Page 55 of Affair

“It must be severed. I shall deal with it.” He leaned forward. “What of the phoenix?”

The fortune-teller hesitated. Then she placed another card faceup on the table. “The phoenix will triumph.”

“Yes.” He was satisfied.

When the fortune-teller shivered with longing, he pushed her down onto the carpet. He knew the golden griffin’s weaknesses well. And one of them was the lady with the crystal eyes, the woman who now belonged to the griffin.

There could be no more satisfactory way to destroy a man of honor than to savage one whom such a man felt honor bound to protect.

Ahousebreaker?” Ariel paused in the act of helping herself to the scrambled eggs and turned to look at Charlotte in amazement. “I do not believe it. You say he was right here in the house when you returned home with Mr. St. Ives?”

“Yes.” Charlotte busied herself with her napkin while she mentally reviewed the portions of the tale that she did not intend to relate. There was no need to tell Ariel exactly what she and Baxter had been doing prior to the intruder’s untimely interruption. “Mr. St. Ives and I went into the study to discuss the results of the evening’s inquiries and we heard someone in the hall. You know how that floorboard near the kitchen creaks whenever it is trod upon.”

“Yes, I know. What happened? Was anything taken?”

“No, thank heavens. Mr. St. Ives pursued the villain and chased him off through the garden.”

Ariel tipped her head to one side. “St. Ives gave chase?”

“Yes. He is extraordinarily brave and quite fleet of foot. But the intruder had a head start and disappeared into the night.”

“Fleet of foot?” Ariel looked briefly intrigued by that observation. “I would not have thought of Mr. St. Ives as fleet of foot. Oh, well, do go on. Tell me the rest.”

“There is not much else to tell. Mr. St. Ives and I walked through the entire house after the villain fled. We checked the silver and other things that a thief might have wanted to carry off but nothing seemed to be missing. Mr. St. Ives feels that we interrupted the intruder before he could complete his work.”

“Thank God.” Ariel sat down with a bemused expression. “This is absolutely amazing. Some footpad must have noticed that the house was empty last night and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.”

“That’s how it appears.”

“How fortunate that you were not alone when you heard the villain in the hall.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you not tell me about this the instant I walked through the door?” Ariel asked.

“As no harm had been done, I concluded that there was no point in waiting up in order to tell you the story.” And no reason to mention that after Baxter had left, she had lain awake for hours listening to every creak and groan of the house, Charlotte thought.

When she had not been aware of every sound, she had kept herself occupied with thoughts of Baxter. His mood had changed after the business with the intruder. His steely self-mastery had reasserted itself. There had been no further discussion of an affair.

She did not know whether to be vastly relieved or gravely disappointed.

“It was quite late when Lady Trengloss brought me home in her carriage,” Ariel admitted. “I do not believe that I have ever stayed up until dawn before in my life. Her ladyship tells me that during the Season most of the ton is up until sunrise.”

Charlotte spread gooseberry jam on her toast. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

A glowing warmth bloomed in Ariel’s cheeks. “I had a wonderful evening. It was as if I stepped into another world.”

“It is a world Mother greatly enjoyed.” Charlotte felt a pang of the familiar wistfulness that she always got when she recalled the old memories of the time before Winterbourne. “Do you remember how much Mama loved the Season?”

“She looked so very beautiful when she went out in the evenings.” Ariel’s eyes softened. “And Father was so handsome. I remember how I loved to stand at the window and watch them drive off together in the carriage. I imagined that they were a prince and a princess in a fairy tale.”

A short silence descended on the morning room. Charlotte shook off the past. She sensed Ariel doing the same. There was no point reminding each other of how the fairy tale had ended.

“I noticed that you danced with the Earl of Esherton at the Hiltson ball,” Charlotte said.

Ariel blushed. “I danced with him again later in the evening at the Todd soiree. He is an excellent dancer. And his conversation is most interesting.”

“He is a fine-looking man.”

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