Page 36 of A Whisper at Midnight

He focused on what he’d seen earlier. The vision rose in his mind—or was it just his memory of the vision? Pain sparked in his temple. Then itwasa vision, apparently.

But it wasn’t quite what he’d seen before. Chambers looked slightly different. His hair was longer. And his position on the bed was different. He was fully reclined, his lips spread in a lazy smile. Whoever’s memory Hadrian was seeing, the woman put her hands on his bare chest. Recalling Tilda’s question about a ring on the woman’s hand, he saw that there wasn’t one. But these hands were different from the ones he’d seen earlier. They were rougher, the nails short and blunt.

Hadrian realized the first memory had been of someone from a higher status than what he was seeing now.

Chambers’ head suddenly turned toward the door. And Hadrian was now looking at the door. It was closed. The woman scrambled from the bed, dragging something with her—clothing, he realized. He saw a white cap and a dark-blue garment.

Hadrian’s perspective changed with her movements. She flattened herself onto the floor and slid under the bed. Hadrian was overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. He concluded that someone was about to enter the chamber, and she did not want to be caught in Chambers’ bed.

“Hadrian?”

Damn.He hadn’t been paying attention to how long he was in here, and now Beryl was in the study.

He massaged his hand across his forehead as the pain blossomed. This headache would take a while to dissipate, he feared.

Turning, he started toward the door but felt a bit wobbly. He grazed his hand along the back of a chair to steady himself. Another vision flashed in his mind. A woman stood before him. She was dressed as a maid, her dark-blonde hair pinned up beneath a white cap. Pretty, with plump lips and sultry, heavy-lidded eyes, she was not familiar to Hadrian.

A hand gestured before him. It belonged to whoever’s memory he was seeing. The wrist was feminine. And she wore a wedding ring studded with garnets.

Pain streaked through his head once more. He forced himself to release the chair, to end the vision and because he needed to leave the bedchamber.

He took several deep breaths as he made his way to the study. “Beryl, my apologies. I’m afraid I couldn’t help looking in the bedchamber.” He closed the door behind him, his head throbbing.

She stood near the desk. “Why?”

“I suppose I wanted to see if there was anything that might help the investigation.”

“You want to help the inspector?” Beryl asked, aghast. “But he thinks I’m guilty.”

“I don’t know that he does,” Hadrian said. “But I understand how it feels to be investigated. Teague also sees me as a suspect.”

Beryl scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I’ve hired Miss Wren again to find Louis’s killer.”

“Were you helping her then by searching Louis’s bedchamber?”

“I was,” Hadrian replied. “Though I am sure she’ll want to look for herself when she’s finished with the maid.”

Beryl cocked her head. “If she’s going to search it anyway, why would you bother? Are you helping with her investigation?”

“Yes. We made a good team when we worked together before.”

“But I thought you hired her to investigateforyou.” She appeared confused.

“I did, and I also provided assistance.” He wasn’t going to explain that he provided a valuable resource for Tilda. “In this case, she’s glad for my help since you and I have known each other several years.”

“We have not known each other well,” Beryl said, sounding perhaps regretful. “At least not since I … married Louis. I am sorry for that,” she added softly. “If I could go back, I would not have allowed him to woo me to break things off with you.”

There was Hadrian’s answer. “I’m sorry you have regrets. But I thought you loved him.”

“I thought I did. He made me feel very … wanted. Not that you didn’t. It’s just … he was so persistent and … ardent.” She seemed to be choosing her words very carefully. Was she trying to say Hadrian had not felt as passionately toward her as Chambers had? Looking back, she was right. Hadrian hadn’t been ardent at all.

But Hadrian didn’t want to upset her in the midst of her current ordeal. “I am sorry for the way things ended.” That wasn’t entirely true since he was quite relieved they hadn’t married. Though it was better than saying he regretted becoming betrothed to her, which was the real truth. He’d made a mistake, and she’d managed to correct it with her betrayal. How cold that sounded.

“I suppose one could say we didn’t know each other all that well when we were betrothed,” she said. “I confess that I was intimidated by you.”

“Why?”