Page 18 of Discovering Dahlia (The Blue Orchid Society #5)

Dahlia did not sit at the Captain’s Table tonight. She opted instead to enjoy the meal with her friends. The day had been exhausting, and she was glad for the ease of conversation with those she was comfortable with.

Mr. and Mrs. Yeates sat with Captain Carmichael. The former still appeared ill, and his wife wore an angry expression that Dahlia was beginning to expect. She also wore gloves, which was strange and rather gauche at the dining table.

The magician, Hubert “the Magnificent” Barbieri had insisted on taking his meal in his cabin, wanting to maintain an air of mystery until he came onstage. Ruben, Lorene, Priscilla, Charlotte, and Meredith also sat at the Captain’s Table. When Dahlia looked around the room for Helen Rothschild, she found the young lady sitting beside Lord Lockhart.

She glanced back at the Captain’s Table and was disappointed that Meredith didn’t meet her gaze. He was telling something to the young women at the table, which they apparently found extremely humorous.

Dahlia frowned, thinking about her conversation with him. When she’d talked with Victor, ending a romance with Meredith had seemed like the only solution. But she was questioning it now. In spite of what she and Victor had both assumed, Meredith hadn’t seemed overly concerned with Dahlia’s conforming to Society standards. He had not been bothered when she’d declared her intention to maintain her position at the steamship company. In fact, he’d seemed to take it for granted that problems would arise and the two of them would confront them together. Victor’s scenario assumed she and Meredith would have opposing goals. But Meredith assumed they would work as a team. His confidence in her, in the two of them, made her heart light again.

She glanced toward him again, but he was talking to Ruben now, so Dahlia turned back to her tablemates. Hazel offered a plate of potatoes, and Dahlia scooped one onto her plate.

“I am very eager to see Mr. Barbieri’s performance,” Vivian was saying.

“He came to a house party my sister attended,” Sophie said. She wiped her napkin across her lips. “She said he was very impressive. They spent much of the days following trying to discern how he managed his illusions.”

“Misdirection,” Inspector Graham said. “A favorite skill of pickpockets. They will capture your attention with one hand while relieving you of your billfold with the other.”

“In China,” Benedict said, “I saw a man perform a trick. He brought an empty glass tank onto the stage and called volunteers to come up to the stage to verify that it was indeed empty. A volunteer lifted it, turning it onto its side. Another even crawled in. Once the audience was satisfied, the magician righted the tank, covered it with a cloth, and clapped his hands. When he removed the cloth, the tank was filled with water. There were even fishes swimming in it.” Benedict looked around at the table, letting the amazement at what he’d witnessed astonish his tablemates. “There was no time to fill the tank. Nobody brought buckets of water onto the stage. It was empty one minute and filled the next. I don’t know how he managed it.”

“He must have had assistance,” Vivian said. “Water does not simply appear. It is against the laws of nature.”

“But not against the laws of magic,” Charles said, wiggling his fingers mysteriously.

“In Petersburg,” Jim said, “a sergeant entertained the injured troops with sleight-of-hand tricks—disappearing and reappearing coins, that sort of thing. Close as I watched his hands, I never could see how he did it.”

“There were street performers in India who charmed cobras with their songs,” Hazel said. “The snakes acted as if they were entranced, swaying to the music.”

“I’m not sure you are all aware, but I am a bit of a magician myself,” Charles said. Only the slightest smirk betrayed him. He wiped off a teaspoon with a napkin, then blew on it, setting it on the end of his nose and moving his hands away, spreading his fingers with a flourish. The teaspoon remained stuck to his nose unaided. “Voila,” he said.

Benedict laughed and Hazel clapped.

Elizabeth shook her head.

Vivian muttered something about adhesion and gravity.

“The company could have saved the cost of Hubert the Magnificent’s fee if we’d known you were so talented,” Dahlia said.

“I am also very humble,” he said, removing the spoon and setting it back on the table. “I don’t like to boast about my talents.”

Once the diners had finished, Victor stood on the low stage, clapping his hands for everyone’s attention. “Ladies and Gentlemen, drinks and dessert will be served during the entertainment portion of the evening.”

Dahlia was surprised by the unconventional plan, but she supposed it didn’t hurt anything to start the magic show now.

“And now, without further ado, Lancaster Steam Sailing and Shipping Limited is very pleased to present the one and only Hubert ‘the Magnificent’ Barbieri!” Victor held out his hand toward the side of the stage. There was a pop and a burst of smoke, and when it cleared, Hubert the Magnificent stood there, his hair slicked back, his cape billowing.

The company applauded, and he removed his hat, bowing dramatically.

For the next hour, Hubert the Magnificent entertained the crowd with a mixture of parlor and stage tricks. At times, he moved among the tables.

At the Captain’s Table, the magician took the napkin from Ruben’s lap and placed it over his empty drink. He brought down his hand hard. Everyone winced. But instead of the sound of breaking glass, there was only the slap of a palm against the table. The cup had vanished. Hubert the Magnificent whipped aside the napkin, and beneath it was a pocket watch. Ruben recognized it as his own. He picked it up, his mouth open in an O. Hubert the Magnificent pointed toward Ruben’s coat, telling him to check his pocket. Inside was the glass.

The room gasped and broke into applause.

Meredith laughed, reaching to tap his own glass to the one Ruben held.

At another table, the magician blindfolded himself. He spread out a deck of cards, telling those at the table to call out a card. “Two of hearts,” Helen Rothschild said.

Hubert the Magnificent pointed to a card. When Helen turned it over, it was indeed the two of hearts. He repeated the trick for each of the diners seated at her table.

The magician showed the diners at Dahlia’s table a gold coin. He was careful to point out Queen Victoria’s profile on one side of the coin and the cross of St. George on the other.

