is quite acute, perhaps even psychical in nature.”
“Trusting my so-called intuition is why I am now forced to walk with a cane and why small children stare at my face on the street,” Joshua said.
“Forgive me,” she said, mortified. “I did not mean to bring up the subject of your past, not tonight.”
“I would appreciate it if you did not bring up the subject on any other night, as well,” he said.
“I understand, it is a very difficult topic for you.” She was feeling more miserable by the moment. “About our plan tonight. I assume you will be watching the great hall after I leave to see who enters the chamber to collect the payment?”
Joshua smiled. “You sound as if you have had some experience with extortion investigations.”
“As a matter of fact, yes, I have. In the course of my work with Flint and Marsh, I have had some clients who were being blackmailed. It is actually a rather common problem in the circles in which I operate. Everyone has secrets. Wealthy people with secrets are always vulnerable to extortionists.”
“I never considered that you might have investigated something as serious as a case of blackmail.”
“For pity’s sake, sir, what do you think I do as a Flint and Marsh agent?”
“I meant no offense.”
“Yet you offend so well.”
“My apologies.” He glanced at the tall clock in the corner. “In answer to your question, yes, I will be watching the entrance to the great hall tonight. I will be there when you go inside. After you leave, I will wait for the blackmailer to arrive.”
She cleared her throat. “May I ask what, exactly, you plan to do with him when you catch him?”
“I intend to have an informative conversation.”
And that was all she was going to get on that subject, she decided.
“I see,” she said.
“I will escort you back to the floor where your room is located.”
“I came down the main staircase because I thought the servants’ stairs would be rather crowded tonight.”
“A good plan, but the main staircase is a bit too public for my liking,” Joshua said. “It would not do for us to be seen together going up to the bedroom floor. We will use another set of steps that I discovered earlier when I explored the house. This mansion is riddled with old stairwells. The one I found appears to have been closed up for years.”
He turned down the lamp, opened the door and surveyed the shadowy gallery. Satisfied, he stood back to allow her to move past him into the hall.
“Don’t dawdle, Miss Lockwood,” he said behind her.
“Wouldn’t think of it, Mr. Gage.”
She caught up the folds of her skirts and went briskly along the gallery pretending not to hear the muffled thud of his cane on the carpet behind her.
She walked more quickly, almost trotting now. He had ordered her not to tarry. If he chose to follow her and could not keep up, that was his problem, she thought. Really, the man was insufferable.
She was relieved to see that Covington was no longer lying unconscious on the floor of the gallery.
“I told you he would wake up in a few minutes,” Joshua said in low tones. “Don’t worry, I doubt he will remember anything of what happened here.”
“I hope not.”
“If he tries to make trouble I will ensure that he does, indeed, forget everything that occurred between the two of you.”
The steel in the words made Beatrice swallow hard.
“Oh,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. By the way, the door to the staircase I mentioned a moment ago is ahead on the right, just inside that intersecting hallway.”
She stopped and peered into the deeper shadows of the adjoining hallway.
“I don’t see the entrance to the hallway,” she said.
He caught up with her and took her arm. She took a sharp breath.
“I’ll show you,” he said.
“Really, there is no need to escort me all the way to my room,” she said.
“I will not go that far. I want to make sure you are not accosted again.”
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “I can take care of myself, Mr. Gage.”
She was about to continue with a stern lecture but abruptly there was a shift in the atmosphere. She glanced at him and saw that he was looking past her toward the far end of the gallery.
“What is it?” she asked.
Then she saw the couple coming toward them along the gallery. A woman’s seductive laugh was followed by a masculine voice that was blurred with drink.
“Come, my dear. Earlier this