Quicksilver - Amanda Quick [33]
“It sounds like a very useful way to proceed,” he said.
She fumbled with her key and managed to drop it.
Owen snagged it in midair with no apparent effort.
“Allow me,” he said.
He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. She moved into the dimly lit hall. Mrs. Crofton had taken herself off to bed two floors above, but she had left a wall sconce burning.
She’ll know I’m home, Virginia thought. She’ll know that I am not alone. Housekeepers always knew everything that went on in their domain.
Owen set the dragon on the floor, stripped off his leather gloves and reached out to help Virginia with the cloak. When his warm fingers brushed the sensitive nape of her neck, another flicker of awareness went through her. The feverish sensation got more intense, but she did not feel the least bit ill.
He hung her cloak on a brass wall hook and then he set his hat on the console table alongside his leather gloves.
It is as if we were two lovers coming home late after an evening at the theater, she thought.
Her imagination was running wild, and her nerves were still tingling with the icy-hot sensation. She desperately needed a shot of brandy.
She led the way down the hall and into the darkened study. Inside the small, cozy room she turned up a lamp and went to the little table that held the brandy decanter.
Owen crossed to the hearth, struck a light and lit the fire with the easy familiarity of a man making himself at home. When he was finished he rose, peeled off his coat and tossed it over the back of a chair. He was not wearing a waistcoat, Virginia noticed. He unknotted his tie and left it hanging loosely around his neck. Next he opened the collar of his shirt. With deft movements of his fingers he removed the cuff links that secured the sleeves of his shirt, and tucked them into a pocket.
Virginia caught her breath. Oh, yes, he was definitely making himself at home.
She splashed brandy into two glasses. The decanter clinked lightly against the rim of one glass. She realized her hands were trembling. She set the decanter aside and gave Owen one of the glasses.
“To both of us getting some sleep tonight,” she said, raising her glass.
“To us.”
Not quite the same toast, she thought, but she did not think it would be a good idea to correct him.
His eyes never left hers as he downed some of the brandy.
She took a more cautious sip and lowered the glass.
“May I ask what you saw tonight when that storm of hallucinations struck?” she said.
“I saw the victims of the murders that I have investigated over the years,” he said. “The ones I failed.”
She exhaled slowly. “You mean those poor souls for whom you could not find justice?”
“And those I arrived too late to save. They are the ones who haunt me.” He went to stand in front of the fire. “What did you see, Virginia?”
She crossed the carpet to join him at the hearth. “My visions were not unlike your own. Like you, I saw the ones I failed, those who died by violence. The ones for whom there was no justice because the killer was never caught.”
He nodded once, understanding.
For a long moment they stood side by side, gazing into the fire.
“Do you ever wonder why we have been cursed with talents such as ours?” she asked after a time.
“There is no such thing as a curse,” he said. “That is superstitious nonsense.”
She almost smiled. “I was speaking metaphorically, Mr. Sweetwater.”
“Of course. My apologies.” He drank some more brandy. “I tend to be quite literal when it comes to matters involving para-physics.”
“I understand.”
“I will tell you the truth, Virginia. The reason I responded so sharply just now is because there have been many times when I have asked myself the very same question.”
He had used her first name again. But she now thought of him as Owen, she reminded herself. It was astonishing how sharing danger had a way of injecting a degree of intimacy into the atmosphere between two people who were otherwise barely acquainted.
“I am a modern thinker, sir,” she said. “Like you, I certainly do not believe