Page 36 of Trouble

‘I have more,’ she said. ‘I mean .?.?. I wanted to see if this might be worth something, and I thought you might be able to help me.’

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the baroque box, wrapped in a scrap of linen. Charles reached out in a leisurely fashion and flipped the fabric away from the top part of the box, then quickly replaced it.

‘My my, you have been busy.’

‘Can you help? I thought it might need to be broken up. Gemstones sold separately.’

‘I can help,’ he said. ‘I have a man I can show it to, if it suits.’ Emily nodded; he took the box and tucked it away into his jacket. ‘He will take a cut, but I’m afraid that’s the price of business.’ He smiled again, leaning forward on the table, looking a little besotted. ‘Goodness – you certainly are my kind of girl.’

Emily wasn’t at all sure she wanted to be his kind of girl – oranybody’skind of girl – but she found herself smiling tentatively back. There was a strange rightness to the wrongness; a feeling that she fitted in better here, doing deals with a charming, dastardly stranger in a dark corner, than she ever could among the people of Fairmont House.

‘Is your drink not to your liking?’ said Charles, apparently feeling very laid-back about this clandestine meeting and the stolen goods in his pocket. ‘Or .?.?. something to eat, perhaps? The food is terrible, but if you take a great swig of your drink before you eat it, it becomes a sort of food-adjacent paste .?.?.’

‘No,’ said Emily, taking a gulp of beer to show willing and then pushing it away. ‘Thank you. I should .?.?. I’ll be getting back.’

‘Suit yourself,’ said Charles. ‘I will be away for a fortnight, on business. But the Saturday after my return, I hope to see you again. Perhaps you’ll have something for me.’

‘I will,’ Emily said, feeling the weight of the coins in her palm and letting it fuel her determination to earn herself some more. It was all rather convenient, really – and the thought that she might soon be able to deal Captain Edwards some real damage was doing wonders for her mood.

When she got back to the house, she walked into the kitchen and discovered Oliver sitting there, smoking, the paper open in front of him. When he saw her, he sat up straighter and observed her progress across the room like a floppy-haired hawk as she went to retrieve the last of the pound cake.

‘I heard there was a spot of trouble last night,’ he said.

‘Mmm,’ Emily said non-committally, mouth full of cake.

‘Meera didn’t say, but .?.?. was Aster .?.?. ?’

‘Was Aster what?’ Emily said, once she had swallowed. ‘What particular concern is it of yours?’

‘Er .?.?. excuse me,’ said Oliver, affronted. ‘Down, girl. I’m asking a perfectly innocent question.’

‘Whatever you were doing sneaking back into the house the other night during dinner did not look particularly innocent.’ Emily watched his expression shift, his mouth go slack. ‘Isawyou together, Oliver. I saw you put your hand on her.’

‘Whatever it is that you think you are accusing me of,’ Oliver said, ‘could not be further from the truth. I wouldnever.’ His usual playfulness had vanished; he was now deathly serious, in a way that looked out of place on his face.

‘I just want you to know that I’m keeping an eye on you,’ said Emily, delivering this parting blow as she left the room.

Oliver followed, speeding up until he was at her elbow.

‘There is nothing tokeep an eye on– and whatever it is you think you saw, let it go. Not for my sake, but for Aster’s.’

‘Interesting that now you are so keen to protect her,’ said Emily. ‘The other night you seemed to be making her cry.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Amy – how have I ended up a player in this drama of yours when I didn’t even pay for admittance?’

They had reached the entrance hall now, but Oliver showed no signs of being shaken off. He was also now speaking at a volume closer to shouting.

‘You are meddling in something you do not understand. Will you justdropit?’

‘What is going on here?’ said Captain Edwards. He had just stepped out of the drawing room, looking, as always, like the human embodiment of distant thunder.

‘Ask him!’ said Emily. ‘He’s the one who’s been—’

‘Amy,’ Oliver said warningly.

Captain Edwards looked between them, unimpressed.

‘Miss Laurence .?.?. please accompany me to my study.’