Quicksilver - Amanda Quick [65]
“I understand. But really, Charlotte, why should I bother to protect my heart any longer? I will have the rest of my life to recover from a doomed love affair.”
“Hmm.” Charlotte considered the question for perhaps five seconds, and then she nodded once, emphatically. “You’re quite right. After it is over, you will have the stirring memories. I, on the other hand, will have only the stirring recollections of my appointments with Dr. Spinner to warm my lonely old age.”
“Assuming you do not get electrocuted.”
Charlotte shuddered. “It is an alarming thought, isn’t it?”
“So is the prospect of a broken heart. But at least one survives that sort of thing, or so I’m told. Looking on the bright side, I’m sure there will always be doctors offering treatments for female hysteria to whom I can turn after my liaison with Mr. Sweetwater comes to the inevitable conclusion.”
“And given the amazing progress of modern science, we can no doubt look forward to many more advances in electrical devices of a medical nature.”
“No doubt.”
They looked at each other. For a moment neither of them spoke. Then, as happened so often between them, they both burst into laughter.
“Oh, Charlotte, what would I do without you?” Virginia said. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears away from her eyes.
“I would miss you even more than you would miss me,” Charlotte said. She sobered. “Are you absolutely certain that your affair with Mr. Sweetwater will end badly?”
“I think it is the most likely outcome.”
“But the two of you have so much in common.”
Virginia frowned. “In what way?”
“It strikes me that your talents are quite similar.”
“He hunts psychical killers. I see the dead in mirrors. How are those two talents alike?”
“Perhaps not alike but complementary, if you see what I mean. When you think about it, the two of you make a very good team.”
“For goodness’ sake, Charlotte, I would not want Mr. Sweetwater to marry me just because we make a good investigation team. Even assuming he was inclined to do so, it is not enough. You and I have both discussed this matter. We made our decision the night of my twenty-sixth birthday. We will marry for love or we will not marry at all.”
Charlotte grimaced. “It certainly seemed like a very modern, very romantic notion at the time. But sometimes I wonder if perhaps we may have been a bit too hasty.”
“Enough of this depressing conversation. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Such as?”
“I think there is someone who may be able to shed some light on this investigation.”
“Who?”
“Lady Hollister’s companion,” Virginia said. “There has been so much going on in the past few days that we have all but forgotten about her.”
“Why is she important?”
“She may well have been the last person to see her employer alive.”
Charlotte glanced at the copy of the Flying Intelligencer on the table. “According to the report in the press, Lady Hollister’s body was found by the housekeeper. The rest of the staff was dismissed the morning after you were kidnapped.”
“In which case the companion is no doubt searching for another post.”
“Yes.” Charlotte’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “I could make some inquiries among the agencies that provide hired companions, if you like. It might take some time, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find the woman who attended Lady Hollister.”
“That’s a brilliant idea,” Virginia said. “How soon can you start?”
She was interrupted by the tinkling of the bell above the door of the shop. She turned to watch Owen walk into the room. It seemed to her that he entered on an invisible tide of power. The lower edges of his unbuttoned overcoat swept out around him. She thrilled to his presence as she always did, with a stirring sense of awareness.
He was followed by a tall, lanky gentleman in need of a visit to his barber. The long-haired man wore an expensively tailored but sadly rumpled suit. His tie was a shapeless knot at his throat.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” Owen said. He came to a halt in the center of the room and inclined his head very formally in Charlotte’s direction.