Amanda Quick - With This Ring

by With This Ring (lit)

  W i t h T h i s

  "So much for my powers of observation."

  He yanked hard on the next drawer. It did not budge. Next time I w4l] remember to bring mypicklocks along when I visit, my dear.

  He did not pause to search for a key. He simply braced one booted heel against the edge of the desk and jerked, hard, on the handle.

  The tiny lock gave way with barely -a' squeak of protest. The drawer opened. Leo glanced inside and saw pencils, inkwells, a ruler, and a neatly fold 'ote.

  He removed the lettef-'and read it quickly. Then he glanced at the V signature.

  "Hell's teeth. Mrs. Cheslyn."

  The housekeeper appeared in the doorway. Her hands twisted in her apron. "Yes, m'lord? Is something wrong, m'lord?"

  "Yes. Something is very wrong. Your bloody-minded mistress has gone off alone to Trull's Museum." He crumpled the note and tossed it aside. "I am going to fetch her."

  "I see, sir." Mrs. Cheslyn faced him with an air of resignation. "Will there be any other alterations to the schedule?" "Yes. Have a bottle of brandy open and ready when I

  return with Mrs. Poole. Something tells me I shall need it."

  "I vow, you are an inspiration to me, Mrs. Poole." Saltmarsh clambered awkwardly into the wide stone conduit that had been revealed behind the grate. "I have never met a woman of such extraordinary courage and determination. You are the living image of one of your own heroines."

  "Thank you, Mr. Saltmarsh, but I assure you, it did not take any great degree of fortitude for me to choose this route of escape over the prospect of spending the night in that dreadful chamber."

  Beatrice got to her feet and held the candle aloft. The ancient passageway was surprisingly large. A corridor rather than, a conduit for air, she thought.

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  "I certainly understand your concerns. The results of our being discovered together in the morning do not bear thinking about." Saltmarsh stood and gave a violent sneeze. "I beg your pardon." He yanked a large white handkerchief out of his pocket. "The dust."

  "Yes, it is quite thick, is it not?" Beatrice glanced down at the undisturbed layer of dirt and debris that had collected on the floor. "I do not think anyone has come this way in a very long time."

  Saltmarsh studied their surroundings with an expression of wonder. "A hidden passageway. Most likely built centuries ago and then sealed off and forgotten. It is just like something out of one of your novels. Do you remember that scene in The Ghost of Mallory Hall? The one where the heroine opens a secret door and finds herself in a concealed passage?"

  "Of course I remember it. I wrote it." Beatrice started along the corridor. "Come, Mr. Saltmarsh. Let's not dawdle." "I suppose we must expect to encounter a few rats," he said unhappily.

  "I hope not. I never use rats in my novels. In my opinion, they do not add anything of interest to the atmosphere."

  Leo arrived at Trull's Museum to find it locked for the night. In hopes of rousing a porter, he went up the steps and pounded heavily on the front door. There was no response.

  He considered his next move. An unpleasant flicker of dread stirred the hair on the back of his neck. The fog was closing in quickly, banishing what little light remained in the day.

  It was possible that Beatrice was already safely on her way home via a different route than the one he had used to get there. He had a vision of himself racing back to her town house only to find her sitting comfortably in front of a fire with a cup of tea in her hand.

  But what if she were not at home?

  W i t h T h i s R i n g

  He went slowly down the museum steps. He did not like the feel of the situation. The next stop was the House of the Rod. It was time to pay a call on the person who had sent the note to Beatrice.

  He started across the street. It would be faster to walk to Madame Virtue's establishment than to take a hackney, which would inevitably be slowed by the fog.

  He quickened his steps. Last night Ginwilly Jack had made it clear that he'd had no interest in Beatrice. Whoever had paid him for the kidnapping had not wanted her. Leo had assumed that she was relatively safe. But this business of the Rings got more convoluted with every passing day. Nothing could be taken for granted, especially not Beatrice's safety.

  Dammit to hell. He'd had enough of her insistence on equality and independence. In every partnership, someone had to be the senior partner.

  The first figure emerged out of the swirling fog no more than three paces ahead. Leo instinctively put his hand into the pocket of his greatcoat, his fingers closing around the pistol there. Then he saw the second figure. It was a woman in a veil.

