“How do you know he wants the Medusa bracelet?” Lavinia asked.
“Because he rarely deigns to appear at social affairs, even though he is on every hostess’s guest list.
The fact that he just walked into this ballroom is proof that he is after the bracelet. I cannot imagine anything else that would have brought him here.”
Lavinia followed Joan’s gaze and saw a man standing with a small group near a cluster of palms. He was well dressed, and he held himself with the cool arrogance and unmistakable assurance that came with rank and wealth. In that, he had a great deal in common with most of the other men in the room tonight. He should have been virtually indistinguishable from those around him. But he stood out in the crowd in some indefinable way, even though he was obviously making no effort to do so. If anything, given his quietly elegant appearance and manner, he was making every effort to be perceived as a part of the landscape.
Yet, Lavinia thought, her eye had gone straight to him. She had known at once which man Joan was watching. In a sea of colorful little fish, he was a poorly disguised shark.
Rather like Tobias, she thought uneasily. The realization made her take a swallow of champagne.
Physically, however, the two had little in common. For one thing, the stranger was older than Tobias-late forties, perhaps. For another, his hairline had receded in a dramatic fashion, drawing attention to a high forehead and a strong profile. He was also taller and more elegantly slender than Tobias.
“Who is he?” Lavinia asked.
“Lord Vale,” Joan said softly.
There was something in her voice that made Lavinia glance quickly at her. She was startled to see an expression of interest in her friend’s face. It occurred to her that she had never seen Joan regard any other man in that manner.
Joan found Vale intriguing.
“Bloody hell,” Tobias muttered. “Is Vale involved in this affair?”
“So it would seem,” Joan said. “What is more, I suspect that he is aware that you and Lavinia are investigating it. There simply is no other reason why he would be here tonight.”
“Damnation.” Tobias set down his unfinished champagne. “I could have done very nicely without this complication.”
Lavinia looked at him. “Why are you concerned about Vale?”
Tobias did not take his attention off the man on the other side of the room. “As Joan just told you, Vale is a collector with very discriminating tastes. He possesses the financial resources to satisfy those tastes. It is rumored that if money alone will not help him obtain what he chooses to acquire, he is willing to employ other means and methods.”
“He is the founder of a very exclusive club,” Joan said. “The members call themselves the Connoisseurs. Only those who collect the most exotic and unusual antiquities are invited to join. Vacancies occur rarely. When they do, a prospective new member must present a suitable relic for the club’s private collection in order to be considered for admission.” She paused. “There is an opening for a new member now, as it happens.”
Tobias glanced thoughtfully at Joan. “How do you know that?”
“Because the vacancy was created by my husband’s death a year ago. He was a member of the Connoisseurs for many years.”
“I wonder why Vale has not filled the opening in the club membership,” Tobias said.
“Perhaps no suitable candidate has applied,” Joan said. “Do not forget, the prospect must present not simply a very fine artifact but one that is considered unusual or extremely rare. It is not easy to find such a relic.”
Lavinia caught her breath. “The Medusa bracelet would almost certainly qualify as an acceptable membership artifact.”
“Indeed. The club’s museum is a very private collection, one that is never open to public viewing. I doubt that Vale or any of the members would be inclined to question the source of a relic provided that it was suitably exotic and rare.” Joan contemplated Vale. “Given his lordship’s appearance here tonight, I think we must assume that he has no intention of sitting back in hopes that some other collector will find the Blue Medusa and present it to the club’s museum. Vale plans to acquire it himself.”
Tobias glanced at her. “Do you know him well?”
Joan hesitated. “He was a guest in our home on occasion when my husband was alive. Fielding liked him. The two respected each other. But I cannot say that I know Vale well. I do not think anyone can make that claim.”
“No,” Tobias agreed. “Probably not.”
“Have you met him?” Joan asked.
“Crackenburne introduced us. But like you, I cannot claim a close acquaintance. We certainly do not move in the same circles.”
“Look, he has left his companions,” Lavinia said. “He’s coming toward us.”
“So he is,” Tobias said quietly. “You were right, Joan. He knows about Lavinia and me.”
They watched Vale glide smoothly around the edge of the dance floor, bestowing an almost imperceptible nod here and there, pausing once or twice to greet someone. But although his path appeared random, it was clear to Lavinia that he was working his way toward where the three of them stood in the alcove.
“He’ll no doubt attempt to interrogate both of you,” Joan warned. “He will be very polite about it, of course, but he is a very clever man. Be careful what you say if you wish to keep your secrets.”
Vale materialized out of the crowd at that moment and stopped in front of them. Lavinia studied him covertly and saw that there was another way in which he differed from Tobias in terms of physical appearance.
Vale had the haunting eyes of a romantic artist.
“Joan.” He bent gracefully over her gloved hand. “It is good to see that you are getting out into Society again. It has been too long.”
“Good evening, Vale.” She retrieved her hand with a smooth motion. “Do you know my friends? Mrs. Lake and Mr. March.”
“March.” Vale nodded once in Tobias’s direction and then he turned to Lavinia. “A pleasure, Mrs. Lake.”
When he took her hand she noticed the odd iron ring he wore. It was shaped like a small key. She tried for a truly charming smile and added a little curtsy for good measure.
“Lord Vale.”
He did not look particularly dazzled, she noticed. He merely bowed briefly over her hand and turned back to Joan.
“May I have the honor of a dance, madam?” he said.
Joan stiffened ever so slightly. The tiny hesitation was almost undetectable. If Lavinia had not been watching her she would have missed it altogether.
“Yes, of course,” Joan said, recovering quickly.
She flicked a puzzled glance back at Lavinia as Vale led her away.
Lavinia watched the pair move out onto the dance floor.
“Well, so much for being interrogated,” she said. “It appears that the only thing Vale had in mind was a dance.”
“Don’t be too certain of that. As Joan said, Vale is subtle.” Tobias clamped a hand under her arm. “Come, there is nothing more we can do at the moment and I find myself in need of some fresh air.”
“It is a bit stuffy in here, is it not?”
She allowed him to steer her toward the French doors that opened onto the terrace. They walked out into the cool of the spring night.
Tobias did not stop at the low rock wall. He kept going, drawing her with him down the stone steps into the lantern-lit garden.
They strolled along a path toward the darkened conservatory attached to the rear of the mansion. The windows of the large greenhouse glinted in the moonlight.
Lavinia pondered the surprise and uncertainty that she had seen in Joan’s eyes when Vale had led her out onto the floor. There were very few things that could fluster Joan, but Vale’s invitation to dance had come close to achieving that rare state.