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F riday’s shadows were stretching into dusk as Lord Brand casually produced a coin from behind the ear of the doorman at White’s and placed it into the man’s hand, evoking a smile from the normally stodgy old servant.

“Keep it under guard, Charlie” Adam admonished as he took up his hat and gloves. “One can never tell about those vanishing coins.”

“Aye, Lord Brand, I shall,” the man promised, tightening his grip.

Lawrence chuckled as they walked down the steps and turned down St. James Street. “I suspect he will not loosen his hold on that bit of gold all evening.”

But Adam did not reply. As soon as he had set foot on the walk, the odd prickling at the back of his neck that had been plaguing him for the past few days abruptly returned. “Do not look back, Uncle Lawrie,” he said in hushed tones. “I believe I am being followed.”

“Gutmacher’s minions?” the older man asked.

Adam shook his head. “I think not; my shadow has been far too subtle, the touch of a breeze almost. No matter how quickly I look about, I see nothing. Taylor’s crew is comprised mostly of the denizens of the ring and they tend to be as recognizable as a brawler in a corps de ballet.

A quick confrontation in a dark alleyway is more in accord with their tastes. ”

“Unfortunately, you have no shortage of enemies these days.” His uncle sighed.

“It has been less than a fortnight since Madame Fortuna publicly threatened you. When you published a list of her ludicrous predictions over the past ten years and documented that none of them had come true, I am told that she was livid.”

“I believe she declared that I would be struck dead by lightning,” Adam said, looking up at the fading afterglow of the sun. “However, as there is not a cloud in the sky, I am presently unworried on that score.”

“Madame Fortuna is by no means the only dabbler in the occult who would like to see you laid low,” Lawrence said, with a frown, skirting past a pile of lumber being used in the refurbishing of one of the shops.

“Moreover, your covert activities while you were travelling on the Continent gained you some highly-placed enemies.”

“I doubt that Fouche’s compatriots would strike just now.

Napoleon’s collector of secrets presently has enough on his hands without seeking for petty revenge.

He is a most practical man,” Adam said, pretending to look in the chemist’s window at number 29.

While the display at D. R. Harris and Co.

was of limited interest, he used the mirror effect of the glass to surreptitiously scan the street behind them, but there was nothing suspicious to be seen.

“There are others who would enjoy seeing you harmed,” Lawrence said, “but with Adrienne’s prediction, I would still consider Gutmacher nee Taylor, the most likely menace to your safety.”

Adam groaned. “Not you, Uncle Lawrie. You have seen far too much of the charlatan’s lay to be taken in by Lady Wodesby’s histrionics.”

“Do not be so quick to dismiss her, Adam,” Lawrence said, his lips tightening in annoyance as they moved on past Boodle’s. “She is not to be compared to Madame Fortuna. Lay Adrienne’s predictions against actual fate and you will find her accuracy remarkable, if not entirely correct.”

“Anyone with a bit of acumen and some luck can spout generalities of the Nostradamus type, I suppose,” Adam said with dismissive disdain. “Unexceptional prophecies that can be twisted to suit specific events.”

“Lady Wodesby’s predictions have ever been highly specific and highly detailed,” Lawrence disputed. “She did a reading for me nigh onto thirty years ago and most of it has come to pass.”

“Most?” Adam asked, pausing to pull on his gloves.

“I am not done with my turn on this earth yet, greenling,” Lawrence said in a huff.

“But do not spurn her advice out of hand, is what I say. The Wodesbys and Adrienne’s family, the LeFeys, have been advisors to kings and queens for over half a millennium.

To my knowledge, if Charles had taken LeFey's advice, there would never have been a Cromwell. And if our own George had listened to the previous Lord Wodesby, the Colonies would still be under England’s wing. ”

“There were many who said that the Colonies might attempt to fly the coop,” Adam countered skeptically.

“Twenty years before the fact?” Lawrence asked with a dismissive snort. “Peter predicted when and where the opening shots would be fired, dates down to the hour. Sadly, Farmer George’s attitude mirrored your own. He rejected Lord Wodesby’s advice and you may see where it has got him.”

“How is it you come to know so much of the Wodesbys?” Adam asked.

“I have made something of a hobby of the histories of the Wodesbys and LeFeys. The study of their past and those of the families intertwined with theirs has been more than intriguing,” Lawrence said, his expression growing distant.

