Amelia tilted her head, unconvinced, but decided to press a little. “Practical, of course.”
Helena shook her head, more forcefully this time. “Amelia, what you did was unacceptable.”
Amelia flinched. “But I?—”
“I know about your good intentions, dear. But you can’t lock people in rooms,” Helena said firmly, her hands tightening slightly on the coat around her shoulders. “It’s reckless, and someone could get hurt.”
Amelia’s grin faltered, replaced by a hint of guilt. “I… I only meant it for fun. And to get you to spend time with him.”
Helena shook her head, exhaling slowly. “Intentions don’t excuse actions, Amelia. You must think of the consequences first.”
She nodded miserably, mouth turned down. “I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted.” Helena softened just a fraction, letting her tone become gentler before turning around and clutching Amelia’s arms. “I understand what you’re trying to do. I really do, but?—”
“I know, you can’t stay. Your family needs you.” Amelia sounded absolutely miserable.
Helena gave her a sad smile. “Come, let’s go have some tea. It’ll cheer us both up.”
She put her hand around Amelia and led her from the room. Then, she adjusted Silas’s coat around her shoulders once more, trying to shake off the warmth it brought her, even as her heart still felt oddly comforted by his lingering presence.
“What have you found?” Silas asked immediately as he closed the office door behind Benedict.
“What? No pleasantries? No thanks for rescuing you from a potentially fraught situation? If Helena had a proper guardian, you’d be planning your wedding as we speak, you know.”
“Can we get on with business?” he replied irritably, though he was still burning from Helena’s touch.
He was quite surprised that he was able to focus on anything at all.
“Right. Well, our friend James has turned out to be quite the shifty fellow. My men followed him two days ago to a gambling hell. They weren’t expecting much, of course, but it’s always good to be vigilant.”
“Go on,” Silas said impatiently.
“Well, he retired into a back room with a group of gentlemen that have been flagged as traitorous scum, but with not enough evidence to…” Benedict made a choking motion.
Silas nodded. “Were your men able to hear what they said?”
“One was able to masquerade as a waiter, bringing them drinks. There seemed to be some argument about money and meeting later in the month to discuss thepending issuesinceyour brother’s been taken care of for a while now.”
Silas cocked an eyebrow, “They said this in front of your man?”
“Of course not. He left the door slightly ajar.”
Silas nodded once, impressed.
“What’s the next move, then?” Benedict asked.
“Obviously, we keep an eye on him and try to find out what this pending issue might be,” Silas answered.
“Of course. Anything else?”
“Well, judging from his general restlessness and overall display of nerves, I’d say our man is fairly desperate to finish whatever this scheme is. Which increases the chances of him making mistakes.”
“Good news, at last.”
“Yes, indeed. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
“Is there no way we can nudge him into acting?”
