Her Majesty's Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiosities #2)(60)

They told me he'd gone out but didn't know where. I wasn't looking forward to our first encounter. Lincoln needed to know that he couldn't speak to me that way for no particular reason.

Except he did have a reason, only he didn't know it yet.

When Lady Harcourt arrived, I told the men I needed to lie down. Unfortunately, it didn't stop her from seeking me out. Seth showed her up to my rooms then bowed out and shut the door. He didn't notice my glare because he didn't take his eyes off her.

"You look exhausted," she said, lowering herself onto one of the chairs in my small sitting room. "One would think you were at a ball all night."

I didn't answer. My night and my conversation with Lincoln were not her affair.

She pointed to the seat opposite her. "Sit. Don't you want to hear how the evening went?"

"Not particularly."

"Don't be difficult, Charlie. Of course you want to know. You want to know everything about him. It's quite obvious, my dear, and rather sweet. I'm sure most men would be flattered. Not Lincoln, I'm afraid. He doesn't appreciate that sort of thing, and certainly not from his own maid. Take my advice and put aside your infatuation. It won't go well for you, otherwise."

Coming on top of last night's tirade, it was all I could do to hold myself together. Or stop myself from throwing her out.

"He seemed to enjoy himself at the ball," she said. "He chatted with many ladies, some gentlemen, and I think I almost caught him smiling at sweet little Miss Overton. He seemed quite taken with her. She's quite a pretty thing, all big eyes and golden hair. She reminds me of you, Charlie."

Her description of him flirting and conversing was so different to the man who'd come home at three AM that I wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. She might just be teasing me.

"Don't look so disappointed," she said with a tilt of her head. "He will marry, you know. He must." She sighed. "It's something we both need to grow used to. Miss Overton would make a nice match for him, as long as she's careful not to bore him."

"Why do you want him to marry Miss Overton?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. "Don't you want to marry him yourself?"

She plucked the fingertips of her gloves to remove them. "You've become quite bold, for a maid."

"Let's not play games, my lady. We both know what you're here for. Let's get on with it."

"First things first. You asked about me marrying him, and I'd like to answer you." She placed the gloves in her lap and folded her hands on top of them. "I've been married before, Charlie, and it's not a state I want to enter into again. Not lightly, anyway, and not with Lincoln. I know he'd treat me well enough, but there's no advantage for me in marrying him. Do you understand?"

"I do. If you marry someone, it will be a man higher than your last husband."

"Or richer. You must think me terribly avaricious. Or perhaps you understand me." Her crooked smile was almost friendly, knowing, as if she were sharing a secret with a confidant. "We have, after all, come from similar stock."

I didn't bother to tell her that I was nothing like her. I didn't care for wealth or privilege. A home with a solid roof over my head was all I wanted, and people who cared for me. It was the latter that I thought I'd found in all of Lichfield's residents. This morning, I was no longer certain of that, or even of the solid roof. If Lincoln was still in the same mood as the night before, he might be tempted to throw me out, particularly if he learned about my visit to the General Registry Office.

"Did you see him when he returned last night?" Lady Harcourt asked.

"Why?"

It was a long moment before she answered. "He left abruptly; one would say angrily. I didn't see whom he was talking to before he left, so I have no way of knowing why he was upset. He had no transport home so I suspect he walked all the way."

"I don't know anything," I said. "You'll have to ask him."

"We both know how well that conversation will go," she said with a wry twist of her mouth. "Now, are you ready to summon Mr. Gurry's spirit?"

I gripped the chair arms harder and blinked down at my lap. As I'd watched dawn creep over the horizon that morning, I'd decided not to tell Lincoln about the inquiries I'd made; partly because I was angry with him over his treatment of me and felt he didn't deserve to know, and partly because I felt like a fool for caring about him. If he knew I'd cared enough to investigate him, it would only heighten my humiliation.

"Come now, Charlie, don't think badly of me for asking this of you. I only want what you want—information about Lincoln. It's your own fault if I tell him about your inquiry at the General Registry Office. You refuse me this request and I will speak to him about it. You can be assured I haven't told him anything yet, however."

"That's such a comfort," I sneered.

"It'll remain our secret, if you want it to. I promise."

I wasn't entirely sure if her promise meant all that much to me anymore. But I had to trust her. If I couldn't…well, part of me no longer cared. Let him discover every bad thing I’d ever done behind his back. Let him throw me out. It might help me bury this infatuation, as he called it.