“Will this be adequate for your needs this evening?” Charles asked.
“Perfect. Thank you.”
Charles left the list of the evening’s entrees on the table. “I’ll let Loretta know you’re here.”
Trixie slid into her seat then adjusted her skirt while Nathaniel sat across from her. “Come here often?” she asked.
“Not as often as I’d like. The owner and I are old friends. We went to university together.”
“Ah.” At least he wasn’t known because of his frequent patronage.
The serving girl came by and took their orders. As soon as she left, Nathaniel asked the question she had been dreading. “What were you doing in the records room?”
A weight settled in her gut. She owed him an explanation since he hadn’t turned her over to security but that didn’t mean she had to tell him everything. “The short answer is that I was searching for something.”
“That is far too obvious of an answer. What were you searching for?”
“Anything that might tell me what happened to my parents.”
He frowned. “I thought they died when their airship crashed in the jungle.”
“So did I.” She tamped down the wave of grief that always surfaced whenever she thought about her parents’ disappearance.
He lifted one brow. “But you don’t any longer? What changed your mind?”
“We received a message telling us father was alive and if we wanted to ever see him again we needed to retrieve Father’s journal from the Royal Intelligence Office.”
“Who was the message from?”
He wasn’t going to like her answer. In truth, she didn’t like it either. “I don’t know.”
“But you did as they asked?”
“Peter and I did.”
“Peter? Peter wasn’t with you.” Nathaniel frowned again. He leaned forward in his chair and growled in a low voice, “Tonight wasn’t your first break in was it?”
She cringed. “It was the first time I’ve been in the London office.”
“You’ve been in other RIO offices?”
“Yes. Three before tonight.”
He blinked in surprise. “How is that possible?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Why would you take that kind of chance? You had no way of knowing for certain if the person behind that note was friend or foe. They could have been sending you on a wild goose chase or setting you up to be arrested.”
She said a silent prayer of thanks that they were in a public house so he couldn’t shout at her. “You’re right, but we couldn’t take the chance. If Father really is alive we didn’t see any other way of finding him.”
His hands clinched into fists. “Why didn’t you go to Scotland Yard and ask for help?”
“The note warned us not to.”
“Of course it did, but you still could have gone to them and quietly asked for assistance.”
She leaned forward in her chair and hissed, “Don’t you think we tried? Peter talked with a friend who frequently works with them on cases and asked what we should do. He advised there would be little the constables could do to help and that the potential publicity would likely only draw unwanted attention back to the family. Not to mention word would likely get back to whoever sent the note.”
Nathaniel cringed.
They paused their conversation when the serving girl arrived with their drinks. As soon as the girl left Trixie continued. “The first time we went in to one of the offices we calculated we had at least a small chance of getting in and out without anyone noticing.”
He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. “I’d be most interested in knowing how you managed to pull that off.”
She shrugged. “Peter’s friend told us about the records room and how they filed things. After a little training with a, um…” She cleared her throat. “An acquaintance with a talent for breaking into secured places, Peter and I felt it was our best shot. Between the two of us and the automata we were able to get in and out fairly quickly.”
“Automata.” He glanced at her reticule. Nid, her mechanical spider, hovered at the opening, seemingly watching their exchange. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“My father’s journal? No.”
“So you were being set up for something,” he surmised.
“We don’t think so. Every office we searched had files on father. We gathered whatever information we found and brought it home to study. Originally, we planned to return everything after we’d read it, but now we can’t be sure that information wouldn’t be used against him if we did find Father.”
“Each of the offices had files on him?”
She nodded as she took a sip of wine. “Most had the same basic information—his background and family connections—but one had details of the crash.”
“I can’t believe that Peter let you do something like this on your own. What is wrong with him?”
She cringed.
“And why did you go to the other offices first instead of starting with this one? I could have helped you from the start.”
“We planned to leave the London office for last because of its close proximity to home. We thought we were far more likely to be seen or recognized here. It just wasn’t worth the risk before.”
“You couldn’t find the journal at any of the other offices so this was your last hope?”
“Oh, no. I found notes in the Plymouth office files that hinted an inspector from Edinburgh had found a journal at the crash site.”
His teeth were gritted when he asked, “Then why did you need to break into this one?”
“I haven’t been able to make arrangements to travel to Edinburgh just yet and I wanted to see what information they might have here before I did.”
“And Peter was fine with you doing this without him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She encouraged Hopper to come out of her bag. “He didn’t want me involved at all. But once he saw how much faster the automata and I could get in and out he relented.”
He shook his head. “I think I need a drink of something stout before we finish this conversation. Excuse me for a moment.”
