An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) -Deanna Raybourn Page 0,57

carefully for his reaction, and there it was—a quick bob of the Adam’s apple, a brief hesitation before he spoke.

“She was a gifted climber,” he said casually. “And the alpinist community is a small one. Everyone meets everyone else sooner or later.”

“So you were just friends?” I asked, widening my eyes at him.

“What a minx you are!” he exclaimed. “You think to bewitch me into indiscretions with those beautiful violet eyes, do you not? Shall I be your devoted slave?”

His tone was arch, but there was a distinct lack of humor in his eyes.

I ignored his question and decided to thrust once more, as I seemed to have knocked him a little off his balance.

“What do you remember about the day she died? I hear you were an eyewitness.”

“You seem to have heard quite a lot,” he said, his gaze sharply watchful.

I shrugged. “I am by profession a lady explorer, traveling the world in order to study butterflies. Naturally, I take an interest in other such women. We were both members of the same club, you understand.”

He blinked. “A woman’s place is at the hearth and in the bed,” he remarked, giving me a fathomless smile. He gazed warmly at my face, then deliberately dropped his gaze to my décolletage and back again.

“Careful, Your Grace. You are verging on boorishness,” I murmured. I waited, and after a moment he sighed.

“Very well. Yes, I saw her depart that day. It was very much as usual.”

“Was it usual for her to climb alone? That seems dangerous.”

He shrugged. “Yes, but she was highly experienced and it was a climb she had done many times before and she was not planning to attempt the summit.”

I lifted a brow in inquiry and he rolled his eyes at me. “We did not discuss her climb, so you have not discovered some great secret. If she had meant to summit, she would have gone out better equipped and with a guide. She often climbed sections of the mountain in order to try different routes. She kept notes, you know.”

“Notes?”

“In a notebook.” He sketched a size with his hands. “About so large. Green kidskin. She always carried it with her to record conditions, to make little maps and notes on her experiences. There are those who say it was the key to her success as a climber. She was meticulous in her research and she was often able to offer suggestions and tips to other mountaineers.”

“Such as Douglas Norton?” I suggested.

He made a brusque gesture of dismissal. “A disgruntled, odious little man. He was not worth half of Alice’s merit as a climber.”

“What would you say if I told you that he was in the Alpenwald when Alice made her fatal climb?”

All his theatrical postures and poses fell away at that moment and his mouth rounded in genuine astonishment. “Was he indeed?” He sat back a little, suddenly preoccupied. After a moment, he shook himself a little and gave me a faint smile. “You are a very knowledgeable woman, my dear.”

“I know very little, but I am curious about a good deal,” I corrected.

“You know, I am sure, what they say about curiosity and cats?” The comment was well pitched. It might have been a threat or merely a warning. He had resumed his attitude of lazy good humor, but he watched me closely and I wondered which of us might really be playing at being the cat.

“I suppose I ought to congratulate you on your forthcoming betrothal,” I said softly. “Tell me, was the princess at all vexed by your attentions to Alice Baker-Greene?”

At this he let out a sharp bark of laughter, drawing the attention of several people seated in the boxes nearest ours.

“Why do you laugh?”

“Because you are ridiculous and beautiful.”

“You mean she was not at all distressed that you developed a friendship with another woman? A friendship so important that you secured a permanent home for Alice in Hochstadt?”

His brows shot skywards in astonishment. “Who told you that?”

“Alice. I met her once and she spoke most enthusiastically of your country.”

“What else did she tell you? Did she speak of me?”

“No. She talked of her eagerness to settle in the Alpenwald and how happy she was. I only learnt later that the house given to her was taken from Captain Durand at the behest of the chancellor—no doubt acting upon the orders of someone very highly placed,” I finished.

He gave me a long, appreciative nod. “Well, I can only say again that you are a