Affair (8 page)

He followed Charlotte downstairs.

A short time later, he closed the last drawer in a desk and pulled his watch from his waistcoat pocket. “We must be off, Miss Arkendale.”

“Just a few more minutes.” Charlotte stood on tiptoe to replace some volumes she had removed from a bookshelf. “I am almost finished.”

“We cannot linger any longer.” Baxter picked up the lantern.

She scanned the bookshelves with a quick, anxious eye. “But what if we have overlooked something of importance?”

“You do not even know what you are searching for, so how will you know if you have overlooked anything?” He took her arm and led her swiftly toward the hall. “Move, Miss Arkendale.”

She glanced at him with sudden alarm. “Is there something wrong, sir?”

“Need you ask?” He drew her down the stairs toward the kitchen. “It is past midnight and we are entertaining ourselves by searching the house of a lady who was recently murdered. You are even now preparing to take an item that once belonged to the previous occupant of these premises. Many people might well feel that there is some cause for concern in this situation.”

“There is no call for sarcasm, sir. When I asked if there was something wrong, I meant something other than your earlier fears concerning our project. You seem more uneasy of a sudden.”

He glanced at her, startled by her perceptiveness. She was right. He had been growing increasingly restless and ill at ease ever since he had spotted the man in the shadows across the street.

It had been a long time since he had experienced this particular very unpleasant, very cold frisson. Three years, to be precise.

He was a man of science and as such he refused to label the feeling as a premonition. But the last time the sensation had struck had been memorable, to say the least. He had the scars to prove how close he had come to getting himself killed.

“Be careful, sir, or we shall both trip on these stairs,” Charlotte whispered. “It will be difficult to get out of here if we are sporting broken legs.”

“We’re almost back to the kitchen,” Baxter said as they went past the housekeeper’s room. “I’m going to put out the lantern now. We will be nearly blind until we get back outside. Do not let go of my arm.”

“Why don’t we wait until we are back on the street before we put out the lantern?”

“Because I don’t want to take the chance of having anyone notice our departure.”

“But no one will be able to see us in the fog,” Charlotte protested.

“The glow of the lantern will be visible, even if our faces are not. Are you ready?”

She gave him an odd, searching look. He thought she was going to continue to argue about the lantern. But something she must have seen in his face apparently convinced her to let the subject drop. She tightened her grip on the sketchbook and nodded once, very quickly.

Baxter put out the light. The darkness of the kitchen enclosed them in an instant.

Relying on his memory of the room, Baxter led the way back to the door. It opened easily, with only a small, betraying squeak. The dim glare of fog-reflected lamplight beckoned from the street above the front area.

Charlotte put a foot on the first of the stone steps. Baxter seized her arm again and held her still. She obediently came to a halt, waiting for him to signal her that it was safe to continue on up to the street.

Mercifully, she did not ask any more questions. He was grateful for her continued silence. He stood listening intently for a moment. The rattle of carriage wheels on the paving stones sounded from somewhere in the distance
but there was no indication that anyone waited nearby.

Baxter nudged Charlotte gently. She hastened up the steps. He followed swiftly. When they reached the street he turned and drew her toward the park, where the carriage waited.

The shadows in front of them shifted without warning.

A massive figure loomed out of the mist. The heavily built man was garbed in a bulky coachman’s coat and a low-crowned hat. The glare of the nearby gas lamp glinted dully on the large, long-barreled pistol in his beefy fist.

“Well, now, what ’ave we ’ere?” the man asked in a rasping voice. “Looks like a couple of gentry coves nosin’ around in my business.”

Baxter heard Charlotte draw a sharp, alarmed breath, but she did not cry out.

“Stand aside,” Baxter ordered.

“Not so fast.” There was enough light to see several large, dark holes in places where the villain’s teeth should have been. “You just came out of my house and I ain’t lettin’ you leave with anything that belongs to me.”

“Your house?” Charlotte stared at him in amazement. “How dare you? I happen to know that particular house was recently owned by someone else.”

“Uh, Miss Arkendale,” Baxter said softly. “This may not be a good time—”

“It’s my house, I tell ye,” the big man snarled at Charlotte. “I spotted it three nights back and I been watchin’ it real close ever since.”

“Watching it for what reason?” Charlotte demanded.

“Making sure the owner was gone for a good long
while and weren’t planning to come back unexpected-like in the middle of the night, of course.”

“Good heavens, you’re a professional housebreaker.”

“I am that, right enough. Real professional.” The man grinned with pride. “Never been caught on account of I’m real careful. Always make sure the owners are out of town before I go in and help meself. I was getting ready to make my move tonight and what do I see? A couple of the fancy trying to beat me out of my profits.”

Baxter softened his voice. “I said, stand aside. I will not tell you again.”

“Glad to hear that. Ain’t got time for any dull lectures tonight.” The man dismissed Baxter with one last, mocking glance and turned his toothless grin back on Charlotte. “Now, then, Madam Busybody, just what did ye make off with? A bit of the silver, perhaps? A few trinkets from the jewelry drawer? Whatever it is, it belongs to me. Hand it over.”

“We took no valuables from that house,” Charlotte declared.

“Must have taken something.” The man scowled at the sketchbook. “What’s that?”

“Just a book. It’s nothing to do with you.”

“I ain’t interested in no book, but I’ll have a look at whatever ye got inside that cloak. I’ll wager ye tucked a few nice candlesticks and maybe a necklace or two in there. Open that cloak.”

“I will do no such thing,” Charlotte said with icy disdain.

“Mouthy bitch, aren’t ye? Well, here’s a little illustration of what’ll ’appen if ye don’t give me my rightful earnings.”

The man whipped around with surprising speed. He
brought the pistol up high as if it were a club and swung it in a short, savage arc aimed at Baxter’s head.