How did she get into this pickle? She slumped against the back of the booth. She was sitting in a tavern with the former love of her life. After he caught her doing something extremely illegal.
It had been three years since she last saw him. The Crenshaw’s mid-summer festival had been a glorious evening. She spent most of the day and night at Nathaniel’s side. They danced, ate lunch and dinner together, and simply enjoyed a warm, carefree day. But her bliss quickly turned into tears when she returned home and learned her parent’s airship had been reported as lost, with no survivors. She and Peter had immediately packed and left for the mysterious continent of Africa to do what they could to find their parents.
When she returned five months later, she learned Nathaniel had taken an assignment in Paris and would be gone for an undetermined time. There had been no letters from him. No words of condolence. Nothing. And it had hurt deeply.
But, given the lies that quickly spread about her father and how he’d supposedly been working with a disreputable firm to sell illegal goods and information, she hadn’t been surprised. Most of her supposed friends turned their backs on both her and Peter.
Despite her bruised heart, she kept a watchful eye for Nathaniel’s return to England, but had not reached out to him. Somehow their paths hadn’t crossed before now. Granted she no longer moved in the same social circles. As a matter of fact, she did very little socializing. And no dancing at all. Not since… well, him.
Strange that she hadn’t noticed that before now.
3
When he returned to their table after sending a note off to one of his colleagues he found Trixie lost in her thoughts. Her fingers toyed with one of her mechanical pets but her mind was clearly elsewhere.
“Forgive me. I just needed a moment to clear my head,” he told her as he too
k his seat.
“Understandable.” She gave him a sad smile. “This evening probably didn’t go the way you planned.”
“No, it did not.”
Her eyes widened in concern. “I do hope you haven’t had to cancel other plans.”
“No. My plans for the evening were simple. Finish reviewing the files related to the case I’d been working then have a quick supper at home.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I live a simple bachelor’s life.”
“Well good.” She blushed. “I mean, I’m glad I’m not keeping you from any other engagements.” She took a sip from her glass. “So might I ask about your connection to the Royal Intelligence Office?”
“I joined the RIO about four years ago. I’ve been steadily working my way up since.”
“You never said anything about working for them. I thought you had a commission with the navy.”
“The RIO is a special branch of the navy. We don’t tell many people who we really work for.”
“Does your family know?”
“Mother does.”
“But not Sophie?”
He shook his head. “She thinks I am still in service for the navy.” He shrugged. “Less for her to worry about.”
She frowned. “How? Is the RIO more dangerous than the navy?”
“Depends on how you look at it.” He latched on to the opportunity to question her further. “Speaking of worried siblings, should we send a note to Peter letting him know where you are?”
She looked down at the automaton crawling across her fingers. “No, that won’t be necessary.”
“Surely he will be expecting you home by a certain time. Especially after your escapades tonight.” He tipped his glass in her direction. “And just so you know, I will be having words with your brother about either of you getting involved in this on your own. Most especially about him letting you do this on your own.”
“He doesn’t know about tonight.”
Her words came out so softly he almost missed them. “What do you mean? I thought you said the two of you had been going into the offices together and he realized you were faster at it.”
She nodded and finally met his gaze. “That’s true. But he had nothing to do with tonight. He doesn’t know I did it.”
Nathaniel clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Explain.”
“Peter went missing three days ago.”
Her words hit him like a slap to the face. His mind quickly sifted through all of the files he’d been reviewing about missing people. The possibility that Peter might be yet another of the casualties filled him with dread. “Tell me everything you know.”
“That isn’t much.”
“Tell me anyway.”
She took a deep breath. “The last time I saw him was Thursday.”
“Where?”
“At the Panhurst offices. I left early because I needed to run by the market for a few things. Peter said he wanted to work on something in father’s lab and would be home late.”
“Do you know what he was working on?”
“No. He and Father were just alike. Always tinkering with something or another. I never have been able to keep up with their ideas much less which they were most interested in. That changed from day to day.”
The serving girl interrupted them to deliver their dinner orders. Once everything had been situated and the girl left, he prompted Trixie, “Go on. You were telling me about Peter.”
She sampled her soup then nodded as she patted her mouth with her napkin. “Yes. Like I said he left the office early on Thursday and from what I have gathered from the housekeeper and the delivery boy who often runs errands for Peter, he remained there overnight. The next day is what I cannot get firm answers on.” She pushed the food around on her plate. “Basically, no one can account for his whereabouts after about one o’clock in the morning.”
“When did you realize that he was missing?”
“I noticed Friday morning but I didn’t worry until later that afternoon.”
“What did you do in between?”