  "Beatrice?" "Leo. I mean, my lord. Whatever are you doing here?" "Bloody hell." He glanced at her companion. "Saltmarsh?"

  "Monkcrest." Saltmarsh slapped the sleeve of his elegantly cut coat and then promptly sneezed. "Beg your pardon. The dust."

  Leo ignored him to grasp Beatrice's arm in a grip of iron. "What in God's name is going on here?"

  "It is a very long story, Leo. Let us all go back to my town house before I tell it. Mr. Saltmarsh and I are both desperately in need of a cup of tea." She paused. "With perhaps a tot of brandy to go in it."

  Saltmarsh, slapped dust off his other sleeve. "If you

  don't mind, I think I'll go back to my own lodgings. I require an immediate bath."

  "You are not going anywhere, Saltmarsh," Leo said softly, "until I get some answers."

  "Do not growl so, Monkcrest," Beatrice said. "Mr. Saltmarsh and I have had quite enough for one day. Come, gentlemen, let us be off. I for one have no desire to hang about in this fog."

  "I'm sure you won't need me to help you explain our little adventure, Mrs. Poole." Saltmarsh eyed Leo warily. "Perhaps not." Beatrice gave him a speculative look.

  "But there are some other explanations I want from you, sir. I intend to have them."

  He jerked sharply, then blinked rapidly and peered at her through the lenses of his spectacles. "I beg your pardon?"

  "I'm afraid so." Beatrice's voice gentled, but her tone remained firm. "We were both so occupied with the business of getting out of that dreadful storage chamber that we did not have time to discuss the matter. But now I think we must talk about it."

  Leo watched the other man. "What, precisely, is it you wish to discuss with him, Beatrice?"

  "I wish to discover just how much he knows about the Forbidden Rings, of course." She fixed Saltmarsh with a direct look. "Surely you do not expect me to believe that your presence in Trull's Museum this afternoon was a coincidence, Mr. Saltmarsh?"

  He heaved a deep sigh. "That would be too much to expect from a woman of your intellect and insight, Mrs. Poole. You are quite right. I owe you, of all people, an explanation.'

  0 ap le r 13

  "What dark fate has brought you here

  to this haunted place?"

  FRom CHAPTER THiRTEEN oF The Ruin BY MRs. AmELLA YoRK

  he rumors struck the small circle of serious collectors here in London a few months ago." Saltmarsh huddled over the glass of brandy Beatrice had given him. "Most dismissed them out of hand. But I admit I was intrigued. I set out to see what I could discover about the Forbidden Rings."

  "And your researches led you to Lord Glassonby?" Leo, one shoulder propped against the mantel, took a swallow from his own glass.

  His anger and the fear that crawled just beneath it were under control now. But the unpleasant premonitions that had gripped him for the past hour had not vanished. He was increasingly aware that not all of those dark visions were

  A m a n d a

  inspired by the potential danger of the business of the Forbidden Rings. Some of them had taken a decidedly nasty and disturbingly personal twist.

  En route back to the town house it had become obvious to him that Graham Saltmarsh was enthralled with Beatrice.

  "Yes." Saltmarsh's mouth curved in a wryly apologetic smile. "Forgive me, Mrs. Poole. I could not resist the quest. Everything I told you about myself is
true. I am a great admirer of your work and I am in the process of writing my own novel of horror and mystery."

  Leo felt Beatrice's quick, searching glance as it slipped across his face. He kept his own expression deliberately unreadable. They would get to the matter of her career as an authoress later.

  Beatrice turned back to the younger man. "I understand, Mr. Saltmarsh. You no doubt felt that the experience of searching for the Forbidden Rings would provide wonderful inspiration for your own novel."

  "Precisely." He sipped his brandy. "It was a great game at first. I met with little success for weeks, but one afternoon my luck changed. I went to Trull's Museum. As I told you, I often visit the establishment when I wish to put myself in the mood to write."

  Leo watched Saltmarsh, who was, in turn, looking at Beatrice with a sheepish expression that she appeared to find endearing.

  "Go on, Mr. Saltmarsh." Beatrice smiled encouragingly. Her eyes were wide, limpid pools brimming with warm approval.

