Otherwise Engaged (25 page)

T
he vast ballroom of the Ottershaw mansion was dimly lit with colored lanterns that cast seductive shadows over the throng of elegantly costumed guests. Under other circumstances, Amity thought, the scene would have been wonderfully romantic. For the first time since meeting Benedict she was actually dancing with him—a waltz, no less, the most romantic music in the world.

Not that Benedict appeared to appreciate the romanticism of the moment. He danced the way he did most things—with a fine, efficient competence. But there was a clockwork precision to his steps that made it clear his attention was on other matters. She could almost hear the internal metronome inside his brain counting off the steps. He searched the crowd with eyes that glittered darkly behind a plain black mask. He, too, wore a black domino, the hood pushed back to allow him a better view of the room.

She had also folded her hood back, framing her face to make
certain that the scarlet mask was visible. She was very aware of the weight of the Rose Necklace around her throat. It was hidden beneath the domino. Benedict had insisted that was the safest location for it. When he had clasped it around her neck, she had taken one look in the mirror and nearly been blinded by the dazzling rubies and diamonds.

Benedict steered her into a crisply paced turn while he checked another quarter of the heavily shadowed ballroom. She smiled. He was manipulating her as if she were a tool, she thought, a device that he just happened to need to produce the correct pattern of the dance.

“It’s as dark as the inside of a cave in here and everyone is wearing a mask,” he said.

“Well, it is a costume ball,” Amity reminded him.

“Believe it or not, I am aware of that. Damn it, it’s nearly midnight. We’ve been here over half an hour already. When is she going to make contact?”

“Probably when we least expect it. Relax, Benedict. You are making me nervous. Perhaps I should say more nervous than I already was before we arrived.”

“Sorry.” He cranked her through another perfectly executed turn. “It’s just that I don’t like any of this.”

“No one does. But it’s not as if we have any choice.”

“Don’t remind me.”

The music rose to a dramatic crescendo and ceased abruptly. Benedict stopped as if someone had flipped an invisible switch. Amity was forced to halt so quickly that she accidentally stumbled into another dancer. She could not tell if her victim was male or female because the individual was wearing a long black domino with the hood pulled up around a full-face mask.

“Your pardon,” she started to say.

The dancer thrust a note into her hand. Before Amity understood what had happened, the costumed figure vanished into a sea of black dominos. Amity clutched the note very tightly, trying to peer through the throng. It was hopeless.

“Benedict.” She yanked on his arm to get his attention.

“What?” He did not look down at her. He was too busy studying the crowd.

“I think Lady Penhurst—or someone—just made contact. I was given a note.”

“What the devil?” He stopped, turning quickly to survey the crowd behind her. “Describe the costume.”

“It was just another black domino. She was wearing a mask that covered her entire face. There was nothing to see. Except—”

“Except what?”

“Now that I think about it, I’m quite certain that the person who thrust the note into my hand was wearing gloves. Kid gloves, I believe. And she was about the same height as Leona. But that’s beside the point. We need to find a place where we can read the note.”

Benedict steered her through the crowd and out a side door. Amity pushed her mask up onto her forehead and fumbled beneath the domino to touch her tessen. It dangled from the chatelaine, together with the dainty evening bag that contained a tiny sewing kit of the sort that ladies frequently carried to balls. The kits were designed to make it possible to do emergency repairs to ripped hems and petticoats.

When she looked around, she discovered they were in a hallway lit with gas lamps. At the end of the hall she could see footmen dashing about. Silver platters clanged. Someone swore. Someone else called out orders.

“
More champagne and another tray of lobster canapés needed in the buffet room
.
”

“Let me see that note,” Benedict said.

She handed it to him and then leaned around his broad shoulders to read it aloud while he studied it:

The ladies’ withdrawing room. Five minutes. I will not wait any longer.

Amity straightened swiftly. “Good heavens, I must find the withdrawing room immediately. There is no time to waste.”

“I don’t want you going anywhere without me.”

“Nonsense. It is the ladies’ room, for heaven’s sake. There will be chambermaids and any number of guests coming and going.”

Benedict looked deeply suspicious. “Where is this withdrawing room?”

“I don’t know. I’ll ask one of the footmen. Come, we must hurry.”

She grabbed Benedict’s hand and drew him down the hall to a room swarming with sweating servants. The first one to see her looked shocked.

“Can I help you, madam?”

“The ladies’ withdrawing room, please,” she said.

“Not in here,” the footman said. “Opposite side of the ballroom. There will be a maid at the door.”

“Thank you.”

She yanked the mask down over her eyes.

“We’re losing time,” she said.

She towed Benedict back along the hall and out into the darkened ballroom. She paused briefly to let her eyes adjust to the shadows.

“Damn it, I can’t see over the heads of the crowd,” she said.

“I’ll get you there,” Benedict said.

He moved through the crowd, an implacable force of nature,
drawing her along in his wake. When they reached the far side of the throng, he stopped in front of a discreetly shadowed hallway.

A maid appeared. She bobbed a quick curtsy.

“The ladies’ withdrawing room, please,” Amity said.

“I will escort you, madam.” The maid turned to move down the hall. “This way, please.”

Once again Amity pushed the mask up onto her head and pulled up her hood. She started to follow the maid. Benedict put a hand on her arm.

“I’m coming with you,” he said.

The maid halted and turned quickly. Her eyes widened.

“Oh, no, sir, I’m sorry, sir, but it is the ladies’ room. You cannot go in there.”

“She’s right,” Amity said. “Wait here. I’m sure this won’t take long.” She looked at the maid. “Which door?”

