Chapter Twenty-Eight
The hackney pulled to a stop in the heart of Mayfair, where London’s aristocratic elite held court.
Jack glanced out the window and couldn’t help but gawk at the sight in front of her.
A mansion taking up the entire block stood proudly before her, a veritable palace that screamed wealth and excess.
Its four stories soared above Grosvenor Square, the pristine, white stucco of the walls gleaming against the morning sun, its facade pristine and unmarred by the coal smoke that plagued most townhouses in other areas.
Tobias opened the door to the carriage and held his hand out for her.
She took it and stepped outside beside him, the very contact of her fingers against his sending a bolt of electricity up her spine.
She gasped, her eyes latching on to his, and she could see he felt it too, his eyes tightening at the corners.
Hastily, she let go of his hand and took a step away from him.
She glanced up again at the edifice in front of her, knowing she had to distract her attention away from the man beside her, but all that did was make her feel very insignificant against such an imposing edifice. “Perhaps I should wait here.”
Tobias looked at her oddly. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be intimidated by a house.”
“This isn’t a house; it’s a palace.” She shook her head and glanced down at her very plain, very practical blue dress.
“And I’m entirely underdressed to meet a countess.
” Jack had never bothered about worrying over her appearance before, but in her current outfit, she knew she was not going to measure up to the countess’s standards, especially if this was how they lived.
“You look beautiful,” he said, and there was such absolute conviction in his words that Jack knew he believed what he was saying.
“You actually lived inside this behemoth of a home?”
He softly chuckled beside her. “I did once, though not since I joined the Yard over fifteen years ago.”
“Where do you live now, then?” She regretted the question as soon as she saw the amusement in his eyes.
“About a ten-minute walk from New Scotland Yard,” he replied. “An apartment with which I’m certain you’ll soon become familiar.”
Jack’s jaw dropped open. “That’s entirely presumptuous of you.”
He winked at her and grinned. “It is, though hopefully, it’s true. Now, come on. I can already see Bainsworth getting impatient at the door.”
Following his gaze, her eyes traveled up the entrance stairs, to where a butler was standing, his face impervious as he waited there. “He looks like a statue.”
“Trust me, that’s his impatient look,” Tobias said, leading the way up the stairs. Jack followed, marveling at the four Georgian marble columns rising like sentinels to protect the grand entrance.
“Bainsworth, good to see you,” Tobias said to the butler, as he reached the portico entrance. “And as jovial as ever, I see.”
“Mr. Flint,” Bainsworth replied, with a very slight nod of his head before his eyes pinned Jack with a haughty intensity only butlers seemed to be able to master. He reminded her of a guard dog, protecting a treasure inside from a vagabond. “Miss?”
“This is Miss Hart,” Tobias replied. “She’s with me. Is the magician Caleb Dodd here?”
There was a flicker of curiosity in the butler’s gaze for just a moment before he covered it with implacability. “He was in the ballroom with the countess when I last checked.”
“Is my father home too?”
“No. He went to his club to avoid the countess’s preparations for the ball, which she is extremely busy arranging,” came Bainsworth precise reply. “And hence why she has asked not to be disturbed.”
“She’s preparing a little early, is she not? The ball is on Saturday, isn’t it?”
“Yes, however, Mr. Dodd will be performing a grand routine, which is to start before the ball commences, so he must get the ballroom prepared for that, and your mother wishes everything to be arranged well ahead of time too. Which is why she does not wish to be disturbed.”
“Well, I’d best live up to my reputation as the black sheep and go disturb her, then.” Tobias strolled past the butler and through the massive oak entrance door that had a polished gold knocker shaped like a lion’s head in the middle of it.
Jack reluctantly followed him, certain that the butler and the lion’s head were glaring at her with aristocratic disdain.
Though she’d often attended the residences of aristocrats with her father when she’d been a girl, this house was beyond anything she could have imagined.
Why would Tobias have given up a life like this with his family to be a police officer dealing with death daily? It didn’t make much sense to Jack.
She stopped short as she came into the entrance hall and quickly had to close her mouth.
