“Huh.” Logan cradled the brandy glass in his hands.
Benedict swallowed some brandy and lowered the glass. “Have you let Mrs. Marsden know that you are considering emigrating to Canada or Australia?”
“The subject of my future has not come up.”
They drank their brandies in silence for a time.
“The ladies suffered a terrible shock to the nerves tonight,” Benedict said after a while.
“We all did,” Logan said. “I certainly doubt that my nerves will ever be the same. When I think of that scene in the bastard’s studio, I feel like reaching for a vinaigrette.”
“So do I. What we need to keep in mind is that by the time we arrived Penny and Amity were in command of the situation.”
Logan smiled grimly. “I do believe they would have killed the monster.”
Benedict recalled the fierce expressions on Amity’s and Penny’s faces. “No doubt about it. They are both quite resourceful.”
Logan nodded. “Indeed, they are.”
“And brave.”
“Absolutely,” Logan said.
“Extraordinary,” Benedict said.
“Indeed.”
They drank some more brandy in silence.
Benedict rested his head against the back of the chair. “It occurs to me that you ought to clarify the matter of your future with Mrs. Marsden.”
“I don’t think I have any choice.” Logan finished his brandy and set down the glass. “I can’t imagine continuing to live here in London knowing that she is living in the same city, wondering if I’ll see her on the street or at the theater, unless I can be with her.”
“You aren’t the only one who needs clarification,” Benedict said.
He drained his glass, got to his feet, picked up the decanter and poured two more glasses of brandy.
“We need to make a plan,” he said. “Two plans.”
Forty-two
Iwould just like to point out that, when all is said and done, the Channing ball guest list was the key,” Logan announced. He smiled at Penny. “But we were not using it correctly. Lady Penhurst was, indeed, on that list and on the Gilmore list, as well.”
Penny smiled and blushed.
“One of several aspects of this case that I don’t comprehend is, why did Virgil Warwick kill his own sister?—and in the middle of a ballroom, no less,” Amity said. “After all, it must have been Leona who convinced or bribed Mrs. Dunning to pose as Virgil’s mother so that he could be freed from the asylum the second time.”
It was ten o’clock in the morning. Penny had sent invitations to breakfast to Benedict, Logan and Declan. They had all arrived on time and immediately set to making heavy inroads on the mounds of eggs and potatoes and toast that Mrs. Houston had prepared.
“Perhaps Warwick concluded that he no longer needed Leona,” Logan suggested. “As for the location he chose for that murder, what could be a more anonymous venue than a masked ball? It was ideal for his purposes. And it created the perfect distraction to make it possible for him to grab you, Miss Doncaster. It’s all very neat when you consider it. He was able to dispatch his sister and kidnap his victim at the same place while wearing a disguise that no one would question.”
Benedict looked at Penny. “Did Warwick tell you anything that might explain why he murdered Leona?”
“No,” Penny said. She swallowed some coffee and cradled the cup very carefully in both hands. “When I woke up in that cage, he spoke only of Amity. He was obsessed with her. When he left to kidnap her, he put on a domino and a mask. He was excited.” She shuddered. “In a most unwholesome fashion.”
“He obviously knew that he would find her at the costume ball,” Declan said. “That means that he knew of Leona’s plans to obtain the necklace from Miss Doncaster at that affair.”
Amity pursed her lips. “He even knew the details of her scheme. It was a large crowd yet he found me quite easily. It was as if he had been waiting for me to appear from that particular hallway.”
