The following evening Anne took Cedric's offered arm and allowed him to escort her through the throng of people gathered in the foyer of Covent Garden's Royal Opera House. The strong scents of unwashed bodies and groups of low-necklined Cyprian ladies clinging to the men were an unwelcome sight, but Covent Garden was a blend of middle and upper classes that couldn't be avoided.

"God's teeth," Cedric muttered as a buxom woman fell against him, laughing raucously. He shoved her ...