Page 11 of Beyond the Grave
He leaned forward, but being on the opposite side of the table to me, he was still somewhat far away. I opened the book to where the page had been. He ran his finger over the indentation left behind by the vicious scribble of Estelle Pearson's name. "He was angry when he wrote this."
"There is no other mention of her. Linc—Mr. Fitzroy, perhaps you could ask Lady Harcourt if she knows the name."
"I will. Anything else?"
I bit the inside of my lip. There was no indication that Miss D.D. and The Alhambra theater had anything to do with Buchanan's disappearance, but I couldn't put it out of my mind. "There are some odd entries here, associated with Lady Harcourt and The Alhambra."
A small crease connected his severe black brows. He followed the entries back through the journal to where the initials J.T. were replaced with Miss D.D. His expression didn't change, not even to add an extra blink, but even so, I detected something shift in him. The entriesdidmean something.
"Do you know why Lord Harcourt would be meeting his future wife at The Alhambra?"
His slight hesitation had me sitting forward. "No."
"Do you know how they met?"
"No. He was a staid, steady gentleman. I wouldn't have thought The Alhambra was his sort of thing."
"But how did they meet? It's not as if schoolmasters' daughters socialize within the same circles as lords. Harcourt has only sons, so she wasn't a governess for him."
"She's never told me the story of their introduction."
"You never asked?"
"No."
I frowned. "Why not?"
"It never came up."
"But you were…" I swallowed the rest of my sentence. Saying it aloud might betray my jealousy.Shehad at least shared his bed, and it was becoming more and more obvious that I never would. "I would have thought you'd like to the know everything there was to know about your…paramours."
"Is that what you think?"
"Investigating her seems like something you would do before you…became involved with a woman. Checking on their situations, their families, interests and so forth." I cleared my throat and shifted my weight in the chair. Sitting for so long was becoming tiresome. I needed to get up and move about. I needed to get away from Lincoln and my growing humiliation.
"My liaison with Lady Harcourt was fleeting, and over almost as soon as it had begun. I never bothered to ask her about her private life, and she never offered up the information." It was considerably more than I expected him to give. Indeed, I'd expected avoidance altogether. His words shocked me into looking at him once again.
He met my gaze with his level one. "Does that explanation suffice?"
Was he mocking me? Teasing me over my jealousy? I doubted it, since he was trying to cut off my feelings for him before they blossomed. I lifted my chin. "It will have to do. So what's next? How will you find Buchanan?"
"I'll make inquiries at the places he frequents. I've already begun, but there are several more on my list."
"And you'll search for this Estelle Pearson?"
"I'll see what I can find in the public records, but it'll be a painstaking process unless she lives in the same house in which she was born."
"It's likely she's in the same parish."
"True. Or Lady Harcourt may know something."
"And what of The Alhambra?" I asked.
"I have no intention of going there."
"Why not?"
"Those entries appear to be a private matter between Lord and Lady Harcourt, nothing to do with the disappearance of Buchanan."
