Amanda Quick - Mischief.txt

by Mischief (lit)

  that not right, Colchester?"

  Yes." Matthias glanced at Patricia." I assure you, Imogen is

  expert at reading Zamarian script. I saw the symbols for wheat

  and oxen on that tablet myself, from where I was standing. The

  message was definitely not a curse."

  I don't understand," Patricia whispered." So many dreadful

  things have occurred lately. The duel. Lord Vanneck's death. And

  then, two nights ago, you were nearly killed, Matthias. I was

  certain that Lady Lyndhurst was right when she said that the

  Rutledge Curse had struck again."

  The Rutledge Curse is rubbish," Matthias said." It was invented

  by a group of cork-brained dilettantes in the Zamarian Society

  shortly after word reached them that Rutledge had died in the

  labyrinth. One can only hope that the Polite World will soon grow

  bored with ancient Zamar and return to its interest in Egypt."

  Not likely," Imogen scoffed." How could ancient Egypt possibly

  compete with lost Zamar? Besides, we already know everything

  there is to know about Egypt."

  Matthias was briefly distracted by that notion. I'm not so

  certain. If someone ever succeeds in deciphering the inscriptions

  on that chunk of black basalt that they are calling the Rosetta

  Stone, there could well be a renewed interest in ancient Egypt."

  Imogen wrinkled her nose." I shall always prefer the wonders of

  Zamar."

  You are nothing if not loyal, my dear," Matthias said softly.

  Patricia looked down at her hands." Lady Lyndhurst claimed

  that she could translate Zamarian script. She said she could read

  the inscription on that clay tablet. Why would she lie about such a

  thing?"

  Lady Lyndhurst enjoys playing games." Matthias did not

  bother to conceal his disgust." Henceforth, you will both keep your

  distance from her."

  Patricia shuddered." I have no wish to attend any more of her

  salons."

  Imogen's brows snapped together." Patricia, there is something

  I want to ask you. It was your idea to take Lucy's journal to the

  salon this afternoon, was it not?"

  Matthias's insides went cold." What's this about the journal?"

  Patricia stiffened at his tone." I am very sorry about the journal.

  I thought that what I was doing was for the best."

  Matthias opened his mouth to repeat his demand for an expla

  nation but Imogen silenced him with a quick, tiny shake of her

  head. Reluctantly he subsided. It had occurred to him on one or

  two occasions lately that Imogen's methods of dealing with

  Patricia were more effective than his own.

  Imogen smiled at Patricia." It's quite all right. No harm was

  done. I merely wondered if you had mentioned the journal to

  anyone since it, uh, came into our possession."

  Matthias raised his brows at her tactful description of what

  some might term outright theft.

  Oh, no," Patricia assured her." I told no one about it."

  Imogen watched her intently." No one suggested that you take

  the journal to Lady Lyndhurst's salon this afternoon?"

  Patricia shook her head with great certainty." Of course not.

  How could anyone else have known that Matthias had taken it

  from Lord Vanneck's house?"

  Indeed," Imogen said very casually." Who could have known

  other than the three of us?"

  Patricia visibly relaxed." I concluded that I had to take the journal to Lady Lyndhurst after I got a message from one of my

  friends in the salon."

  That bit of news was too much for Matthias's self-control. He

  pounced before Imogen could stop him." Someone sent you a

  message about the journal? Who was it?"

  Patricia's eyes widened." I'm not certain. The message I

  received this morning was not signed. But it carried the secret seal

  that the members of the salon use whenever they communicate

  with each other."

  Secret seal?" Matthias winced." What nonsense. Why the devil

  didn't you show me that damned message? When did it arrive?

  Did you recognize the handwriting?"

  Patricia retreated into the corner of the carriage seat. She

  looked at Imogen with a beseeching expression.

  Imogen glared at Matthias." I pray you will be silent, my lord.

  You are complicating matters."

  Damnation." Matthias wanted to shake the answers out of

  Patricia. As that approach was clearly not an option, he turned the

  brunt of his rapidly thinning patience on Imogen." Make no

  mistake, madam, I intend to discover just what is going on here."

  I know you do and you shall," Imogen said in her apple-crisp

  tones." But we will all get through this far more quickly if you

  allow me to discuss the matter with your sister in a calm, reasonable fashion."

  Matthias drummed his fingers on the side of the carriage frame.

  She was right and he knew it." Very well. Get on with it, then."

  Imogen turned back to Patricia." Pay no attention to him. Men

  are inclined to be impatient. Now then, this message that you said

  you received. Did it specifically mention the journal?"

  No, of course not." Patricia was obviously perplexed." How

  could anyone have known that we had it?"

  How indeed," Matthias said dryly." Perhaps you jotted a few

  notes to your friends in the salon? Properly sealed with the secret

  seal, of course."

