A Gilded Grave (24 page)

D
eanna struggled, but it was no use. She tried to call Joe’s name, but it was muffled by the massive palm that covered her mouth and nose, and made it almost impossible to breathe. She tried to think. There had been a wall behind her just seconds ago, and now there was just emptiness as she was pulled inexorably into even deeper darkness.

Suddenly, she was thrust away and she staggered, disoriented in the dark.

“Miss. Miss.” An urgent whisper.

Deanna blinked and still couldn’t see anything. She stretched her hand out, and it was grabbed but this time by a small, cold hand she knew well.

“Elspeth?”

“Yes, but shh.”

“Where are we?”

“The coal-delivery door. This is the chute to the basement.”

First rain, then coal dust? Her clothes would be ruined.
How would she ever to get back in the house without being found out?
And what a stupid thing to worry about now.

Deanna twisted behind her to see Joe being half carried, half dragged into the narrow space, then thrust against the wall. The door closed. It was a small space for four people, especially when one of them was so large. She heard a scrape and then saw a bit of light. A lantern and the sound of a shutter being drawn back.

“Swan!” Deanna exclaimed. “What are
you
doing here?”

“Saving your bacon,” Elspeth said.

“My head.” Joe gingerly touched his scalp. “Someone hit me.” He squinted at Swan. “Was it you?”

“No, sir.” That deep voice, with its slight singsong quality, sent shivers through Deanna.

“How did you know where to find us?” she asked.

“Swan sees all.”

Deanna stepped back involuntarily.
Nonsense
, she told herself.
He’s a magician, not a witch doctor.

“So does Elspeth,” Elspeth said, mimicking Swan’s tone. She didn’t seem at all intimidated by the man, who only yesterday had sent her into the quakes. “Besides, you told me to stay out of sight but to keep my eye on the parlor door to make sure that no one came out and followed Mr. Joseph,” Elspeth said. “So I did.”

Deanna didn’t think she’d been that specific but she wasn’t going to quibble.

“I hid in the closet at the back of the hall there. I saw Lady Madeline, then you, come out. Then Mr. Woodruff come running in looking like he was being chased by one of them banshees. And suddenly this here gentleman’s gentleman stepped right in front of my hidey-hole so I couldn’t see nothing.

“Then Mr. Woodruff started rambling something about the library. I woulda run outside to the window to warn you, but this big oaf was blocking the way.” She paused. “So I kicked him.”

Deanna cast an approving look at her lady’s maid.

Swan growled low in his throat.

“I knew I had to do something, so while he bent over to rub his leg, I banged the door into him, and when he turned around, I slipped out and ran the other way thinking I might be able to get you out before anyone found you.” Elspeth looked at Swan. “I guess he followed me.”

“Amazing,” Deanna said. It was all she could manage.

“We thank you,” Joe said, still nursing his head. “But we can’t stay in the coal tunnel all night.” He started toward the door they’d been dragged through.

Swan stepped in his way. “They will be looking for you.”

Joe huffed out a sigh. Winced.

“Besides,” Deanna said. “How are we going to explain all this when we do get out?”

Joe seemed to notice for the first time that they were both drenched. “Hmm. We’ll just say we went out to get some air and got caught in the downpour.” He grinned, looking maniacal in the lantern light. “You’ve had your swim, after all.”

“Very funny.”

“Can you think of something better?” Joe asked, feeling the bump on his head. “I can just leave and let everyone assume I have bad manners. But you? Even if you change, your hair will still be wet. You could send Elspeth down to say you have the headache and have gone to bed.”

“I could not. Adelaide has the headaches, not me.”

“No, you
are
the headache.”

“Stop fighting,” Elspeth said. “We can’t stay here. And he’s right, miss. You can’t go out looking like that. Your reputation—”

“Will be made?” Deanna grinned, though she was feeling a little frightened. More of her Mama, though, than of being caught as a thief or having the whole of society think she was fast.

Swan moved toward the door, put his ear next to it, shook his head, and leaned against the door barring their escape.

Deanna could hear Neville shouting orders. He must be organizing a search for whoever broke into the library.

“What happened?” Joe asked Deanna.

“You’d been gone forever and I was getting worried. Then I heard a carriage come up the drive. Everyone else was intent on the game, but I went out to see who it was. It was Mr. Woodriuff. He’d returned early. I came to warn you, but when I got to the library, it had been ransacked and you were lying on the floor. I knew we couldn’t be found like that, so I dragged you outside.”

“That I remember.”

“And then he, Swan, pulled us in here.”

“That, too.”

Swan had put his ear back to the door, listening.

“Did you see who it was who attacked you?” Deanna asked. “The room was torn to pieces. Like they were looking for something.”

Joe cut a look at Swan, then looked back at Deanna. Touched his chest. He’d gotten what he wanted.

But who in the world had hit him and what had
they
been looking for?

Swan turned slightly toward them. “I hear no one. You go now.”

Joe took Deanna by the wrist.

“But what do we say?” Deanna asked.

“We were out looking at the stars.”

“Joe, it’s raining. There are no stars.”

“It’s a euphemism, Dee.”

“Oh.”

“And it came on to rain and we took shelter under a tree.”

“That would be a stupid thing to do, because—oh, is that another euphemism?”

Joe groaned but Deanna didn’t think it was because of his head.

Swan’s teeth flashed in the darkness. A smile, perhaps. “It’s safe. You go now.” He opened the door a crack.

