Page 42 of Her Majesty's Necromancer
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Lincoln didn't join us for dinner, but came downstairs afterward and announced he was heading out to Mr. Lee's Lower Pell Lane establishment.
"Again?" I asked, setting aside my mending.
"There is no again. I haven't been yet." He threw on his riding cloak and picked up the gloves he'd set on the kitchen table.
"I thought that's where you were this morning."
He shook his head without looking at me. Indeed, he'd not met my gaze since entering.
Gus yawned and slumped further into the chair. "So where were you this morning?"
"The orphanage in Kentish Town." Upon my quiet gasp, he finally met my gaze. "I asked Mr. Hogan, the administrator, if he'd kept a copy of the letter he'd received from the person inquiring after your adoption."
"And?"
"And he hadn't. Nor could he recall where he sent the response. If he were my employee, I'd dismiss him for ineptitude."
"He must receive a lot of correspondence." I picked up my sewing again to hide my disappointment. "Thank you for trying. I know you're very busy."
I wasn't aware he'd moved closer until his gloved hand rested on the table in my line of sight. "Someone wants to know more about your origins, Charlie. They're possibly even searching for you."
"We don't know that certain."
"No."
"If they wanted to know where I'm living, they could simply question Anselm Holloway. It's not like he's difficult to find, locked away in a jail cell." I glanced up at him. "I won't live here as a prisoner."
"I know."
His response surprised me, after his earlier over-reaction. Then it had seemed as if he were trying to protect me to the point of being unreasonable, but now I wasn't so sure.
"Will you take one of the men with you?" I asked.
"Seth is still out and Gus can't stay awake."
Gus grunted and sat up straight. "I'm awake!"
Cook snorted.
"Besides, I don't wish to alert Mr. Lee to my interest," Lincoln said. "A single gentleman whom he already knows can make discreet inquiries. An entourage will raise questions and shackles."
"Why have you been to Mr. Lee's before?"
"Why does anyone go to Lee's? Don't wait up for me. I'll probably be out all night."
I blinked at his back as he walked away. Once he'd left the kitchen, I turned to Gus. "Did you know he'd been to an opium den before?"
"No, but nothing about him surprises me," Gus said, settling back down into the chair.
"Aye," Cook chimed in from where he sat beside me. "Best not to think about all the places our leader has been. He be a worldly sort."
Worldly was one thing, but frequenting an opium house was quite another. There was only one reason to go to a place like Lee's—to smoke opium.
I returned to the mending, wondering if I would get any sleep at all as I alternately pondered this new piece of information and worried about him. One thing would help me rest easier, however—he seemed to have calmed down and forgiven Cook for the knife-throwing incident.
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