“The Wodesby’s, the LeFeys, the Gwynns, the Morgans, the Macfies, the Peregrines and the Donallys.

Almost from the first written chronicles, those names have been inexorably tied with the use of witchcraft and arcane power. ”

“A useful reputation to possess, if only in rumor, to give one’s enemies pause,” Adam commented drily, resisting the impulse to whirl round and look back.

He could feel the eyes upon him now, the steady watching that seemed to bore into his back.

“Might I ask the reason for your unusual interest, Uncle?”

“You have only to look at Miss Wilton to see why,” Lawrence said with a bittersweet smile.

“I vow, the girl is almost the mirror of Adrienne in her earlier days. Though it is doubtless difficult to believe, her Mama was even lovelier, a vivid creature with an irresistible charm. All of us were mad about her, pressing our suits, even though we knew that Adrienne LeFey had been promised from the cradle to Peter Wilton, Lord Wodesby. The LeFeys and Wodesbys have long had connections, along with those other families that I mentioned. It was well known that most of their women came to their Season already promised.” He sighed in memory.

“Adrienne never encouraged us, yet can a moth contain its longing to kiss the flame?”

“You were in love with her?” Adam asked in surprise as they stopped to wait for a crossing cart. But though he glanced back, there was no one who followed.

“‘Were’ has the connotation of the past,” Lawrence said quietly.

“All of my life, I have measured every woman against Adrienne, but there has yet been none to match her. That is one of the few predictions that has not yet come to fruition. She promised that, in time, I would find the companion of my heart.”

Adam was silent. It was obvious now why his uncle could not be relied upon to be sensible when it came to the matter of the Wodesby women.

Uncle Lawrie’s judgement was clouded by emotion.

Yet, the marquess could not help but ask, “If the Wodesby custom is one of childhood betrothal, why is Miss Wilton not married?”

“I cannot say. I made it my business to be out of Town when I found that Lady Wodesby was to present her daughter. The thought of seeing Adrienne on Peter’s arm was too painful.

” Lawrence inclined his head, pausing in thought before starting down the street toward his apartments.

“I do know that Miss Wilton’s LeFey cousins made their curtsies in London already affianced.

However, strangely enough, the girl did not seem to be spoken for.

As you may have gathered from Hester the other day, Miranda’s Season was an unmitigated disaster.

Every mishap that occurred among those on the hunt for a husband was attributed to the supernatural influences of the Wodesby girl or her Mama. ”

No wonder that Miss Wilton sometimes seemed as skittish as a badly broken filly, Adam thought.

Society could be cruel without benefit of excuse; however a Miss with purported magical powers would be an all-too-convenient target for blame.

“I suspect that she may encounter the same difficulties again,” Adam said.

“Especially since her Mama has made a public spectacle of herself. Now do not bristle at me, Uncle Lawrie, for you know it to be the truth. Miss Wilton has once again become the subject of speculation. At Mrs. Hoggsmyth’s yesterday, she received more than her share of stares and whispers. ”

“She is a striking young lady,” his uncle said defensively.

“Yes, she is,” Adam admitted. “Nonetheless, even her looks cannot fully account for the way that the cats were sharpening their claws upon her. It is rather unbelievable the credit that people place in superstitious nonsense in this day and age.

“The poor child.” Lawrence’s brow furrowed with concern. “I would not like to see Adrienne’s daughter hurt, Adam. She is a sweet girl.”

“Not a girl,” Adam disagreed, resisting an impulse to glance behind him yet again.

“Miss Wilton is no schoolroom miss, to allow herself to be intimidated. Although I think her beliefs misguided, I have never seen such a display of sang froid in the face of sarcasm. Every query about her Mama’s health, including the snide, was answered with amazing aplomb.

Even Brummel did not shake her assurance, though for some reason, George was at his nastiest.”

“I think that I can explain that,” Lawrence said with a shake of his head.

“Brummel insulted Adrienne’s sister, Tatiana Peregrine, just last season.

Madame Peregrine served the Beau a rather shocking prediction.

Knowing Brummel’s nasty nature, it would not surprise me if he were holding Titania’s words against Miranda. ”

“And what did this ‘prophetess’ proclaim?” Adam asked in amusement.

“She predicted that the Beau would perish a pauper, alone and away from his native land,” Lawrence told him.