he could have been so wrong about Clement Lancing.
The answer was always waiting for him. He had allowed himself to be ruled by his emotions, not logic.
Tonight, downstairs in the shadowed hallway, he should have been concentrating on the investigation. Instead he had been pulled into the sensual fire of Beatrice’s kiss.
In that moment he would have been willing to consign his powers of self-mastery to hell if it meant that he could have Beatrice for even an hour in exchange.
After all, what good had all of his training and focused meditation done? In the end, when it had mattered most, he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He had trusted the one person he should never have trusted.
Now a redheaded woman with incredible eyes, and a shady past—a woman who had a talent for deception—was asking him to trust her. She wanted him to drink some mysterious potion she just happened to have in her pocket tonight. This would be the same amazing female who carried a stocking gun and a vinaigrette filled with some vile concoction that was capable of bringing a man, sobbing, to his knees.
He would have to be a fool to risk even a single swallow of the tonic. The leg was uncomfortable tonight but it was not intolerable. He had known far worse nights.
Trust me, Mr. Gage.
He opened the bottle and swallowed some of the tonic. It tasted slightly acidic but it went down easily enough.
He put the cap back on the bottle and thought about how he had just broken the most important rule in an investigation. He had trusted someone connected to the case, a lady who no doubt had any number of secrets to conceal.
He had a feeling he would be breaking a few more rules for Beatrice Lockwood. He wondered why he did not find that prospect alarming; why he was filled with anticipation instead of deep concern.
Twenty-One
Are you certain this is safe?” Hannah asked.
“There is no reason to worry about me,” Beatrice said. “The blackmailer is only interested in obtaining his payment. He has no reason to harm the person who delivers it. Quite the opposite, in fact. After all, he will want more extortion payments in the future.”
“Bastard,” Hannah said grimly.
“The one who will be taking a risk is your brother,” Beatrice said. “There will no doubt be some danger involved when Mr. Gage grabs the villain in the act of retrieving the blackmail.”
Hannah made a face. “Yes, well, one does not worry overmuch about Josh. Heaven knows he can take care of himself. After all that he has been through, I’m sure a simple blackmailer will not cause him any serious problems.”
Beatrice smiled. “Nevertheless, you do worry about him, don’t you?”
Hannah sighed. “He has been lost to us this past year. It was as if the shadows had finally claimed him utterly. True, he traveled to London on a couple of occasions to take care of some business and he wrote dutifully every month. But the letters were dreary, filled with news of the weather and the state of the crops and plans for repairs that he was carrying out on his country house. Nelson went to see him a few times and reported that Josh seemed strangely withdrawn. I had begun to fear—”
“I know what you feared,” Beatrice said. “But I do not think you need to worry about that. Mr. Gage required some time to recover from his injuries but, as I told him, he stayed too long in the country. It was past time for him to return to the world.”
Hannah’s brows rose. “Did you actually tell him that?”
“Yes, I did. Tonight, as a matter of fact.”
“How did he take your advice?”
Beatrice wrinkled her nose. “Like everyone else, he did not seem to appreciate it.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“But I do believe that coming to your aid has accomplished what all the good advice in the world never could. I think you will find that this blackmail affair has given him a new purpose and reinvigorated his spirits.”
“Something certainly has brought about a change in him recently,” Hannah said. She watched Beatrice with a knowing look. “I noticed the difference in him shortly before we left London. I think you are the tonic he has been needing.”
Beatrice felt the heat in her cheeks. She cleared her throat and glanced at the clock. “It’s time. I will take the payment to the great hall and return in a few minutes.”
“Do be careful, dear. I have