“You said Manette knew some fancy coves.”
“She was a favorite, she was. The gents liked ’er since she was pretty and clever.” Alice arched a brow. “Why, before all this she used to work as a governess—but the masters, she said, they all ’ad wandering ’ands.Why give it away for a governess’ wages, when you could make ’em pay properly for what they’re getting?Manette always said. ’Ad brains, that one.”
“Do you know the names of the gentlemen she kept company with?”
Alice shook her head, her fat brown curls flopping beneath her cap. “Manette kept as quiet as a clam about ’er affairs. Discretion, she said, is the difference between us an’ the common run whores. Gor, she ’ad class, make no mistake about it. Makes sense that she’d land ’erself a nob.”
Gabriel stilled. “What nob?”
“Don’t know ’is name—like I said, Manette knew ’ow to keep her gob shut. But one night, she and I got a bit top ’eavy, and she said she’d got ’er ticket to a better place. Some toff ’ad given it to ’er. Thought it was the bottle talking, but sure enough, a fortnight later she was gone. Gor, by now she could be a Lady-So-And-So,” Alice enthused.
Gabriel did not share the other’s optimism. “You can recall nothing else she said about this man?” he said tersely.
“No, sir. I’ve said all I know.”
Gabriel handed over the rest of the money. “Thank you for your time.”
“Are you certain I can’t ’elp you with anything else?” Alice said coquettishly.
“That is all,” he said firmly.
“Well, you know where I am if you change your mind.” She gave a good-natured pout, sashaying back into the building.
The door closed behind her. Gabriel remained, his thoughts racing.
Was Heath the nob Manette/Marie had met? Had he been the one to hire the Frenchwoman, not for carnal purposes as Alice believed, but to spy and kidnap? Gabriel’s gut told him that the governess was somehow the key to everything. He would go next to the Tickle and Fancy and see if anyone there knew Manette’s whereabouts or could identify Heath as one of her customers.
The door to the adjacent building swung open. A sandy-haired man emerged, and as he turned, shock spread like frost through Gabriel. He stood, frozen, as the vision closed the distance between them.
The familiar face bore a wry smile. “Hello, Trajan.”
“Marius?” Gabriel whispered.
Quick as lightning, the other moved. Even as Gabriel’s arm came up instinctively, he knew it was too late. Powder wound into his nostrils and lungs, choking, inescapable. He staggered backward, away from the ghost, and this time he was the one to tumble into oblivion.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The world came into focus.
Gabriel’s mind analyzed his situation even as he remained perfectly still.
Windowless room. Lying on a bed, hands and legs manacled. Don’t let him know you’re awake. Marius. My brother—my enemy.
“Welcome back, Gabriel.”
Devil take it. Slowly, he sat up, the chains between his wrists rattling. Marius emerged from the shadows, and Gabriel’s gut twisted as he beheld the face that had haunted him for so many years. Time had been kind to the bastard. A few more lines in the tanned skin, grey sprinkled in with the short brown hair. The keen blue eyes were the same. Sharp as a blade.
The kind one found in one’s back, apparently.
“How?” Gabriel bit out. “Why?”
Marius smiled. “With two words, you open a universe of questions, my friend.”
“I’m not your friend.”
“And I am not your enemy.”
“Prove it,” Gabriel said calmly as he seethed on the inside. “Unchain me and then we’ll have a discussion about friendship.”
