His bluntness was refreshing and gave new voice to her thoughts. “My goodness. How succinctly you read the situation.”
She clipped a bloom, and it fell to the stone floor. He bent to retrieve it and then handed it to her.
The simple action, and the nearness of his hand to her, distracted her.
Needing to refocus her thoughts, she set the bloom aside and returned to the conversation. “I couldn’t help but notice you were absent during some of the assessment.”
“A pity. But necessary.”
“Why?”
The boyish twinkle in his eye reappeared. “In the interest of sharing information, I must confess something.”
Why should her heart race at this moment? Was it knowing she was in his confidence? That he was about to share a secret that only the two of them knew?
“I told you why I’m here, and I’ve been very up front about my intentions.” He pulled a slip of paper from the welt pocket of his waistcoat. “I found this.”
She accepted it and read the information about Mr. Chelten. Confused at what she was reading, she tilted her head to the side. “What is this?”
“Do you recall how I told you that Mr. Gutt was buying information about the assembly room guests to aid Bauer’s assessments? During the demonstration upstairs I searched both Bauer’s and Gutt’s chambers. I found these in Gutt’s room.”
Confusion was quickly followed by shock. Had he really gone into their chambers, uninvited and without consent? “You did what?”
“I searched their chambers.”
The nonchalance with which he said the words stunned her. His actions were an invasion of privacy. As the hostess she was unsure how to react. “Why would you do that? We did not discuss it.”
He relaxed his stance and leaned against her worktable. “If wehaddiscussed it beforehand, would you have permitted it?”
“No. Of course not. I—”
“It needed to be done.”
Did he approach everything with such assumed authority? She faltered for words as she organized her thoughts. “How did you even get in the chambers? Weren’t they locked?”
“Mr. Gutt’s was not, but—” He fished in his pocket and retrieved a pin and held it up.
“You picked a lock?” Ella wasn’t sure if she was impressed or appalled. “I suppose there’s a great deal about what you do that I don’t understand.”
“You’ll catch on,” he teased. “This was not the only slip of paper. There was information on almost everyone here. I’m not sure how this is all going to come together yet, but this evidence is damning.”
“So what now?”
“We watch. We listen. Bauer’s behavior should tell us what we need to know.”
We.The word—the sense of belonging and togetherness, andthe idea of working together on something—warmed her. But she wasn’t sure she understood completely, so to mask her discomfort, she lifted the potted night-scented stock to return it to its usual spot.
“Allow me.” He reached to lift the pot from her hands. “Where shall I put it?”
She stepped aside to give him more room. “Here, I’ll show you.”
“May I ask you something?” he queried as he fell into step next to her.
“Of course.”
“When we’ve talked, you’ve seemed very concerned about what the members think about phrenology. Why?”
The question should be easy to answer. She’d answered it hundreds of times in her own head, but no one had ever asked her directly. “You’ve read the pamphlet and know what is in it, Mr. Rowe. When I was younger, all I wanted was to prove to everyone that the vile claims were false, but now that everyone is discussing the theory, I feel differently than I anticipated.”