Joe peeked around the doorjamb. “Shall we?” He stepped back out into the rain and pulled Deanna with him. She pulled back when she realized he was moving toward the library doors.

“We were out and about and saw the commotion,” he said. “Act surprised and mystified.” He pulled her forward—and closer.

The French doors were closed, but Deanna could see several men standing in the library and surveying the state of the room.

Joe knocked on the glass, and when Vlady opened it, Joe ushered Deanna into the room. “Good heavens, what happened here?”

Everyone turned.

“The question,” Vlady Howe said, “is what happened to you?”

“Caught in the rain. Alas, we’d barely gotten outside before the sky broke over our heads.”

Deanna nodded, hoping the admiration she was feeling for Joe’s acting skills would appear as infatuation and not idiocy.

Herbert stepped forward. Deanna held her breath.

“There’s been a break-in. Did you happen to see anyone out there?”

Joe shook his head, smiled. “But quite frankly, I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deanna saw the knowing smiles from some of the men. Her reputation would be ruined after tonight.

The only one who appeared not to find it amusing was Herbert Stanhope, but he held his tongue.

What was he up to
?
Deanna wondered. He’d never shown any real interest in her, so it couldn’t be that. Then she remembered that his mother was a Havemeyer—had
he
been the one to ransack the office and attack Joe? Surely it couldn’t be that, either. She hadn’t noticed one way or the other whether Herbert was participating in the charades. He could have slipped out, bashed Joe on the head, and come back into the foyer to join the ruckus.

Herbert was fun-loving, dependable, could keep his friends laughing for hours, and didn’t seem to care a whit about business. On the other hand, wasn’t that an excellent disguise for a spy?

“Did they steal anything?” Joe asked, addressing Neville, who was standing in the doorway.

“I don’t know, sir. Mr. Woodruff has been put to bed. He isn’t well and madam has called for the doctor.”

“Mr. Woodruff is back? Where are Charles and Lord David?”

“They didn’t return with the master. Perhaps they are following.”

“Shouldn’t you telephone the police?” Deanna asked.

“I believe Mr. Woodruff would prefer that we handle this ourselves.”

Joe whispered in Deanna’s ear. “Too late for that, I’m afraid.”

What had he found out? The evidence of misdoings
?
He held the answer inside his vest.

“Under the circumstances, I think we should make it an early evening and leave the family in peace.” Vlady began rounding up the guests, and soon everyone was heading for the front door and their carriages. He stopped by Neville. “Give our sincere wishes for Mr. Woodruff’s speedy recovery.”

Deanna tried to catch Joe’s eye, but he, too, was following the others toward the door. How could he leave her without letting her know what he’d found? She had half a mind to go after him, then remembered her damp and wrinkled state. She’d caused enough scandal for one night.

O
utside, carriages had already begun to line up on the drive, and Joe was feeling uncomfortably damp. His head spun whenever he moved it too quickly. He’d sent the Ballard carriage back earlier, meaning to return to the warehouse after the party. He wasn’t looking forward to walking back to the Fifth Ward now. In fact, he was fairly certain he wouldn’t make it that far.

Herbert Stanhope caught up to him. “Can I give you a ride? I know you’ve probably come on your bicycle, but I’m sure they won’t mind if you leave it overnight, considering the weather.”

“Kind of you, Herbert. Thank you.”

“I’m down there.” They strode past various equipages until they came to a shiny black-and-red-trimmed tilbury. “I feel sorry for those folks who drove open carriages tonight. I could have told them it was going to rain.”

“You were right about that,” Joe said ruefully before he climbed onto the carriage seat.

Herbert snapped the reins, and they started off, Joe bracing himself against the throbbing in his head.

“Are you going to the factory or to Bonheur tonight?”

Joe eased out his breath. “Bonheur, I think. I could use a hot bath. Do you mind going out of your way? You can take me back to town and I can hire a hackney.”

“No, actually I wanted to have time to talk to you alone.”

“About tonight?”

“I’m sure you have your reasons for that. Something else. They might possibly be related.”

Joe immediately grew wary. “You didn’t hit me over the head and ransack Woodruff’s office, did you?”

Herbert coughed out a laugh. “Is that what happened? Did you get what you were looking for?”

“Perhaps,” Joe said warily.

“Fair enough. So here is something you might find interesting: I was reading the
Tribune
the other day at the Reading Room. My father and my brother, Thornton, were there discussing business as usual, and I happened to overhear my father mention that Uncle Henry said he’d bought shares in R and W to the sum of a third of their assets.”

“What? That’s nonsense.”

“Well, the Havemeyer side of the family doesn’t deal in nonsense. So if Uncle Henry says he bought it, you can believe he bought it. My father said he had arranged to transfer the stocks next week. I suspect that’s why you were rifling Woodruff’s office tonight.”

“Actually it was an informational quest, but if Woodruff is involved with the sale of that stock, it could answer a lot of questions,” Joe said. “But if the stocks haven’t transferred, your uncle doesn’t actually own them yet.” The carriage wheels set
up an accompanying pounding in Joe’s head. It was making it hard for him to think clearly. “It’s not too late to stop him.”

Herbert laughed. “Good luck. Stopping my uncle is about as impossible as climbing the Matterhorn. You may reach him, but you won’t survive the trip back down.”

“Like the Douglas party of climbers.”