The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court, #1)(113)

I picked up on Cedric’s lead. “What about your associate’s case? That missing noblewoman? You can tell us about that, can’t you?”

“Not much to tell, I’m afraid. That other agent got delayed up north, and I’m sure last night’s storm hasn’t helped things. But I expect he’ll arrive soon. He may end up out here, for all I know. Rumor has it the lady in question might have fled to some of the outer settlements.” Again, his eyes fell on me, and I laughed.

“I have a hard time believing that—at least if she’s anything like the noblewomen I worked around. I remember our household was in an uproar when my lady cracked a nail just before some fancy gala. Someone like her could never handle this.” I held out my hands and pulled off some of the wrappings. The bleeding had stopped overnight, but they still looked pretty terrible. Silas actually flinched.

“My goodness,” he said, looking away. “That . . . must hurt quite a bit.”

“That’s life out here, Mister McGraw.” Cedric gave him a polite nod of farewell. “And now we’ve got other things to attend to. Good luck with your case.”

We strolled away casually, but I groaned as soon as we were out of earshot. “Why do I have the feeling that the latest ‘rumor’ he heard came from Viola Doyle?”

“Because, as previously established, you’re a smart and intelligent woman. And Viola Doyle is a vindictive one.”

I came to a halt in front of some shops where men busily hammered away, making conversation difficult. “If that picture gets shown in Cape Triumph, the other agent doesn’t even have to come to Hadisen himself. All it’ll take is some enterprising bounty hunter trekking out here to claim his prize.”

“You need to get married.”

“A conversation we keep having over and over.”

He started to respond, but then his eyes fell on something across the dusty road—or, more specifically, someone. “I know that man . . .” Cedric murmured. His brow furrowed and then smoothed out. “It can’t be. I need to go talk to him.”

I nearly said I’d follow, but then I realized we were standing in front of the courier’s office. “Meet me back here,” I said.

The office had sustained only a little damage and was still operating. The mail chief recognized me from our first day and produced two letters he’d been holding, one each for Cedric and me. Cedric’s was from his associate, Walter, back in Cape Triumph. I tucked it into my pocket and tore into my envelope. It was from Mira.

Dear Adelaide,

I know it hasn’t been that long, but life without you feels so strange. I’ve had you by my side for the last year, and there’s an emptiness now that you’re gone. Having Tamsin back helps a lot. She won’t talk much about Grashond and seems troubled when it comes up. But aside from those moments, she’s her same old self.

She kept good on her promise to not accept any offers until Warren’s return, but of course, she still entertained plenty of gentlemen while he was gone. That’s Tamsin—always keeping her options open. Since Warren came back, it seems as though her loyalty paid off. He was pretty smitten the last time I saw him, and excited to bring her back to show her around Hadisen.

And so, it seems as if both of you are going off to great adventures while I stay here. Only a few of us aren’t engaged yet, and I know I’ll have to choose soon. None of my suitors have really inspired a burning passion within me, so it may come down to simply accepting the one—the only one—who offers me the most respect and freedom. Surely that’s as good as love. I rather liked that lawyer you knew briefly, but he’s made it pretty clear he’s not interested in the Glittering Court right now.

Write when you can,

Mira

I reread the letter before folding it up. I missed Mira as much as she missed me, and it saddened me that she might be forced into something simply because she had no better options. But I couldn’t think too much about that—not with the perplexing information she presented about Tamsin. Warren had given no indication he’d settled on any girl, but Mira claimed he and Tamsin almost had a match, so much so that he wanted to bring her to Hadisen. What was the truth? The letter was dated only a few days ago and must have come with the mail on Warren’s ship last night. I supposed anything could have happened. Had they quarreled in so short a time? Had Tamsin decided she didn’t want to live on the frontier after all?

Cedric reappeared as I pondered all this. That excited, knowing look was on his face, which meant he had some brilliant plan in place. “Come on,” he said, steering me back to where Lizzie was tied up. “Let’s go back to the claim.”

I’d expected him to take me back to the Marshalls’ since part of the day was gone, but I had no objections to this change. I was curious about how his place had fared in the storm.

“What’s going on?” I asked, once we were on the trail heading away from the town. “Who was that man?”

“The man the Galvestons mentioned. The Alanzan magistrate.”

“Did you talk to him about marrying your heathen fiancée?”

“Yes, actually.” Again, I could tell Cedric was bursting with eagerness. “And he’s the one who’s going to perform our wedding.”

“When the contract’s taken care of?” I asked. “You’re planning ahead.”