  Leo's fingers tightened around his glass. She never used that angelic tone with him. She was always far more direct. Demanding would not be too strong a word for the manner in which she dealt with him, in fact. Furthermore, he was quite certain that she had never looked at him with just

  W i t h T h i s R i n g

  that degree of fascinated interest. Little wonder Saltmarsh practically wriggled at her feet as if he were a worshipful puppy pleading to be taken up into her lap.

  Leo tried to shake off the flash of raw jealousy that squeezed his gut. He had to keep the affair in proper perspective. Both affairs, he corrected himself. The one involving the Rings as well as the one he had begun with Beatrice.

  "On the day of that particular visit I saw Lord Glassonby in one of the rooms at Trull's," Saltmarsh said. "I had never noticed him there before, but I thought nothing of his presence until I heard him question the porter."

  Leo forced his attention back to the matter at hand. "What sort of questions did he ask?"

  Saltmarsh glanced at him briefly and then pointedly switched his attention back to Beatrice. "Your uncle did not see me. I believe he thought he was alone in the room with the porter. He asked if there were any statues of Aphrodite in Trull's collection."

  "Good heavens." Beatrice flicked another glance at Leo, but her gaze did not linger. She turned immediately back to Saltmarsh. "You must have realized instantly that my uncle was also looking for the Rings."

  He grimaced. "I admit his questions got my immediate attention."

  "What was the porter's response?" Beatrice asked. "He claimed that to his knowledge there were no statues of the goddess in the collection." He shrugged. "A fact of which I was already aware, of course. Nevertheless, your uncle's inquiry made me very curious about his intentions. I could not help but wonder if he was any closer to finding the Rings than I was."

  "Did you speak to him about the Rings?" Leo asked sharply.

  Saltmarsh sighed. "I approached him as discreetly as possible and suggested that we might have a common

  A m a n d a

  interest in certain antiquities. It had occurred to me that we might combine our efforts."

  "What did he say?" Beatrice asked.

  "Your uncle became extremely angry." Saltmarsh peered into the depths of his brandy. "In truth, his rage made me uneasy. He turned purple. His eyes bulged. His breathing became unsteady. I feared he would have a fit of some sort."

  Beatrice frowned. "A fit?"

  "I confess I was not entirely surprised when I learned that he later died of a heart seizure."

  Leo exchanged a glance with Beatrice. He relaxed slightly when he sensed her silent agreement. Neither of them would mention the possibility that Glassonby had been poisoned.

  "I retreated at once, of course," Saltmarsh continued. "It was clear that Glassonby wanted no part of my help. I continued my investigations on my own, but I made no progress. Then, a fortnight later, I saw him on the street near Trull's and I realized that he had just come from the establishment."

  "Did he learn anything there, do you think?" Beatrice asked.

  Saltmarsh met her eyes. "We'll never know, Mrs. Poole. You see, he died later that night."

  A short silence descended on the study.

  Leo swirled the brandy in his glass. "And you decided that the only remaining clue to the Rings was the fact that Glassonby had visited Trull's once more before his death?"

  Saltmarsh shrugged. "It was all I had, but it got me nowhere. Then you showed up in Town, Monkcrest. And it was obvious that you had a particular interest in Mrs. Poole and her family. I could hardly overlook the coincidence of your presence.-

  "No." Beatrice pursed her lips in a thoughtful expres-

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  sion. "One could hardly ignore his lordship's reputation as a scholar in the field of legends and antiquities."

  Leo did not like the way she said that. He frowned at her, but she ignored him to smile at Saltmarsh.

  "Was it my association with Monkcrest that aroused your interest in me, Mr. Saltmarsh?"

  Aroused indeed, Leo thought. Under the circumstances, he considered Beatrice's choice of words particularly unfortunate. He reminded himself that he was supposed to be questioning Saltmarsh, not contemplating a dawn appointment with him. He forced himself to unclench his jaw and pay close attention to the man's response.

  "Until I saw that you were acquainted with Monkcrest, I had believed that your uncle had died knowing no more than I about the Rings." Saltmarsh looked at Beatrice. "At that point I did not know that you were my muse, Mrs. York. I saw no reason to contact you until the Mad Monk appeared and showed an interest in this household."