“And now, madam,” he said to Hazel. “If you will be so kind as to place the coin under the gentleman’s hat.” He motioned to Jim.

Jim scowled but allowed Hazel to set the coin on his head. She verified that the Queen’s picture was facing upward before putting the hat back.

Hubert the Magnificent made his way around the table, making coins appear behind ears, in pockets, and tucked under collars. When he returned to Jim, he asked, “Shall we see if the coin has flipped over?” He pulled off Jim’s hat.

Instead of a coin, a dove fluttered out from beneath the hat.

Hazel squeaked in shock.

Jim’s mouth fell open. He put his hand on his head, staring at the bird as it flew around the room.

Applause greeted this trick as well.

Hubert the Magnificent returned to the stage, where a table had been set up. On top of it were three bowls of mixed fruit. He pulled silk handkerchiefs from his sleeve, placing one over each bowl, then invited three audience members to come up to the stage. At his command, they removed the handkerchiefs in the same instant. The fruit within had sorted itself, apples in one bowl, lemons in another, and oranges in the third.

The audience cheered.

Remembering Jim’s words about redirection, Dahlia had kept her eyes on the bowls the entire time, and she’d not seen anything amiss. How had he managed it?

A server passed the stage, carrying a tray of drinks.

Hubert the Magnificent stopped him, reaching into the server’s breast pocket and drawing out a pink silk handkerchief, which he used to dab his forehead.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, for my next trick, I shall need to borrow an object of great value.” He looked closely around at the audience. “Jewels give the most dramatic effect beneath stage lights,” he said, earning a small laugh. He held out a hand to the Duchess of Dorchester, specifically at the diamond necklace she wore. “Your Grace, may I?”

Miss Albright opened her eyes wide, looking as if she would protest, but the duchess simply smiled, inclined her head, and turned to allow her companion to unlatch the necklace. Miss Albright brought it to the stage.

Hubert the Magnificent held the necklace up, letting it sparkle in the light. Three large teardrop diamonds, the largest in the center, were surrounded by smaller but no less lustrous stones. Dahlia had seen the necklace before. It was one of Her Grace’s favorites and very likely an heirloom.

The magician stepped down off the stage, walking around to both corners, allowing the audience to get a good look at the necklace. He produced a shiny black pouch from his pocket and held it out to a server, directing the man to hold it open.

Hubert the Magnificent lowered the necklace into the pouch and took it from the server, cinching the tasseled drawstrings. He returned to the stage, setting the bag on the table. It made a small thud, proving the necklace was inside.

The audience was perfectly still, watching.

The magician drew a wand with a silver tip from inside his coat. He tapped on the bag one, two, three times, then tugged on one of the drawstrings, flipping the bag into his hand. In a flash, the bag was gone and he held a bouquet of flowers. He stepped off the stage, offering them to the duchess. “A fair trade, wouldn’t you say?”

The audience laughed.

The duchess accepted the flowers with a good-natured smile.

Hubert the Magnificent motioned a server toward him from the rear of the room, this one holding a tray containing a cake. The magician took a knife, cutting into the cake, and from inside, he took out the black bag. He brushed crumbs from it, then held it up, receiving applause.

“How in the . . . ?” Jim muttered.

Hubert the Magnificent loosened the gold drawstrings, tipping over the bag.

But instead of the diamond necklace spilling out, a pastry fork fell into his hand.

The magician’s demeanor changed immediately. Where he had been smiling and moving gracefully through the room with exaggerated motions before, now he stood still, frowning. He dropped the pouch onto the ground. “What is the meaning of this?” he snapped at the server with the cake tray.

Dahlia looked closer at the server, realizing she didn’t know the man. Even though he wore the correct uniform, he must be part of the magician’s act. An assistant would help explain some of the illusions Hubert the Magnificent had managed.

“How dare you try to pull one over on me?” The magician growled the words as he lunged at his assistant.

The man dropped the cake, and in Hubert the Magnificent’s rush forward, he stepped in it, slipping and crashing to the deck.

“I did what I’ve always done,” the server said, backing up. “I didn’t change anything.”

The magician pushed himself to his feet. “Thief!” he yelled. “Where is the necklace?”

Dahlia and her friends looked at one another. Was this all part of the act?

The others in the room appeared to be wondering the same thing.

Inspector Graham was on his feet. He moved quickly, stopping the cake-covered magician just as he grabbed the server’s coat.

Meredith joined him, and the pair of them removed both the magician and the server from the room.

Dahlia and the other diners sat in shocked silence. What had happened? Had the duchess’s necklace truly been stolen right in front of them?

Servers hurried to clean up the cake.

Victor stepped up onto the stage, reassuring the crowd that it was all in hand and the misunderstanding would be sorted out promptly. In the meantime, wouldn’t they all enjoy another drink and perhaps some more dessert?

The silence broke and was immediately filled with upset voices.

Victor stepped off the stage and sat beside the duchess. From his manner, he appeared to be reassuring her.

Dahlia met Sophie’s gaze. Her friend was calculating, trying to piece together clues and figure out what had happened. The two of them stood and hurried from the dining room. They followed the trail of cake crumbs into the far corner of the saloon.

Jonathan and Meredith stood over the two other men. The fight had gone out of the magician, and instead of the flamboyant performer, he looked like a frightened old man.

The assistant looked confused and frightened as well, his gaze moving back and forth between the two men who had apprehended him.

“What is happening?” Dahlia demanded, speaking to all of them instead of to any one in particular. “Where is the duchess’s necklace?”

Hubert the Magnificent slumped lower in his chair, looking with a downcast gaze at his cake-covered trousers. “I’m afraid it’s gone.”