Page 24

D on’t tell me you believe that spiritualism nonsense, Miss Penhallow,” said Woodward once the four of them were back in a hansom cab, only this time it was bound back to Mayfair.

Will had scanned his friend and his sister to see if he could guess what was going on between them, but for the moment his mind was occupied with what Christina Fleetwood had told them. He’d never been inclined to take the performances like those at face value, though he’d attended his fair share of such acts. That the lady had been an actress before turning her talents to giving spiritual readings didn’t give her any particular credibility.

Even so, there was something about her revelation about Hamilton that rang true.

Beside him, Lucy responded to Woodward’s question. “It is not so much that I believe in spiritualism, Mr. Woodward,” she said with a slight shrug. “It is that what she said about the man who calls himself Christopher Hamilton fits in with what Lord Cheswick said about how much he had changed. And it also fits with the way he’s gone about attempting a reconciliation with Vera. Because there is no reunion when they were never known to one another in the first place.”

“No wonder Vera was so terrified when Hamilton and his thug abducted her.” Meg, clearly distressed by what Vera might have gone through, clenched her fists in her lap. At her side, Woodward raised his own hand as if to cover one of Meg’s, but when he caught Will’s eye the American lowered his hand again.

Oh, he and his friend would definitely be having a little chat, Will thought wryly. It wasn’t that he opposed a match between his sister and the former US envoy. Indeed, with Meg’s dowry now in question, he would be relieved to have her settled down with someone he trusted. There was simply a code of how these things were carried out. And he would not allow a gentleman, even a friend, to go about courting his sister with anything less than careful attention to her reputation.

All of this, of course, made him a hypocrite, given how he’d been with Lucy this week, but he could live with that.

“Where do we turn to find out whether what Miss Fleetwood—or Madame Celestina or whatever the lady is called—claims is true?” Woodward asked, addressing his question to Lucy, who was clearly less intimidating at the moment than Will.

“I will pass the news on to my cousin first,” Lucy said thoughtfully. “I don’t know how much stock he will put in such a claim, but he needs to know all the same. Then we may go to Lord Cheswick to ask whether it’s possible his friend seemed so changed because he was, in fact, an entirely different person than he’d met years ago.”

“Woodward and I can do that,” Will said firmly.

The glance Lucy directed his way was a knowing one, and he had the sense that she knew exactly why he insisted on being the one to interview the handsome earl. But Will could hardly admit that he was jealous of the older, wealthier man.

“It would be improper for you and Meg to visit a bachelor in his home,” he added, feeling like his mother at her most officious.

His sister tilted her head as if trying to figure him out. “I supposed that time on the Continent would make you return to London with more liberal views, Gilford. Not making pronouncements about propriety like a society matron.”

Before he could respond to the taunt, Lucy spoke up again. “That would be most helpful, my lord. Meg and I can return to the Blackwood house this afternoon to find out if Vera’s father knows whether Christopher Hamilton has a cousin.”

“I can visit the embassy as well,” Woodworth said with what could be an attempt at garnering favor with Meg, but Will was inclined to believe that the man was simply trying to do his bit for the case.

They were back in the heart of Mayfair far sooner than Will would have imagined given how long the earlier drive into Holborn had taken.

In keeping with the division of tasks they’d agreed upon earlier, Will and Woodward left the ladies at their respective homes, where they could refresh themselves before returning to the Blackwood home.

Once they were gone Will gave the hack driver orders to take Woodward and himself to White’s, where Cheswick might be found at this hour.

When he’d climbed back inside, he slapped his hands atop his thighs and looked over at his friend. “Well, I suppose I should be surprised, but it seems inevitable, now that I think about it.”

But Woodward shook his head. “It’s not what you think,” he said, raising his hands in protest. “I realize everyone says that when they are caught out in some misdeed or other, but in this case, I tell the truth.”

“So you mean to tell me that contrary to everything I’ve witnessed between the two of you today, you have no ongoing romantic connection to my sister?” Will was disinclined to believe him, but he was open to persuasion.

“That is what I am telling you, yes.”

Will had known Woodward since that long-ago time when he’d suffered the greatest loss of his young life. Friendships like that—born of tragedy—were stronger than most. And Will hadn’t known the fellow to ever steer him wrong.

There was, however, a first occasion for every action.

“If it isn’t what it looks like, then,” he said, trying to puzzle it out now, “what is it?”

A long silence fell inside the cab, and Benjamin Woodward stared unseeing at the ceiling, as if looking for answers. Finally he sighed and said, “I cannot tell you.”

Will shook his head, as if the motion could clear his ears of the other man’s words. “You cannot tell me? About my own sister?”

Woodward ran a hand through his hair in agitation. He obviously didn’t like keeping this secret from his friend. But he didn’t back down. “I give you my word of honor that nothing between your sister and me is improper.”

The cab began to slow in St. James’s Street, where the two men had left from earlier. This time, however, their destination was a different club—White’s.

Before they climbed out, Will gave his friend a sharp look. “I will take you at your word. But be aware that I will be keeping a close watch over you.”

Woodward sighed but only nodded.

Then the two men headed for the entrance of White’s club.