“No,” Charlotte gasped. “Wait, don’t hurt him. He merely works for me.”

Baxter was already moving, ducking swiftly to avoid the slashing pistol. He yanked one of the glass vials out of the small box in his pocket, snapped it open, and hurled it straight into his assailant’s face.

The special phosphorous compound flashed into a harsh, startling light on contact with air. The villain roared in shock and rage and awkwardly leaped back, clawing at his eyes. The pistol clattered on the paving.

Baxter stepped forward and slammed a fist into the man’s jaw. Still partially blinded by the instantaneous light that had exploded in his face, the villain reeled.

“Ye’ve blinded me, ye bloody bastard. I’m
blind.
”

Baxter saw no reason to assure him that the effect was only temporary. He seized Charlotte’s arm. “Come. I hear the carriage.”

“It ain’t fair,” the villain whined. “I’m the one what spotted that vacant house. It’s mine. Go find yer own house.”

Charlotte glanced back at the outraged villain. “We’re going to inform the magistrate that you’re skulking about in this neighborhood. You’d better leave at once.”

“That’s enough.” Baxter saw the carriage lamps in the distance. He hauled Charlotte forward. “We’ve got our own problems.”

“I don’t want that villain to think that he can go into Mrs. Heskett’s house and steal whatever he likes.”

“Why not? We just did exactly that.”

“Taking this sketchbook is a different matter entirely,” she protested breathlessly.

“Hmm.” The carriage was almost upon them.

“I must tell you, I was most impressed with the way you handled that situation, Mr. St. Ives. Very clever of you to think of using your instantaneous lights in that fashion. Very clever, indeed.”

Baxter ignored the admiration in her words. He was too intent on watching the dark carriage materialize out of the fog.

The horses appeared first, a pair of gray phantoms coalescing out of the mist. The bulk of the vehicle took shape behind them. The coachman, hired from Severedges Stables along with the carriage and team, had driven for Baxter many times. He was accustomed to the eccentricities of his client.

Baxter had patronized the large livery stable for years. He found it more efficient and economical to send around to Severedges’s whenever he required a carriage than to maintain his own stable. In exchange for his long-standing business and prompt payment of accounts, he was assured of service and discretion.

“Anything wrong, sir?” the coachman inquired as he wheeled the horses to a halt.

“Nothing that my companion and I could not handle.” Baxter yanked the carriage door open. He caught Charlotte around the waist and tossed her lightly into the cab. “Take us back to Miss Arkendale’s house.”

“Aye, sir.”

Baxter vaulted into the carriage, closed the door, and sank down on the seat across from Charlotte. The vehicle rumbled into motion.

He checked to make certain that the curtains were still drawn across the windows. Then he turned back to Charlotte. In the pale glow of the interior lamps, her eyes were very brilliant.

“Mr. St. Ives, I cannot thank you enough for your actions tonight,” she said. “You were truly noble and heroic and terribly quick-witted in the crisis. All of my doubts concerning your employment have been resolved. Mr. Marcle was quite right to send you to me.”

Anger surged through him without warning. She could have gotten herself killed tonight, he thought. And there she sat, glowing with enthusiasm and praising him as if he were a servant who had performed his duties particularly well. It was enough to make any reasonable man want to lose his temper.

“I am delighted that you are satisfied with my services, Miss Arkendale.”

“Oh, I am, sir. Most delighted. You will, indeed, make me an excellent man-of-affairs.”

“But in my
professional
opinion,” he continued very softly, “your reckless actions this evening were intolerable. There is no excuse for such foolishness. I must have been out of my mind to allow you to search Drusilla Heskett’s house.”

“I do not recall asking your permission, sir.”

“You could have been hurt, perhaps even killed by that man who accosted us.”

“I was in no danger, thanks to you, sir. Indeed, I do not know what I would have done without you this evening.” Her eyes glowed. “No man has ever come to my rescue, Mr. St. Ives. It was quite thrilling, actually. Just the sort of thing one reads about in Gothic novels or in one of Byron’s poems.”

“Bloody hell, Miss Arkendale—”

“You were wonderful, sir.” Without warning, she launched herself across the short distance that separated them. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick, exuberant hug.

The folds of her cloak settled lightly around him. Baxter was suddenly enveloped by a warm, tantalizing, indescribable fragrance. It was composed of the light flowery perfume Charlotte wore, the herbal essence of the soap she used, and the incredibly unique, utterly feminine scent of her body.

He felt as though he had been thrust into one of his own bell jars. Some unseen air pump seemed to have sucked all of the oxygen out of the atmosphere. All that was left to breathe was the essence of Charlotte.

A searing awareness flashed through him with the speed of an electrical charge. It created a truly alchemical reaction. The ancients had believed that, with the aid of fire, it was possible to transmute base lead into glorious gold. Baxter knew now that it was possible for the heat in his blood to change his anger into intense sexual desire.

He wanted her. Now. Tonight. He had never wanted a woman so badly in the whole of his life.

He caught her face between his palms as she started to pull away from him. He gazed down at her, baffled by the force of his own need.

“Forgive me, Mr. St. Ives.” Charlotte looked flustered. Her smile was tremulous. Her eyes went to his mouth. “I did not mean to embarrass you. The excitement of the moment must have overcome my senses.”

Baxter did not respond. He could not think of a damn thing to say.

He did the only thing he could do. He kissed her.

Four

For an instant, Charlotte did not understand what had happened. She knew only that Baxter’s mouth was on hers and that he was kissing her. And then it dawned on her. He was making love to her. Right there in the carriage.

The flames of the fierce, vital passion that she had seen in his eyes at their first meeting had exploded. They dazzled her senses the way instantaneous lights dazzled one’s vision.