Page 19

“Oh, there are many things you could do if you put your mind to it,” Daniel said darkly. “Please do not discuss this with anyone at Scotland Yard, not Inspector McGregor, not Constable Greene when he visits Tess. Not Tess either.”

Daniel’s eyes held a steeliness I’d never seen in them, a grim determination that had no softness, even for me.

“I am only expressing concern for your well-being,” I said, somewhat stiffly. “I know there is damn-all you can do about undertaking this task.”

Daniel let out breath, trying to relax, but he couldn’t quite.

“I only ask that you do not try to interfere. I would like to focus my entire attention on the case at hand without having to fear for your safety at every moment. I gave you as many details as I did so you would not rush to Inspector McGregor to try to find me when I didn’t come around as often. ”

Now he was making me cross, though I admitted that if he’d simply disappeared, I would likely have expressed my concern to those I could approach at Scotland Yard.

I did realize that if Inspector McGregor, who intensely disliked Monaghan, raised a commotion about what had happened to Daniel, things might not go well for Daniel.

“Interfere,” I repeated. “Is that what you suppose I have been doing all this time? I’m very sorry if my interference has helped you in various cases, or saved my friends from the gallows or from being murdered themselves.”

Daniel’s shoulders sagged. “Kat... Damnation, I knew I should not have come here. I only wanted to see you before I had to keep from you for who knows how many weeks. Or months.”

My anger fell away with a crash. I rose from my chair and moved to kneel by his.

“My poor Daniel.” I slid my arms around his waist and rested my head on his lap.

I’d never taken such a daring pose with him before, and I was momentarily distracted by the strength of his legs beneath me.

“You are so very worried about this mission, and all I’ve done is twit you about it.

I am thinking only of myself and the hole in my life if I lost you. ”

Daniel laid a gentle hand on my hair. “And I, the emptiness if I lost you . I never should have lingered the day I first delivered goods to your kitchen. I should have returned to business and forgotten all about you. I knew I’d regret coming to know the pretty cook with the warm eyes, but somehow, I couldn’t help myself. ”

He’d melt me with all his flattery. Daniel had a way with him, I’d always said.

I raised my head to see all hardness in his expression gone. His eyes held a bleak light, and behind it, fear.

“I will stay out of your way,” I assured him. “Think of me here, baking all sorts of treats for your return.”

The humor returned to Daniel’s voice. “The cakes and things might grow moldy before I can eat them.”

“That is not what I meant, and you know it, silly man. I will try various recipes and choose one for us to celebrate with when you are finished.”

I started to rise. Daniel caught me, pulling me down to his lap. I hoped the rest of the staff truly were in their beds and not ready to pop in and catch me in so compromising a position.

I forgot all about them in the next moment when Daniel kissed me more fervently than he had in many a day. I clung to him without shame and kissed him back, fearing in my heart that I was seeing him for the last time.

When Daniel departed the house a quarter of an hour later, I was dangerously close to tears. I bravely held them in, smiling my good-bye to him and wishing him well.

Thursday morning dawned, but instead of waking with my usual joyous anticipation, I opened my eyes to a feeling of dread. For a moment, I couldn’t remember why, and then the details of Daniel’s nocturnal visit came flooding back to me.

“No good borrowing trouble,” I told myself as I rinsed and dried my face at the washbasin and reached for my hairbrush. “Daniel knows exactly what he is about. Today, I shall visit Grace and be happy.”

Daniel had been accompanying me on my visits most Thursdays, joining Grace and me for walks, treats at our favorite tea shops, or lively conversations in Joanna’s sitting room. I felt his absence as I made my lone way across London toward Cheapside.

On the other hand, Grace was the most important person in my world, and when I embraced her, my courage returned.

“Is Uncle Daniel coming with us today?” Grace asked me as we ventured into the soft May sunshine, the rain of the previous night having abated.

I did not want to fob off my daughter with light falsehoods. Keeping in mind Daniel’s warning about secrecy, I waited until we were walking, hand in hand, in a quiet area behind St. Paul’s before I spoke.

“He is investigating something for his inspector. We might not see him for some weeks.”

Grace wrinkled her nose. “For that awful man who followed us to the tea shop that day?”

“Indeed, Mr. Monaghan.” Who had accosted me one afternoon I was with Grace and tried to pry answers out of me about my relations with Daniel, as if it were any of his business.

“I don’t like him,” Grace declared. “Or the sound of this new task. Uncle Daniel should chuck it.”

“I do not like it either, and young ladies should not use such slang.”

Grace put on her stubborn expression. “There are too many things young ladies should not do. So many that I do not want to become one.”

I could not argue with her. Ladies had few choices in this world, though happily they had a more now than when I’d been young.

Grace would very soon be old enough that I would have to decide which direction her life would take.

Not something I wanted to think about at the moment, on top of my worry for Daniel.

“Will you be helping Uncle Daniel?” Grace went on as I pondered. “I think he’ll need you, Mum.”

“I’m afraid I’ll not be able to visit Daniel in the house where he’ll be staying, nor can he come and go as he pleases. Also, you must not discuss this with anyone, not even Joanna.”

“I never do.” Grace swung my hand. “I know Uncle Daniel does dangerous work for the police, and that it is safer for him if I don’t mention it. As long as you tell me all about it when it’s over.”

Her request was so like what I often said to Daniel that I laughed, feeling better.

“You ought to become cook in the house, wherever it is,” Grace suggested as we emerged into Ludgate Hill.

“I thought of that, but no. The cook has apparently been in place for a long time and not likely to leave. Besides, it would be impractical. I’d have to give up my post in Mount Street without knowing if I could have it back when I was finished.

And of course, Daniel has already warned me off such a course. ”

I must have looked downcast because Grace patted my arm. “You will think of something, Mum.”

Her confidence heartened me. By the time we reached Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Sir John Soane’s interesting museum, I’d formed an idea.

It was audacious, and Daniel would not thank me when he learned of it, but if I was successful, I’d have eyes and ears in that house.

Whenever Daniel was in danger, I’d be able to act.

After we’d looked over Sir John Soane’s collection of scale models of ancient buildings, Grace and I had a longer walk and a lovely tea out before I returned her home.

I was always heavyhearted when I said good-bye to Grace on Thursday evenings, but today I walked to busy Cheapside with renewed purpose. Eventually I found an empty hansom and stepped aboard.

“Where to, missus?” the cabbie called to me as I closed the door and settled the lap robe.

“Portobello Road,” I told him. “Hurry, before the market shuts for the night.”