Chapter 260

Lily's hands trembled slightly as she entered a bookshop just off Bond Street. The dark-rose gown and yellow-gold cloak she wore made her feel out of place amid the shanty shelves and dusty tomes. Motes of dust danced and swirled in the beams of light cutting through the windows and illuminating the gilded spines of the books stacked thickly behind her.

An old man sat behind the counter, sleeping, the soft repetitive sound of his snores a comfort in the thick silence of the musty little shop. In the last year she'd grown accustomed to meeting Hugo in clandestine, often dangerous places. To meet now in such a quaint little shop, just a street away from the where most of the ton were shopping for Christmas, was strange. But this was where his message had instructed her to meet.