  Patricia's eyes glistened with tears." I just told you that I did not

  tell a soul."

  Imogen gave Matthias another repressive glare." My lord, if you

  possess half the intelligence I have always credited you with, you

  will cease interrupting."

  Matthias set his teeth but he kept silent.

  Imogen smiled encouragingly at Patricia." Now then, tell us

  about the note you received."

  Patricia eyed Matthias warily, no doubt fearful that he would

  renew his aggressive efforts to wring the information out of her.

  When he said nothing, she looked at Imogen." The message

  claimed that we must all beware of the Rutledge Curse, lest it fall

  on the household of one of the members of the Zamarian salon. I

  realized at once that Matthias had been the latest victim."

  Naturally. A perfectly logical conclusion," Imogen said.

  Matthias scowled at her, but he managed to hold his tongue.

  Did the note say anything else?" Imogen asked quickly.

  Only that anyone who possessed any object that might have

  once belonged to Vanneck was in the greatest danger." Patricia

  hesitated." The curse will have tainted everything that he owned,

  you see."

  Hardly subtle," Matthias said scornfully." Hell's teeth, someone

  knows about the journal."

  Imogen gave him another warning glance before resuming her

  gentle inquisition." You realized that one of Vanneck's possessions

  was indeed under our roof, did you not, Patricia? Namely the journal."

  Yes." Patricia looked bewildered." I knew that neither you nor

  Matthias would believe me if I tried to explain about the curse.

  You both dismiss it. I had to do something. Matthias had nearly

  been killed. Who knew how the curse would strike next? I thought

  that Lady
Lyndhurst would have some notion of what to do with

  the journal, as she is an expert on ancient Zamar and she believed

  in the Rutledge Curse."

  Damnation," Matthias muttered." Selena is no expert on

  anything except fashion."

  Imogen kept her attention fixed on Patricia." I understand why

  you felt you had to take action, but your brother is quite right. The

  Rutledge Curse is nonsense. I fear that Lady Lyndhurst was play

  ing a rather unpleasant little game with you and the other

  members of her salon."

  Patricia sighed." But, Imogen, I don't understand. If there is no

  curse, how can one explain all of the strange events of late?"

  Coincidence," Imogen said easily." They happen all the time."

  Coincidence be damned," Matthias growled twenty minutes later

  as he stalked into the library behind Imogen." There is far more

  than mere coincidence involved in this matter, and well you know

  it."

  Yes, Matthias, but I do not see any reason to alarm Patricia."

  Imogen glanced at the closed door of the library as she stripped

  off her bonnet and gloves." She is anxious enough as it is. And

  given the family tendency toward lurid and dreadful imaginings, I

  think it best that we not frighten her."

  It strikes me that there is bloody good cause for a few lurid and

  dreadful imaginings in this situation." Matthias flung himself down

  into the chair behind his desk and watched with brooding eyes as

  Imogen began to pace the room." What is this all about?"

  I'm not certain. But it's obvious that Lucy's journal is very

  important to someone."

  Matthias narrowed his gaze as he freed his thoughts to make

  connections between seemingly unconnected events and people.

  Selena?"

  She is certainly a possible suspect." Imogen appeared to have

  no trouble following his leaps of logic." She is the one who

  pretended to interpret the Rutledge Curse, after all."

  Why would she want the damned thing?"

  I have no notion. As far as I know, Lucy and Selena were only

  barely acquainted three years ago. Lucy never spoke of her,

  except occasionally in passing.

  Indeed."

  Imogen gave him a sharp, searching glance." Do you see some

  connection that I have missed?"

  Do you recall the night that we shared an extremely memorable embrace in a certain garden?"

  Imogen turned a charming shade of pink." Yes, of course. You

  insisted that we become engaged because of it."

  I did not insist upon the engagement simply because of the

  embrace, delightful though it was."

  Imogen paused briefly in her pacing." You insisted upon it

  because we had been seen by Selena and Alastair Drake."

  Precisely. It's not much to go on, but it is an interesting tidbit

  of information, is it not?"

  But it was just a coincidence that they happened to be taking a

  stroll in the garden together that night and discovered us in such

  a . such a ." Imogen cleared her throat." Such a compromising

  situation."

  As I just told you, I am not inclined to believe that there is

  anything coincidental about this entire affair."

  Very well, let us start with some assumptions." Imogen clasped

  her hands behind her back and resumed her pacing." Someone

  knows that you took the journal from Vanneck's house. That

  unknown person attempted to trick Patricia into bringing it with

  her to the salon today. That individual could well have been

  Selena, although there is no reason to believe she would have any

  interest in the journal or that she would have any way of knowing

  that we possess it."

  Perhaps the person behind this was one of the other members

  of the salon."

  Imogen shook her head." Not likely. You saw them, Matthias.

