She brushed past him, feeling confused at the way everyone had shifted tonight, the very people around her warping like a funhouse mirror.
Grace splashed cold water on her face. Her face was pale, and her eyes looked huge. She pinched her cheeks, unsure why she suddenly cared how she looked. When she stepped out, she glimpsed Harriet navigating to the back of the restaurant.
“Harri—” Grace started to say but stopped short. Someone was already speaking to Harriet ahead, half hidden in the shadows. He was too far away to make out, but Grace could tell by his build that it was a man.
She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, not really, but something stopped her from interrupting. Perhaps it was Harriet’s look of surprise.
Grace listened to a sudden instinct and dropped back.
“I’ve seen you with him,” the man said. “And I’ve got connections, too. If you want me to introduce you to that talent manager—”
The music began again, drowning out the rest.
The man, whoever he was, seemed to be growing more and more agitated. He was dressed in the fine clothing of a gentleman. He had a signet ring on his right hand, a crest impressed into onyx. But his face was flushed, and he was unsteady on his feet. Grace wished suddenlyfor Lillie and Oliver. None of this was her world. From ritzy parties to burning planes to expensive restaurants far beyond her father’s, she felt so out of place.
And Harriet almost looked frightened.
Grace strode toward them, catching a glimpse of the man’s profile as she neared. He didn’t look familiar to her, and he was too intent on Harriet to notice Grace approaching.
“He owes me. You tell him,” the man snarled. “Make sure he gets me that money.”
He turned and staggered away in the opposite direction, and she could smell the alcohol in his wake. He was drunk.
“Who was that?” Grace asked.
“Just someone who thought he knew me,” Harriet said. Her voice turned brittle. “He was mistaken.”
“Are you all right?” Grace said.
Two splashes of pink had appeared on Harriet’s face.
“I’m fine,” she said. Grace examined her. Harriet was regaining control of herself, as any good actress could, but something had definitely spooked her.
“Are you certain, because—”
“It’s nothing,” Harriet said briskly.
“There you are,” Theodore said, approaching behind them. “I thought you both had left me behind and Oliver was going to challenge me to a duel.”
“Let’s go home,” Harriet said. She tugged on Oliver’s borrowed coat, her face flushed. “This party has soured.”
With a twinge in her gut, Grace followed Harriet and Theo to his waiting carriage. Someone Harriet knew owed this man money—enough to enrage him.
And for some reason, she was lying about it.
Grace leaned against the cushioned seat, deciding she needed to keep a much closer eye on Harriet Forbes.
Especially where her darling and very rich cousin Oliver was concerned.
CHAPTER FIVE
MAY 2, 1904
One Day Before the Murder
THE NEXT MORNING, Grace followed Lillie up the stairs of Earnest’s house, letting her hands chase the gleam along the polished banister. The satin train of Lillie’s dress trailed on the staircase just in front of her, lapping it like waves. In St. Louis circles, Grace often felt like a fraud. But—in her defense—at least she knew it. She dressed up in Lillie’s clothes for weeks in St. Louis like she was putting on a costume. An actress, trying on a new life. But was Harriet, too?
Grace glanced at the imposing, aristocratic portraits of the Allreds on the walls.