  "His lordship is the sixth Earl of Monkcrest," Beatrice said with the first hint of steel she had displayed thus far. "He is a friend of the family. In this household, we do not refer to him by that ridiculous epithet."

  "Yes, yes, of course. My apologies." Saltmarsh flushed a deep red. His glass jerked in his hand as he scrambled to make amends. "No offense intended, Monkcrest. Heard the nickname in antiquities circles for years, you know. Everyone uses it. I fear it just sort of slipped out. Won't happen again, I assure you."

  Leo ignored him. His attention was riveted on Beatrice. A curious warmth infused his insides. She had leaped instantly to his defense. It was quite touching, he thought, but he probably ought not to read too much into it.

  If Beatrice was aware of his intense, narrow-eyed scrutiny, she did not show it. Her gaze was still focused on Saltmarsh.

  A m a n d a Q u i c k

  "You were saying, sir?"

  "Uh, yes. Yes, indeed." He cleared his throat. "As I indicated, I had very nearly abandoned my quest. But the fact that the Mad-I mean, the fact that such a noted authority as Monkcrest had chosen to involve himself with you gave me pause.-

  "In what way?" Beatrice asked.

  "I wondered if Glassonby had learned more than I had realized and perhaps left some clues that would be helpful.' Leo switched his gaze to Saltmarsh. "In other words,

  you wondered if Mrs. Poole was in possession of any useful information."

  Saltmarsh nodded, abashed. "I confess, it renewed my zeal for the quest. But as it happens, I had been pursuing another line of inquiry at the same time. A few months ago I had set out to discover the true identity of the authoress who had inspired me with a passion to write.'

  "I see." Beatrice did not look at Leo.

  "I had finally hit upon the notion of bribing the printer's apprentice." Saltmarsh smiled ruefully. "Imagine my astonishment when I learned that my esteemed Mrs. York was also Lord Glassonby's relation Mrs. Poole.'

  "Indeed." Leo set his brandy glass down very deliberately on the mantel.

  "I took it as a sign that fate had intervened." Saltmarsh gazed earnestly at Beatrice. "But I was not certain that you would welcome my interference. Especially as you had already established a connection with the Mad, uh, with Monkcrest. I decided to ap
proach you indirectly so as not to arouse your irritation."

  That bloody word arouse again, Leo thought. He wondered why it was that neither Beatrice nor Saltmarsh appeared capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation without it.

  "I quite understand." Beatrice smiled beatifically. "You

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  introduced yourself to me the other day in Hook's bookshop and mentioned Trull's Museum to see how I reacted."

  "I assumed that your uncle had left some record of his researches. Otherwise, why would Monkcrest be involved?" "Why, indeed," Beatrice murmured.

  "And since Lord Glassonby had paid another visit to Trull's on the day he died-"

  "You wanted to see if I displayed an interest in Trull's myself," Beatrice concluded. "Perfectly logical, sir."

  "Thank you." Saltmarsh shook his head. "'But you seemed entirely unaware of the museum. And Monkcrest made it clear he thought the establishment was filled with frauds and fakes. I did not know what to make of it all. I wondered if I had been mistaken in assuming that you were searching for the Rings."

  "So you went back to your quest, as you call it, alone," Beatrice murmured.

  "Actually," Saltmarsh said wryly, "I conceived of what seemed at the time to be an especially brilliant scheme." Leo turned on him. "What scheme was that?" Saltmarsh bowed his head. "I vowed that I would com-

  plete the quest and lay the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite and, just possibly, the alchemist's statue itself at my muse's feet. They were to be tokens of my great admiration."

  Leo raised his eyes to the heavens and silently pleaded for patience. The prayer went unanswered.

  "You intended to find the artifacts and give them to me?" Beatrice's smile was nothing short of dazzling. "Why, Mr. Saltmarsh, I do not know what to say. I am deeply honored."

  Saltmarsh raised his head, blushing furiously. "It seemed like something one of the heroes in your novels might do for one of your extraordinary heroines."

  Leo exerted every ounce of his well-honed willpower to refrain from picking Saltmarsh up by the scruff of his neck