From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(37)

She blinked at him, her face a picture of dawning horror. It was the moment she realized Seth had no interest in reacquainting himself with her delights. "That sort of thing has never bothered you before," she said, voice harsh. "And you told me that marriage didn't interest you."

"It bothers me now. As to marriage, I am undecided. I'll assess each candidate on her merits, and make a decision in due course."

She pulled her fur cloak closed over her chest and looked away. "I see."

"I'm sure your other lovers will fill the void." He laughed at his crude innuendo. "I saw Andrew yesterday at Brooks's, by the by."

Lady Harcourt went rigid. "Stop it, Seth. Cruelty doesn't suit you."

The library door opened and Gillingham emerged. The sickly pall of his face was starkly white beneath his rust colored hair. With his walking stick under his arm, he snatched up his own hat, gloves and cloak and strode past Seth and Lady Harcourt to the front door.

"What did you say to affect him so?" she asked Lincoln.

"Ask him," he said, strolling out of the library.

"I dare not. I might get my head bitten off." She hurried after Gillingham without so much as a goodbye.

Seth closed the front door and blew out a breath. "Meeting?"

Lincoln nodded. "Fetch Gus."

I stood to reveal myself. Seth drew in a breath, but Lincoln's brow merely lifted.

"Bloody hell, Charlie!" Seth threw his hands in the air. "Can't a man have a private conversation around here without someone listening in?"

"If you wanted a private conversation, you should have gone somewhere private," I said, passing him. "So are you really going to give your mother's candidates serious consideration?"

"Are you mad?"

I laughed and followed Lincoln into the library. He collected half-empty teacups and placed them on the tray. I knelt by the fireplace and added more coal from the scuttle. The warmth and glow mesmerized me, and I stared at the coals until I heard footsteps approach. He sat on the armchair near me.

"Have you considered my gift?" he asked quietly.

I stared down at my hands on my lap. I nodded.

"And?"

The entry of Seth and Gus stopped me from answering, which was just as well since I didn't know how I wanted to answer. I had considered his gift, but I hadn't yet come to a conclusion. There was a rather important question that needed answering first—what strings came attached to it?

"Did you ask Gillingham about his wife?" Seth asked, sprawling in the large armchair on the other side of the fire.

Lincoln nodded. To me, he said, "I take it you don't need to be informed of what took place in the meeting?"

"I heard most of it," I said, sitting on the rug and tucking my feet beneath my spread skirts. "I expected Marchbank to be on your side, but he was just as angry with you for sending those people away."

"Marchbank may not be innocent."

Seth sat forward. "Why do you say that?"

"It's something Gillingham just told me."

"Interestin'," Gus said. "A guilty man throwin' suspicion onto someone else, maybe?"

"Perhaps," Lincoln said with a nod. "It requires further investigation before any conclusions are drawn."

"Well?" Seth urged. "What did Gilly say?"

"I told him I knew about his wife's ability to change her form. He was shocked that the secret was out."

"He certainly looked shocked," Seth said with a tilt of his lips. "He was white as a ghost, and his hands were shaking."

"Perhaps he was ashamed, too," I said. "Ashamed that you know who—rather, what—he's been…intimate with."

"She wasn't in that form during intimacy," Seth protested.

"How do you know?" Gus said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

"She wasn't," Lincoln answered for him. "She told me as much."

"Even so," I said, "Lord Gillingham strikes me as someone who wouldn't want others thinking him a lesser man because of his wife's other form. Other, more dominant, form."

"True." Seth nodded knowingly. "Go on, Fitzroy. What did he tell you?"

"I asked him if his distaste for his wife colored his perceptions of supernaturals in general. I suggested to him that he hated her animal form, and he took that hatred out on others who are different."

"You accused him of being the killer?" Gus blew out a breath. "That's bold."

Lincoln merely lifted one shoulder. "While I don't expect him to tell me outright if he is, I wanted to gauge his reaction."

He should have asked one of us to remain with him then. Lincoln wasn't very good at reading people's expressions. "How did he react?" I asked.

"He went pale, as you saw, and he stutters when he's anxious. He told me that he doesn't hate his wife, but she does disgust him, and he's not sure how to react to her anymore. As his wife, her place is beneath him, so he told me. He considered her the inferior half of their marriage."

"Good lord," I muttered. "His thinking is positively barbaric."

"And yet not unusual among men, in my experience," Lincoln said quietly. I looked up sharply to see him watching me, his dark gaze heating my skin.