Her Majesty's Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiosities #2)(51)

"Perhaps not yet," Seth said with a chuckle.

I thought it was his arm that circled my waist to steady me, but I quickly realized it was Lincoln's. "I'd know those muscles anywhere," I murmured, tucking myself into his side.

Behind us, Seth chuckled again.

I reached the main staircase before another jaw-aching yawn engulfed me. Lincoln must have become frustrated with our slow pace, because he picked me up and carried me up the stairs. I looped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his throat.

"I'm so fortunate to have you," I murmured.

"You're fortunate I'm not furious with you."

I pulled away and frowned at his profile. "Why aren't you angry with me? It's most unlike you."

He didn't answer and I forgot all about my question by the time we reached my room. He set me gently on the bed and, of all things, removed my boots. Having this important gentleman take off his maid's boots so he could tuck her into bed suddenly seemed like the most ridiculous thing in the world, and I began to giggle.

Lincoln drew the bedcovers over me. Even though my eyes had closed of their own volition again, I knew his fingers were near my throat. I could sense him close. "You've disarmed me, Charlie," he whispered. "That's why."

By the time I registered what he was talking about, and pried my eyelids open, he'd gone.

***

"Charlie, have you seen my coat and gloves?" Seth asked before I'd stepped both feet in the kitchen.

Gus glared at his friend. "Why would she know where they are? You left 'em somewhere, dolt."

"I can't have. I haven't worn that blue coat since last winter. And who leaves their coat behind, anyway?"

"Men who have to escape from ladies' bedrooms in a hurry."

Seth gave Gus a withering glare. Gus ignored him and turned to me. "Feeling better?"

"Much." I inspected the contents of the pots on the stove. One was filled with simmering beef broth and another contained warm water. "I thought I'd wake up with a headache, but I'm none the worse for my adventure. Is this broth ready?"

"Aye, help yerself."

I fetched a bowl from the cupboard and ladled thick creamy broth into it. "Where's Cook? How is his thumb?"

"More painful than anything that anyone has ever felt before," Seth said. He stretched his legs under the table and crossed his arms. "So he'd let you believe, with all that moaning and groaning."

"We sent him to the hospital," Gus told me. "We couldn't stand listening to his whining no more."

"And Fitzroy?"

"Working upstairs. He wanted to know when you woke up. Seth, go tell him."

"Why me?"

"Because I'm busy watching the broth." Gus was nowhere near the range. Like Seth, he'd stretched his legs out under the table and sat reclined in his chair, as if he might nod off at any moment. "Cook gave me instructions."

"Slack arse," Seth muttered as he got up.

"Thank you, Seth," I said sweetly. "You're very kind. Oh, and now that I think about it, I recall you gave your coat and gloves away to a young boy who desperately needed them. He was freezing, poor lad."

He frowned. "Did I? I don't remember doing that."

"It was a wonderful turn you did."

"When was this?"

"Just last night." I winked, earning me an eye-roll.

"You owe me, Charlie."

"Whatever she owes, I'll cover it," Lincoln said, striding into the kitchen. "But you shouldn't be taking advantage of a novice gambler, Seth."

"I wasn't!" Seth threw up his hands. "She gave away my coat and gloves."

"You have others?"

"Yes."

"Then what does it matter?"

Seth sat down again with a sigh. "How do you do that, anyway?"

"Do what?"

"I was about to come up and fetch you, but you saved me the trouble. Somehow you always seem to appear when you're needed."

"Not always," Lincoln said darkly.

Seth's observation triggered a thought that was lodged in the back of my mind. I couldn't extract it from the fog shrouding most of last night, however, no matter how hard I tried.

Lincoln fetched himself a bowl from the cupboard and filled it with broth then sat next to me. "How did you sleep?"

"Deeply." I struggled to recall how we'd parted the night before. Had he been angry? I didn't think any harsh words had been spoken between us, but there were just too many holes in my memory for me to be certain of anything. He could have told me he loved me and I wouldn't remember.

No, that wasn't true. I would certainly remember that.

"The coat and gloves went to the boy Mr. Lee sent to fetch me. Er, I mean you. He was very cold, the poor lad, and he'd walked a long way in the night. I couldn't send him out again in nothing but his thin shirt."

"There you go, Seth," Gus said, grinning. "You did a good turn, for once. Never thought you'd be the charitable sort."

Seth grunted and returned to his position of repose in the chair. "May we change the subject? What happened at Lee's?"