“Mostly went about my normal day. I did tell our housekeeper that I hadn’t been able to find Peter and asked her to send word if he came home. I also sent one of the men to the club Peter frequents and a couple other places he might have visited to see if anyone had seen him. Then late Saturday, I searched father’s laboratory myself to see if he left a note or clue to his whereabouts.”
“I take it you didn’t find anything?”
She shook her head. “Nothing to raise any concern.”
“If your father’s lab was the last place he was known to be, do you mind if I take a look tomorrow?”
“I don’t see what harm that would do but what do you hope to find?”
“You said you searched for a note from Peter. I’m just…” He took a moment to wipe his mouth with his napkin while he carefully chose his words. “I’m curious to know if he left the lab under his own power or if someone helped him.”
She crumpled the napkin she clutched. “You think someone kidnapped him?” Her voice trembled ever so slightly.
“I think it is within the realm of possibility.” He hated creating more worry for her but she was far too intelligent to be handed half-truths.
“I’d already considered that. I just didn’t want to admit how much of a possibility it really was,” she confessed.
He lay his hand over hers. “I’m not saying that is what happened.”
She nodded. “I know. We won’t know until we see all the facts. Or until we find Peter.”
He squeezed her hand.
“Can we talk about something else for a bit?”
“Certainly.” He pulled his hand back. “Did you have something in mind?”
“Why did you never write to me after Mother and Father disappeared? Of all the friends I lost, you were the one I missed the most.”
He reeled back in surprise. “For months, I didn’t know where you were or how to reach you. I didn’t even know what had happened for almost a week when the rumors began to surface. By then I figured…” He paused. “By then I figured that I had been mistaken in my estimation of our relationship.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought if the details of your life had been relevant to me then you would have told me what was going on.”
Her eyes widened. “I did.”
“You did, what?”
“I left a note for you that night. I asked one of the maids to have it delivered the next day.”
He shook his head. “I never received anything from you.”
“But I…” She looked bewildered. “You never received my note?”
“No.”
She slumped back in her chair. “I sent one in care of your mother since I didn’t know where your place was. It was hastily written and probably very messy, but I did think you should know what little I did know at that time.”
“You sent it to Mother’s?” Understanding dawned. His mother had not approved of his attachment to Trixie. She’d always hinted he could do far better than the daughter of an inventor. It wouldn’t surprise him if she conveniently lost the note.
“Yes. I asked Lilly to deliver it first thing the morning.”
He tapped his finger on the table in annoyance.
She smiled sadly. “I didn’t feel right leaving without telling you something. I know we didn’t have any kind of understanding, but I counted you as one of my friends and…” She pressed her lips together and looked away. “I remember being sad that I wouldn’t be able to dance with you again at the Cunningham ball the following weekend.”
So she hadn’t run off without a second thought for him. He’d spent the better part of a year thinking he’d been mistaken about their relationship. “You returned to London while I was in France, didn’t you?”
“That’s what I heard.” She sampled the greens on her plate. “Once Peter and I were permitted entrance to some of the social events, that is.”
He frowned. �
�That had to be a hard transition for the two of you. The ton can be vicious when there is any hint of scandal.”
“A hint is all it takes to close a great many doors in this town.” She took a deep breath. “But we had father’s business to keep us busy. Between the legal and financial issues we had to face when we returned as well as the general running of Panhurst, there were more important things to worry about instead of which balls we didn’t receive an invitation for.”
He snorted. “The years I spent abroad were a bit of a Godsend for me. Mother became a little too aggressive in her search for a suitable wife for me and I needed the time away from the ballrooms.”
“Why did you go to France? I understood that you were visiting a distant cousin?”
“That’s Mother’s story. In truth, I was on assignment for the RIO.”
Her surprise quickly turned into amusement. “You weren’t spying on anyone, were you?”
“While I cannot discuss that case even today I will say that it was an eye-opening experience and taught me how deep political connections run.”
“Intriguing.”
They spent the remainder of dinner catching up. Nathaniel shared a few of the funnier experiences he’d had aboard. She told him of the things she’d they’d been doing at Panhurst. She and her brother somehow managed to keep their father’s company from going bankrupt after his disappearance and supposed links to crime.
That alone was impressive.
After they’d finished dessert Nathaniel ask in a low tone, “After successfully breaking into the RIO, what were your plans for the remainder of the evening?”
She flicked a loose curl over her shoulder. “I had originally thought of toasting my success from the bell tower of the church.”
“How hedonistic of you.”
She placed her hand on the table next to her toy rabbit and encouraged it to climb on. When it did, Trixie ran her finger down its back as if petting a real animal. The rabbit nudged the tip of Trixie’s finger with its nose.
“They’re very… animated,” he remarked.
“Father was quite proud of his creations.”
“Your father made them?”
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