The mansion’s exterior hadn’t done the opulence of the interior of the residence justice…
The floor was covered in black-and-white marble, like a chess board, with a sweeping staircase of polished mahogany on both sides of the room, its golden balustrades carved with ivy motifs and what had to be the most opulent crystal-and-gold chandelier she’d seen in her life, suspended from the coffered ceiling, sending light sparkling across the silk, wallpapered walls with hues of claret and gold.
It really was a palace. And Tobias had grown up here? It was so very different from everything she’d known.
“I’m sure Mother will be in the ballroom.” Tobias motioned down the hallway to the right and began to lead the way. “And hopefully, so will Caleb Dodd as he sets up his performance space.”
The mention of Caleb brought with it a frown. Was he involved in these murders? The figure of the man she’d seen running from the factory had seemed slightly shorter than Caleb’s six feet. Though he had been hunching over and things had happened so quickly. She just didn’t know.
“Now, my mother can be a bit intimidating,” Tobias said, his voice cautious. “She takes her position as a countess rather seriously.”
“And here I was thinking it was only duchesses who were intimidating,” Jack replied, sarcasm dripping in her voice.
Tobias’s lips twisted in a half smile. “In any event, she won’t be happy I intend to arrest her entertainer.
So perhaps it’s best to let me deal with her.
And if she does say anything untoward to you, just pay her no heed.
She can be particular about certain things and it’s not a reflection on you. ”
“So, she’s going to dislike me. How wonderful.” Though why she should care what his mother thought of her made no sense. It wasn’t like she would ever marry the man. Doubtful she’d even have a liaison with him…
She heard the lie in her own words. Well, perhaps she would have a liaison with him, after all of this was over. He was ridiculously handsome, and his body was extremely athletic… Oh, my God, she was about to meet his mother, and here she was thinking of his body.
What was wrong with her?
“She won’t dislike you; she just won’t understand you.” He glanced back at her. “Are you all right? You look slightly flushed.”
Damn her pale skin and red hair. “Just a bit hot is all.”
He raised his brow but said nothing more on the subject as they approached the end of the hall and the double doors ahead.
A plethora of servants were bustling in and out of doors, some carrying vases of what looked to be orchids, others carrying equipment or linen, but all seemed to be very fixated on their purposes.
Some of them paused as they caught sight of Tobias, their eyes widening slightly, but they nodded deferentially at him before continuing on with their tasks.
They strode into the ballroom together, but Jack’s footsteps came to a halt as she found herself once again captivated by the magnificence of the space.
The countess had created a room filled with light and beauty.
Crystal chandeliers sparkled from above, with huge vases filled with white orchids that must have cost an absolute fortune were strategically positioned along the edges of the grand room, their sweet perfume floating in the air, an intoxicating scent reminiscent of love and magic.
Her eyes swept over the space, and up ahead at the end of the room was a raised wooden stage with a large, black curtain draped along the wall behind.
The performance stage for Caleb’s magic show.
And though there was no sign of him, there was a lady in the middle of the room dressed in an elegant ruby-red gown, her dark hair swept up into chignon, ruby earrings dangling from her ears, with a matching necklace adorning her neck.
She was giving directions to some servants, her bearing confident and proud, clearly in charge of everything around her.
It was then the lady turned and her eyes latched on to Jack’s.
The same stormy-gray color of Tobias’s eyes, which were staring at her with the same measure of suspicion Tobias had first looked at Jack with too.
And though this woman was petite and similar in height to Jack, there was no mistaking she was Tobias’s mother and a countess, at that. The woman all but oozed regal grace.
Then the lady glanced to Jack’s right and her eyes locked on to her son. Jack saw the joy replace the suspicion as she quickly dismissed her staff and strode over to them, her steps so light that she looked as if she were gliding across the marble floor.
“My dear, what an unexpected pleasure this is.” Her voice was as smooth and cultured as Jack would have expected from a countess as she came to a stop in front of them.
“Mother,” Tobias replied, stepping forward and kissing the countess’s cheeks. “Spending father’s money again on flowers? I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.” He glanced around at the hundreds of orchids lining the room.