket will be at the BEA counter at Heathrow.”

“I’ll be flying home alone?” I was pleased but surprised. Father always insisted I not travel abroad on my own.

“Of course not! Bradford will accompany you.”

“Bradford?”

“He’s one of your brother’s people. Anthony will be waiting to pick you up at Friendship International. Be sure to give Lady Portia my thanks and your mother’s love.”

“Yes, Father.” I knew better than to argue with him. “I’ll see you all tomorrow. Good-bye.”

“Good-bye, my dear.”

I set aside my disappointment and gazed into space. Code within a code within a code. I wondered what my brother wanted me for at the NSA.

Just before I put the receiver down, I heard a muted click. It could have been the vagaries of the British telephone system, but I rather thought not. Was someone in Lady Portia’s household more than he…or she…appeared to be at first glance? Lady Portia might pooh-pooh the idea, but I’d met her husband a time or two, and I didn’t think Lord Creighton would.

If Jack were still here, I would mention it to him and let him deal with it, but he’d been away for the past six months.

I had Lord Creighton’s address in Africa. Perhaps I’d better send him a wire.