He supposed his old friend was entitled to want to forget the past. As he knew only too well, the past was often a harsh taskmaster.
"Was there something else you wished to discuss, Mr. Hollings?" he asked then, wishing to be done with the matter.
"Not at all, Sir William." The solicitor dipped and bobbed like a puppet controlled by invisible strings. "I'm certain I'll be able to have the servants here before end of day."
"Excellent." Zach preceded him to the front door.
"Good God!" Hand clasped to his sweat-beaded brow, Tobias collapsed into a nearby chair draped with a dustcover. "I'm certainly glad that's over." His eyes closed wearily, his head rolling back against the Queen Anne chair.
"And you standing there as if you couldn't quite make up your mind about whether you wanted the house or not! If that little pipsqueak starts snooping around, the constable will be our first caller."
Zach leaned casually against the doorframe, hands thrust deep into the pockets of his worsted pants. His mood was deceivingly calm.
"Mr. Hollings won't ask questions. People always see what they want to see."
"God help us if he investigates that information you gave him. A bank account in Switzerland of all places!" Tobias muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"Which shows how much you know, my friend. The most reputable international businessmen, and even royalty, utilize such accounts. The Swiss are known for their expertise and more important their discretion in financial matters. The account exists," he assured him.
"It does?" That seemed to sober Tobias somewhat. He sat upright with a jerk, paying a severe price for moving so quickly as he winced at the throbbing at his head.
Zach nodded. "I took the liberty of establishing it several years ago. I thought it necessary to secure certain funds that no one would be able to find."
"That explains a good many things," Tobias mumbled. "I always wondered about all those account books you kept in the safe at Resolute."
Zach smiled. "There's a great deal you don't know, my friend."
"Eh, what's that you say?" Tobias raised bleary eyes to stare at him a little unsteadily.
"I've been thinking about the coincidence of things that come in twos—gloves, shoes, and pendants." He changed the direction of the conversation.
"Pendants? What are you talking now? I see only one." Tobias closed his eyes. He could have sworn Zach held only one pendant in his hand. He groaned. "Even my hair hurts."
"It should, considering the whiskey you consumed last night." He held the pendant that he'd taken from Elyse Winslow the night before, fascinated by the light that gleamed on the diamonds. Blue diamonds, very rare.
"Yer daft, there's only one. Unless me eyes are playing tricks on me." Tobias squinted at the sparkling object Zach held aloft. He rose on unsteady feet only to slump back wearily into the chair.
"I think maybe you'd better go on without me to that appointment. I'll stay here and wait for the ones that Mr. Hollings said he'd send over."
He rested his forehead in his hands. "I wish Minnie were here with one of her tonics. Better yet, I wish we were back at Resolute."
"Soon enough," Zach replied. He shrugged off the same feeling he'd had when he'd first met Elyse Winslow two nights ago, as if he were somehow seeing her again…
The deep rumble of snoring filled the library. Tobias’ head nodded forward onto his chest. Zach crossed the room to his friend. Lifting the older man's feet onto a stool, he tried to make him more comfortable.
"Rest easy, my friend," he told him. "I'll have the answers I want and then we can leave England."
* * *
Zach paused at the steps of the imposing building. Austere brick towered overhead a full six stories. Gold leaf lettering on a bronzed plaque announced, Barrington Shipping.
The building and the name spoke of old money, old family, and power. If he'd been anyone else, he might have been impressed—might have. Still, there was a vague feeling of familiarity about the building, as if he might have been there before. He shrugged it off.
Trapping the lion in its lair.The thought he'd first shared with Tobias months ago came back to him. This was the lair, and the lion was inside.
Jerrold Barrington rose in greeting as he entered the formal office. A faint smile played across his lips. It must be an affliction of the nobility, to surround themselves with rich furnishings. This office, like the library in which he'd left Tobias, was richly appointed to the point of being grotesque.
"Good to see you again," Jerrold Barrington declared. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
