16. November 20, 1826

ARGYLL ROOMS

N ovember 20, 1826

Argyll Rooms,

Little Argyll Street, London

Saida could scarcely breathe, she was so terrified when their gaudy procession first entered the Argyll Rooms. Quick Rutherford had dressed in full footman's livery to accompany them and present their tickets.

She'd never seen anything like the crushing crowd of revelers. She'd been told the balls were held for the demi-monde, but she wasn't prepared for the masses of elegant gentlemen, some well known from the gossip sheets, and even a cluster of men in a corner in full military dress.

Statuary flanked pastel walls around the ballroom with tromp l'oeil pilasters and a ceiling with elaborate plaster carvings, casting shadows in the candlelight.

A tall, masked woman pirate across the room caught her eye. The woman carried a wicked cutlass blade. Captain El. Some of the fear she'd been feeling lifted. Nothing could go wrong now.

The rest of the Rutherfords spread out to all corners of the rooms like dangerous rodents dressed in dark clothing and masks, which honestly was probably part of their normal smuggling apparel.

At a hiss from above her shoulder, she looked up into Lily's eyes from her perch on Cleopatra's chair. "Pay attention to why we're here. We have to make sure that Throckmorton bitch gets her comeuppance."

Saida looked away and began peering through the crowd to the remote corners of the room where the blackmailer and his minions might be hiding. And then she saw the woman, resplendent in her costume, the top half of which she'd pulled down to her waist to allow the young man next to her to dribble wine between her breasts.

Her head was thrown back in an exaggerated act of ecstasy. Saida was glad she hadn't eaten anything before the ball, because the scene might have caused her to cast up her accounts.

"There she is," Saida said, and pointed to the Mrs. Throckmorton's wanton display.

A famous courtesan who appeared almost weekly in the gossip sheets' caricatures stood next to the orchestra playing at the far end of the room. She was holding court in the midst of at least a half-dozen men.

And then it was their turn to promenade for the assembly. They made a slow, complete turn of the ballroom to applause from the gathering. At one point Saida nearly drew her knife again when one drunken man tried to rip her costume from her.

She'd been warned that anything could happen at the Cyprians' Ball, and now she knew. She managed to salvage one layer of the veils they'd sewn together and of course they all had nude stockings and short chemises beneath their costumes. "The better to fight the bastards," as Margo had said.

At the end of the first promenade, they receive wildly enthusiastic applause and so they debated whether to make another round. Lily seemed to bask in the adulation, so they all agreed to one more turn.

Finally, the Rutherfords staked out a corner where Cleopatra and her slaves could hold court whilst the dancing began.

And just as they'd planned, Georgina pulled her young buck out onto the dance floor with her and began an energetic waltz. Quick Rutherford slipped up to a courtesan standing by herself and pulled her out to dance. He managed to whirl just close enough to Georgina to step on her flowing overskirt, which triggered the disaster the mistresses had paid dearly to watch.

The stitches were loosened in just that area so that when she whirled around in rage, a huge underskirt showed to all the other revelers. Embroidered in bright threads were: Hedge Whore Georgina Throckmorton.

Saida had to keep herself from jumping in excitement and pointing out the woman's humiliation to all. No one could prove who had planned her downfall, and their lives might depend on keeping the secret.

The dead silence the prank had provoked was broken by Prinny who stepped out of the shadows, clapping slowly. And then the huge room rocked with laughter. The last Saida saw Georgina, she was running toward the back of the ballroom.

Just as the mistresses were exchanging silent congratulations, the blackmailer struck. A harlequin clown came out of nowhere and grabbed Saida whilst holding a wicked-looking knife to her neck.

He held her arms so tightly, she couldn't get to her knife. Margot raced around Cleopatra's chair and came toward them, but the man was moving so quickly Saida could barely breathe, let alone fight back. Suddenly, Saida felt as though a mountain had slammed into them and the man loosened his grip, the knife clattering away from his grasp. Margot lunged and retrieved the knife.

By the time Saida turned around, a half-naked Highlander in a kilt with strange blue and black markings painted on his face was beating the clown senseless.

The tall woman pirate loped across the room toward them, followed closely by a shepherdess and two sheep. Saida wondered if she'd been hit on the head as well. Was she seeing things?

One of the sheep walked over to the Highlander and carefully pulled him off the clown, which was no small feat, considering the Highlander appeared to be in full berserker mode. The second sheep took charge of the venal clown and dragged him out of the ballroom.

The most bizarre part of the minutes-long terror-filled episode was that the massive Cyprians' Ball continued on, as if a berserker Highlander, clowns, and sheep engaged in combat were part of the entertainment.

After the woman pirate took charge of the remaining sheep, Hamish stepped close to Saida and wrapped her tight to him with his plaid kilt. "Miss Hossini, will you come with me to Gretna Green tonight and be my wife?"

"Of course, my beautiful warrior, but aren't you forgetting something?"

"Aji," he said.

"I can't leave him."

"He's out in the carriage I rented to take us north to Scotland."

"How?" Her eyes widened. "How did you get him to come with you?"

"He likes me now, and I found out from Mrs. Collins what kind of treats he likes. Perhaps he's my bird now."

"Well, then, you two can't leave me behind."

One of the sheep awaited them outside, and when he pulled off his sweaty mask, turned out to be Col. "You're not leaving without saying goodbye?"

"The coach is there." Hamish pointed toward Little Argyll Street.

When Col leaned low to embrace Saida before she left, she snapped her fingers and said, "I forgot something in all the excitement. Someone broke into my parlor earlier and tried to take me then." She pulled her knife from her ankle tie and showed it to Col. "I stuck him with this, and he ran off."

"Did he take anything?"

"No, but he talked to Aji…and he's been mimicking him ever since."

When Col climbed up into the carriage with Aji, the usually pesky bird complied with "Who's there? Show yourself."

"And your bird mimics someone's voice exactly?"

Saida nodded. "He has Lily's kitten thinking he's Lily, and making the poor little thing crazy."

"Godspeed, you two. Take your healing powers to your family back in Inverness, Hamish. You have the perfect partner now."

Just as Col stepped away from the coach, he looked back and said, "If your bird is mimicking who I think he is, we may have solved the mystery of who's behind blackmailing the earl."

"Who? Hamish demanded.

"Can't say yet. Go, you two, and stay safe in Inverness. You're marrying the best bodyguard money can buy, Saida."

At that Col slammed the carriage door shut and motioned for the coachman to ride on. He watched them until they turned onto Regent Street and headed north.

Now he had to go back inside the Cyprians' Ball to sort out the rest of his gang of players. And then there was a certain shepherdess he wanted to spend some time with.