“You sent the coachman with the note to scare Anthony and Emeline,” Lavinia said.
“Yes. But that same day you came to my rooms pretending to seek a treatment. I pretended not to know who you were. I decided to see what came of your inquiries.”
“Thank heavens you did decide to wait,” Lavinia said fervently. “You might have murdered the wrong man and risked the noose for nothing.”
“You and Mr. March saved me that fate and exacted justice for Celeste.” Darfield met her eyes. “For that I will always be in your debt. If there is ever anything I can do to repay you, Mrs. Lake, I hope you will come to me. I can offer free therapeutic treatments-”
“No, no, that is quite all right, sir,” she said hastily. “The return of the Medusa is sufficient compensation, I assure you.”
She was uncomfortably aware of another unpleasant trickle of cold energy along her spine. Imagination, she thought. Or maybe my nerves. She reminded herself that she had been under something of a strain lately.
Nevertheless, she quickly put the bracelet back down on the velvet. To her enormous relief, the uneasy sensation vanished.
“There is one thing I do not comprehend,” she said, rewrapping the relic.
“What is that?” he asked.
“You said yourself that Celeste did not trust men. Yet she obviously entrusted this bracelet to you for safekeeping.” She picked up the velvet pouch. “What made you different in her eyes from other men?”
“Oh, yes, I forgot that part, didn’t I?” Darfield’s smile was sad, almost wistful. “You will recall that I mentioned that her father was married to the daughter of a neighbor landholder. The pair had a son, who was obliged to go into trade for financial reasons.”
“I understand now,” Lavinia said gently. “She was your sister.”
Chapter Thirty-two
Tobias strode into Lavinia’s study three days later, looking exceedingly pleased. “The bargain has been struck and we have been paid our fee.”
Lavinia put down her pen. “Bargain?”
“Mrs. Rushton arranged to sell the Blue Medusa to an anonymous collector through the auspices of Mr. Nightingale.”
“She certainly did not delay that business long, did she? Banks expired only yesterday.”
“Mrs. Rushton is a businesswoman.” He settled into one of the chairs in front of the fire and smiled. “In any event, she received her money this morning, and she was so delighted with the transaction that she paid us immediately.”
“That is excellent news. I had no notion the sale would take place so quickly.” She chuckled. “I think I can wager a guess as to the identity of the anonymous collector.”
“Go ahead, try your hand at it.”
“Lord Vale bought it, I assume.”
He smiled. “You assume wrong. Joan Dove is the name of the mysterious collector.”
Lavinia stared at him, astonished. “I was aware that she inherited her husband’s collection, but I did not know that she herself had a personal interest in antiquities.”
“I suspect it is a rather new hobby,” Tobias said dryly.
She recalled the blue gown Joan had chosen to wear the night of her ball. And the mystery of her connection to the Blue Chamber.
“Joan is rather fond of blue,” she said very carefully. “You don’t suppose she wants to use the Medusa as some sort of personal emblem or seal, do you?”
“I prefer not to speculate on the notion of a possible new master of a criminal organization or on her choice of an appropriate seal.”
“Does Lord Vale know that he is not going to obtain the bracelet?”
“I think it is safe to assume that Vale knows precisely what happened to the Medusa.”
The door opened before Lavinia could ask any more questions. Mrs. Chilton appeared. She wore a disapproving expression.
“Dr. Hudson to see you, Mrs. Lake.”
“Bloody hell,” Tobias muttered. “Tell him Mrs. Lake is not receiving callers, Mrs. Chilton.”
Lavinia frowned at him. “Really, sir, I will thank you not to give the instructions around here.”
Howard walked into the study at that moment, his attention focused entirely on Lavinia. If he noticed Tobias rising slowly from the chair, he did not give any indication.
Lavinia jumped up quickly, grateful for the interruption. “Good afternoon, Howard. I collect that you are quite recovered from your ordeal?”
“Thanks to you, my dear Lavinia.” He crossed the room to kiss both her hands.
“And thanks to Mr. March as well,” she reminded him quickly.
She tried to retrieve her hands. Howard did not seem to notice the small effort. He clung to her fingers.
“Yes, of course,” Howard said. He flicked a glance in Tobias’s direction and then gave him his shoulder in a well-executed direct cut. “I have come to say goodbye for a while, my dear.”
She tugged a little on her captive hands, aware that Howard’s eyes had taken on a fathomless quality. He did not release her. She had a small moment of social panic, aware now that the only way to get free would be an ignominious struggle. She kept smiling, hoping that Tobias did not notice what was happening. The last thing she wanted was a quarrel between these two men here in her study.
“You are leaving Town?” she asked very brightly.
“Yes.” Howard looked deep into her eyes. “I need time to recover from the loss of my dear Celeste. Time to come to terms with the extent of her betrayal. The knowledge that she was a professional thief is absolutely staggering. Indeed, I am undone by the news. It is best that I go off to the country to rusticate for a time.”
“I agree, Hudson.” Tobias crossed the room and gripped Howard’s shoulder in a man-to-man fashion. “Leaving Town is an excellent notion. Give the gossip a chance to fade, eh?”
He squeezed Howard’s shoulder in what appeared to be a friendly gesture. But Lavinia saw the flash of pain and astonishment in Howard’s eyes. He released her hands abruptly. The interesting, bottom-of-the-sea quality disappeared immediately from his gaze.
“Indeed,” Howard said through gritted teeth. The sonorous ring was gone from his voice. He gave Tobias a withering look. “Although my dear Celeste was the jewel thief, I fear that there are some unfortunate rumors circulating to the effect that I was involved in her schemes.”
“Yes, I know. I heard some of those rumors myself, just this morning in my club.” Tobias released his victim. “No one can prove anything, of course.”
“Of course they cannot prove anything,” Howard said heatedly. “Because there is nothing to be proven. I was entirely unaware of Celeste’s criminal activities.”
“Nevertheless,” Tobias continued, “rumors of your proclivities in that direction will be damned hard to squelch, I’m afraid. Hard to attract an exclusive clientele while that sort of gossip is swirling through Society.”
His smile did not look at all sympathetic, Lavinia thought. There was, in point of fact, a distinctly wolfish quality to it. She turned quickly back to Howard.
“Where will you go?” she asked gently.
“I haven’t decided yet. Someplace where I can continue my researches and experiments.”
“I wish you the best of luck with your investigations into mesmerism,” she said.
“Thank you.” He went to the door, paused, turned, and gave her a long, lingering look. “But never fear, my dear, we shall meet again. We are, after all, old friends, are we not? I have always felt that there was a connection between us. It is a link that cannot be broken by the whims of fortune or”-he glanced coldly at Tobias-“the opinions of other people who may come and go in our lives.”