Her Majesty's Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiosities #2)(63)

He spun round and jerked the door open. "I would have told you what you wanted to know," he said over his shoulder.

"I already asked you," I shot back. "You refused to answer."

"I wasn't ready then. But in time…" He strode out the door and shut it, leaving me alone with my thoughts and misery.

I doubted he would he ever confide in me now. Whatever connection there had been between us was utterly broken, and I wasn't sure it could be mended.





CHAPTER 14


I remained in my rooms for the rest of the day and evening. I couldn't face the others, even though I knew Lincoln wouldn't be among them. Either he'd gone out or he kept to his rooms. At every creak of the floorboards outside, every groan of the settling house, I lifted my head from my pillow and held my breath. But no one came to my door. Perhaps he wasn't going to throw me out, after all.

The longer I dwelled on it, the more I came to realize he wouldn't do that. He wasn't petty. Yet I knew we couldn't go on as we were. I'd crossed a line, and there was no going back. Nothing would be the same. He would never confide in me again, never take me with him to investigate a ministry matter, never simply sit in the library and read alongside me. He might even stop my training. He would treat me as a maid.

I could cope with the change between us. I must. Lichfield was my home, and I didn't want to leave it, or Seth, Gus and Cook. Or him.

I drifted off to sleep but awoke with a start sometime in the middle of the night. I'd had a dream about the pendant I'd found in his room with the blue eye inscribed on it. That eye had stared back at me in the dream, then winked.

I didn't fall back to sleep, yet I waited until the morning to look through the library books. I did my chores first, making sure the house was perfect, and ate breakfast with Seth, Gus and Cook. They were somber too, and seemed to know that something was amiss. They didn't ask me what had happened, and I didn't offer an explanation. Nor did I ask after Lincoln like I usually did.

I slipped into the library late morning. Lincoln hadn't come down at all, and it seemed that he'd gone out. Even if he walked in on me, it wouldn't matter. Our friendship was in tatters already.

My fingers brushed over the leather spines of the books as I read each one. They were organized by subject matter, with non-fiction occult books near the fireplace. I found one on symbols and flipped to the index. There were several entries for Gypsy, and I checked each page reference until I found the drawings of the blue eye similar to the one on the amulet in Lincoln's drawer.

According to the book, it was a charm to ward off the evil eye, a curse that several cultures believed in, not just gypsies. It was said that witches and evil spirits cursed good people with the evil eye, bringing them bad luck. The amulet with the blue eye defended the wearer from such curses when it was worn close to the body.

If I had any remaining doubts that Lincoln was part gypsy, they were banished. The amulet must have come from his mother.

I returned the book to the shelves and continued with my chores until the early afternoon. Lincoln still hadn't returned when two visitors arrived. Having strangers visit was unusual enough, but the fact that they were two ladies was even more curious. They arrived in a carriage with a footman standing sentinel at the back. He hopped down and opened the door for them. The older lady emerged first. Her gaze took in the house, the garden, and me, standing in the doorway. She wrinkled her nose.

The second lady was much younger, but clearly her relation. Both were beautiful, with high cheekbones, large gray eyes and smooth skin. The older lady wore a green turban that covered much of her hair, while the younger's fair locks were arranged beneath a large brimmed hat trimmed with green ribbon. Both wore striking outfits that hugged their slender frames, although the elder was a more sedate lavender than the girl's vibrant jade.

They looked past me, as if expecting to see a butler hovering nearby. It must seem rather odd to have a maid greet them.

"Is Mr. Fitzroy at home?" the elder woman asked without introducing herself.

"Not at present."

The young woman pouted. "I told you we should have sent a note ahead, Mama."

"When will he return?" the mother asked me.

"I don't know." I stepped aside. "Would you like to wait for him? I'll bring tea and cake into the parlor."

"Please, Mama," the girl begged. "I'd like to see him again."

The mother tilted her head in a nod. "Very well. We will wait. Where is the parlor?"

"Through there." I bobbed a curtsy as both filed past me. "Whom shall I say is calling upon him?"

"Mrs. and Miss Overton," the woman said without turning to me. "We'll stay half an hour, Hettie. No more."

I hurried into the kitchen. "He has guests," I announced to Cook and Seth. Gus wasn't there. "I need tea and cake."

Cook waved his bandaged hand at me. "Can't." He went back to the recipe book open in front of him on the table.

Seth sighed and got up. "Who is it? The general? Does he have an address for Jasper?"

"Not the general. It's Lady Overton and her daughter."

"Lottie and Hettie?" Seth brightened. "Well, that is an intriguing prospect."

"Which one?" Cook asked.