Page 107 of Affair

“When I entered the parlor today,” Charlotte said to Juliana, “I noticed that one of the cards lying faceup on the floor was an image of death.”

Juliana shook her head. “I gave him the same reading that I always do. I made certain that all the signs indicated a positive outcome for his plans. He seemed very satisfied.”

Charlotte summoned up the scene in her mind. “Perhaps when he picked you up to carry you to the sofa the hem of your robes brushed against that particular card and knocked it to the carpet.”

“I suppose so,” Juliana said listlessly.

“Odd that the card fell faceup and that it was the one card in the deck that the magician would not have wished to see,” Charlotte said very quietly.

Baxter pinned Juliana with his intent gaze. “Where does this man who calls himself Malcolm Janner reside?”

Juliana flushed. “I know you will not credit this, but the truth is, I do not have his direction. He said it was best that way. He claimed he wished to protect me in the event that his plans failed. All I can tell you is that he spent a great deal of time at The Green Table. I believe he kept a sort of office there.”

Charlotte glanced at Baxter. “We did not investigate the top floor of the establishment.”

“I doubt that he lives there,” Baxter said. “Too obvious. But he would require access to the upper floor in order to stage his magical act. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to have another look around the premises.”

“Excellent notion,” Charlotte said.

Baxter glanced at her. The full force of his implacable will gleamed in his eyes. “This time, I shall go alone.”

“But I can be of assistance.”

“Don’t even consider the notion.”

Charlotte raised her brows at his coldly decisive tone. “We shall discuss the matter later, sir.”

“No,” he said in the very even, very neutral voice that he used whenever he was at his most inflexible. “We will not.”

Charlotte abandoned the argument for the moment. She had a more pressing concern. “We must make arrangements to protect Miss Post. If Malcolm Janner discovers that she is not dead, he may well make another attempt on her life.”

Baxter’s mouth curved slightly in a humorless smile. “Then we shall make certain that he is convinced that she is no longer among the living.”

“How will you manage that?” Juliana asked.

“We shall do what everyone in Town does when it is deemed necessary to make an important announcement to Society,” Baxter said. “We shall send a notice to the newspapers.”

Seventeen

Two hours later, Baxter prowled restlessly around Charlotte’s parlor. A damp-eyed Juliana Post had been safely packed off for the north in a hired carriage from Severedges Stables. Notice of “a fatal occurrence due to a small house fire” had been sent to the newspapers. With luck it would appear in the morning. Plans for an investigation of the third story of The Green Table were simmering in the back of his mind.

He was making progress on the list of tasks he had assigned himself, but he took little satisfaction from the orderly progression of events. He was in control of the situation, yet he could not escape the sense of a gathering darkness that had nothing to do with the fall of night.

Morgan Judd was alive. It was impossible, but the facts could no longer be denied. The one thing that did not fit was the description of his voice.

“Thank you for all that you did for Miss Post.” Seated in a corner of the yellow sofa, Charlotte watched as he paced past on his way to the opposite end of the room. “You were most kind, Baxter.”

“You were the one who went to warn her and thereby saved her life.” Baxter paused in front of the window and clasped his hands behind his back. “Considering her record in this affair, it would be interesting to know just why you feel so protective of her.”

“I suppose it’s because she and I have so much in common,” Charlotte said quietly.

“What in God’s name can you possibly have in common with that woman?”

“I would have thought it obvious. We are both descended from families whose fortunes had, to put it delicately, declined. We had both been left to deal with callous, dishonorable men who had control over our lives and our incomes. We both found a way to create careers for ourselves that enabled us to escape the usual fates of women in our situations.”

Baxter threw her an enigmatic glance. “Your careers also allowed you to avoid the risks of marriage, did they not?”

“Indeed. Although poor Juliana managed to get involved with a man who appears to be more deadly than the average husband. Which only goes to prove that an affair can be just as dangerous as a marriage, I suppose.”

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