  They are all young ladies of Patricia's age. For most, this is their

  first Season in Society. They would have still been in the school

  room three years ago. None of them would have even been

  acquainted with Lucy."

  A relative of one of the young ladies, perhaps?"

  Possible." Imogen frowned." But unlikely. It comes back to the

  same problem. How could any of them have known that you took

  the journal from Vanneck's study?"

  You're forgetting that there were two other people in

  Vanneck's house the other night in addition to myself," Matthias

  said." I could not see their faces because they had gone to a deal

  of trouble to conceal themselves. But they must have seen me."

  Good heavens. You're right."

  They may have assumed that I was after the journal simply

  because that's what they were searching for themselves," Matthias

  continued." They considered it valuable and likely concluded that

  I also knew of its importance."

  But you had no notion of its worth."

  I did not enter the house to look for anything in particular, but

  the two people I encountered there could not have known that. I

  took that blasted journal only because it was obvious Vanneck had

  deliberately concealed it." Matthias hesitated." And because I saw

  that it had belonged to your friend Lucy."

  You do have a remarkable ability for uncovering that which is

  hidden," Imogen mused.

  We all have our small talents. The skill served me well in lost

  Zamar." Matthias wondered glumly if she sensed his lies of omission. He had not taken the journal solely because it had been

  hidden or even because it had belonged to Lucy. He had taken it

  because he had known that his fate was somehow tied to it.

  But Imogen seemed intent on pursuing the logic of the problem

  under discussion, not the murky questions of his particular choice

  of self-imposed doom.

  The two villains who attacked you may have gone back into

  the house after you left to continue their search," she suggested.

  When they failed to discover the journal, they may have

  concluded that you had found it and taken it."

  Perhaps they simply hid outside the house and watched as I

  left with the journal in my hand. There was enough moonlight to

  see quite clearly the other night."

  I don't know, Matthias. None of it makes sense unless there is

  something of grave import in Lucy's journal. But what could that

  be? Vanneck was the only one who would have cared about Lucy's

  affair with Alastair Drake. Surely no one else would be concerned

  at this late date. It all happened three years ago."

  Matthias steeled himself for the question he had to ask." Have

  you finished reading the journal?"

  Almost." She glanced out the window into the garden." I have

  made slow progress, I fear. Lucy's writings have been somewhat

  painful to read."

  Matthias picked up the small knife he used to trim the nibs of

  quill pens and began to fiddle with it." Imogen, I doubt you will

  believe this, but I regret forcing you to read that damned journal."

  Nonsense." She gave him a reassuring smile." You did what you

  thought best and you were quite right. We need to know what the

  journal contains that makes it so valuable to someone else."

&nbs
p; He tossed the blade down onto the desk." You're amazing, do

  you know that? Absolutely astounding. Good God, can you not

  deal squarely with the truth when you run headlong into it?

  You're I. A. Stone, after all."

  She came to a halt in the middle of the room and stared at him

  in open mouthed astonishment." What is wrong? Why are you

  angry, my lord?"

  How can you be so bloody damn intelligent on the one hand

  and so incredibly naive on the other?"

  She gave him an odd smile." Have you considered that I am not

  quite so naive as you believe, Matthias? I simply see some truths

  from a different perspective than you do."

  There can be only one truth in any given situation."

  I do not agree, my lord. Only recall how often you and I have

  argued in print about a particular point concerning Zamarian

  history. In those instances we both interpret the script in an identical fashion but we attribute different meanings to it. Two views

  of the same truth."

  Don't you understand?" he said through his teeth." This has got

  nothing to do with ancient Zamar. As long as we are discussing

  truth, let us have one thing clear between us."

  What is that?"

  Matthias was appalled at what he was doing. He should stop

  right now, he thought. He was a fool to say another word. He had

  apparently had a narrow escape in the matter of the journal. He

  should thank his lucky stars for his good fortune and cease digging

  this bottomless pit for himself.

  Imogen had convinced herself that he had given her the journal

  to read because there was no alternative. If he had any sense, he

  would allow her to go on believing that. It was folly to push his

  luck in this absurd manner. But he could not stop himself. He

  leaped into the dark chasm he had excavated.

  Surely you realize that I was aware of what you were likely to

  learn about Lucy's character when I gave you her journal," he said.

  You made certain assumptions about Lucy based on old gossip.

  You assumed I would do the same after I read her journal."

  They were more than assumptions. You were hurt by what you

  read. Bloody hell, I saw your tears, Imogen."

  She tilted her head to one side and contemplated him in a

  thoughtful manner." Aunt Horatia admitted today for the first time

  that she, too, had been aware of Lucy's odd behavior."

  Odd behavior?" Matthias gave a crack of humorless laughter.

  That is putting an extremely kind twist on the matter. She was a