“The one on the right at the end of the hall, madam.” The maid moved forward again.

Amity left Benedict standing in the hall and hurried after the maid. The woman opened the door for her and stood aside.

Amity stepped into an elegantly appointed sitting room. The door closed behind her. She had just concluded that she was alone and was wondering if she had come to the right location for the meeting when the door on the far side of the room opened.

A figure draped in a hooded domino, her face covered with a full mask, stepped out. She had a pistol in one hand.

“Good evening, Leona,” Amity said.

The figure in the domino froze.

“What?” Amity said casually. “You didn’t realize that we knew you were the one who stole the notebook?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leona pushed back
the hood of the domino and removed her mask. “Give me the necklace.”

“Since this place is obviously not the ladies’ room, I’m assuming you paid the maid to bring me here?”

“I told her I wanted to surprise you.” Leona’s hand tightened on the gun. “Where is the necklace?”

“I’m wearing it, of course.”

“Not any longer. It’s mine.”

“Where is the Foxcroft notebook?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? I didn’t bring it with me. I will send word to tell you where to find it after I am safely out of the country.”

“Of course you will.” Amity smiled. “You’re a liar and a thief and quite capable of using your brother’s murderous tendencies for your own benefit. Did you take Virgil with you to Hawthorne Hall so that he could perform the messy work of cutting Mrs. Dunning’s throat? Or did you handle it all yourself?”

Leona raised her brows. “You know about my connection to Virgil? I’m impressed. You have been busy. Yes, I am his long-lost sister. Dear Papa threw me into an orphanage after my mother—his mistress—died giving birth. Mrs. Dunning fired up her blackmail scheme shortly thereafter, but she was content with small payments. I suppose Papa found it easier to pay her than to get rid of her and risk the scandal that might occur if he became involved in a murder investigation.”

“When did you discover the truth about your father?”

“When I turned sixteen. Dunning sent most of the girls away as soon as they were old enough to work as governesses. Except me. She offered me a post as a teacher at the orphanage. I declined. I knew I could do much better out in the world. But her offer made me curious. I went through her records and discovered her blackmail scheme.
Imagine how thrilled I was to discover that I had a half brother. I forced Mrs. Dunning to make me a partner in her extortion scheme. The first thing I had her do was raise the price, of course. She was not charging Papa nearly enough for her silence.”

“When did you realize that your half brother was a murderer?”

“Not until his wedding. We had become quite close before that, however, although his mother was not aware of it. I was aware of his various hobbies. Let’s just say that I was not the least bit surprised when his bride suffered a fatal and rather bloody accident on her honeymoon. By then, of course, I had begun my career as an espionage agent. It occurred to me that Virgil might come in handy one day. The problem is that—like a bullet or an arrow—once he had been fired he was rather difficult to control.”

“Your first husband died rather conveniently, I’m told.”

Leona laughed. “Dear Roger suffered from a very severe case of gastric distress.”

“Brought on by steady doses of arsenic.”

“Heir powder, I believe the French call it. It is also very popular with women who wish to become widows.”

“When you discovered that your first husband had not left you nearly as much money as you had expected—”

“Not nearly as much as I had
earned
.” Leona’s cheeks blazed with sudden fury. “Do you know what it is like to be married to a man who is old enough to be your father? It is a living hell.”

“So you got rid of him and set out to seduce Benedict. But that plan failed, didn’t it? You seem to have much better luck with gentlemen who are in their dotage.”

A wild rage flashed in Leona’s eyes. “It is Benedict’s fault that I was forced to marry that old fool Penhurst. He proved to be a cheap bastard. He actually changed his will shortly after we were married.
When he dies I will be left with nothing—only a fraction of his estate.”

“Ah, so that is why he is still alive. I wonder if he realizes how fortunate he is.”

“The Rose Necklace should have been mine,” Leona said, her voice raw and tight. “It
will
be mine. You should have been dead by now. Virgil was supposed to make you one of his brides.”

“Why take the risk of using your unstable brother to try to murder me?”

Leona smiled. “Because I knew that Benedict would feel responsible for your death. After all, if it wasn’t for the gossip about the two of you, the Bridegroom would never have selected you as his victim. I wanted Benedict to pay a price for the hellish marriage he forced me into.”

“Why do you need the necklace? Surely you have earned a nice income working for the Russians.”

“Not nearly enough to allow me to live in the style I deserve. But the Rose Necklace will change all that.”

“Where will you go?”

“Who knows?” Leona shrugged. “Perhaps I shall take some guidance from one of your essays in the
Flying Intelligencer
. What was it you wrote? ‘
In the American West, there is no past, only the future. One is free to reinvent oneself.
’
”

“I don’t think that’s going to work for you, Leona.”

“It will work. Give me the bloody necklace.”

“Or you’ll shoot me? Don’t be silly. Benedict is out in the hall. He will hear the shot and come at once.”

“But that will be much too late to save you.”

“Very well.”

Amity reached up slowly to unfasten the long, sweeping cloak. She
pulled the folds of the domino aside at her throat, revealing the spectacular necklace.

Leona’s eyes widened. “It is even more amazing than I imagined.”

Amity reached up slowly to unclasp it.

The door opened behind her. Benedict walked into the room. Logan and Cornelius, dressed in black dominos like so many others at the ball, were directly behind him.

“I think we’ve heard enough, Inspector, don’t you?” Benedict said.

“Yes,” Logan said. “With your testimony and that of Miss Doncaster there will be no problem sending Lady Penhurst away to prison.”

“No.” Panic and fury lit Leona’s eyes. She edged toward the door behind her. “If you arrest me you’ll never get the Foxcroft notebook.”