Page 36 of Unforeseen Affairs
“Yes.”
“The Black Candle is not intended to be a social meeting place.”
“I’m aware.”
“It is a place for serious learning.”
Charlotte said nothing.
“I allow you to come and go as you please, and even accept your assistance when needed,” Mrs. Stone continued, her voice pitching even higher than usual. “But you are no medium in your own right; you are a young lady of means. And your father will be asking after you—”
“What?” Charlotte said, suddenly alert. “Has he spoken with you?”
“If I may—” Sir Colin piped up, stepping forward confidently, hat in hand. “I can assure you, Mrs. Stone, that there is nothing untoward happening between Miss Sedley and myself. This isnot…” He flushed, but only slightly—enough to add to, rather than detract from, his plea. “This is no lovers’ assignation, or anything of the sort. I inquired with Miss Sedley about certain aspects of spirit communication, and she very graciously offered her expertise.”
Mrs. Stone looked as skeptical as ever, but then she stepped back, quite suddenly as if she’d seen a ghost. She glanced to Charlotte, her pale eyes wide, and then to Sir Colin again.
Shehadseen something.
A spark of excitement skittered through Charlotte.What is it?she wanted to beg, resisting the urge to seize Mrs. Stone’s hand. She could not do that in Sir Colin’s presence.
Then Mrs. Stone’s expression softened, and her posture relaxed. “Who am I to… very well, very well. Carry on, then. Do not mind my presence.”
She turned to bustle back to the front of the shop, then paused before Sir Colin, stretching her miniscule height to its maximum to peer more closely at his face.
“Your brother… he’d a stutter as a child, did he not?”
Sir Colin went white.
“A stutter?”
Mrs. Stone took this as confirmation.
“So I thought,” she murmured, nodding to herself. And then she left.
Sir Colin stared at the door long after Mrs. Stone had shut it behind her.
Chapter Ten
“Now,why…”SirColincrossed his arms. “How could she possibly know? Bernard… it was only a passing thing. He’d shed it by the time he became a midshipman.”
“Mrs. Stone possesses a rare talent,” Charlotte said, unable to resist allowing a hint of smugness into her voice, as if it were she who had received the little gem of insight rather than her mentor.
“Why in the blazes would my mother agree to host Mr. Bass over Mrs. Stone if…”
He seemingly realized what he was about to say, and he clapped his mouth shut. He glanced back to the door through which Mrs. Stone had departed.
“If Mrs. Stone’s capabilities are genuine?” Charlotte finished.
Sir Colin finally tore his eyes away from the door, and he looked at her.
Charlotte stood up and unfolded the old spiritualist paper she’d been holding under her arm. She held it out toward him.
“Begin in the bottom right.”
He took it from her with a wary expression. “What is it?”
“Bottom right.”
