Another spin, another turn. “You dance exceedingly well,” replied Wrexford.
Charlotte wasn’t at all sure how her feet were moving so effortlessly across the floor. “That’s because I’m with you.” She made a wry face. “With a stranger, I’ll probably be so nervous that I’ll trip on my skirts and fall flat on my . . . derriere.”
“So promise me the first dance.”
“But—”
“Clearly, it’s the logical solution,” he reasoned. “I’ll make rude remarks about the other guests, and in raking me over the coals for my cynicism, you’ll forget about letting your nerves tie you in knots.”
She smiled. “I may always count on you for a rational solution to any problem.”
A glint of amusement lit in his eyes. “Unlike you, I have no imagination.” Drawing her a touch closer, Wrexford twirled through another figure of the dance. “So my mind must plod along in a straight line.”
Feeling a bit breathless, Charlotte needed a moment to still her thudding heart. “Straight lines are boring. And you, sir, are never boring.”
That drew a chuckle. “I can guess what adjective you would find most fitting.”
She let a moment dance by, savoring the feel of his body moving in harmony with hers. “I doubt it.”
“Oh?” He raised his brows. “Nonetheless, I shall try. Let’s start withaggravating?Annoying? Arrogant—”
“Are you going in alphabetical order? Or—”
Charlotte stopped short, all at once aware that the music had ceased. Looking around, she saw Tyler and McClellan were watching them with bemusement, while Raven and Hawk were trying to hold back their chortles.
“It appears that Lady Charlotte has mastered the waltz’s footwork,” said the valet after clearing his throat with a cough. “I see no need for further practice this evening.”
“Aye,” agreed McClellan. “Shall we retire to the kitchen for some refreshments?”
“Jam tarts?” said both boys in hopeful unison.
“Perhaps.” A pause. “There may even be a package of Cook’s ginger biscuits to take home.”
As the pelter of footsteps echoed down the corridor, Wrexford waved for McClellan and Tyler to follow the boys. “You go on. I need to have a word with Lady Charlotte.”
So she hadn’t been wrong about his troubled mien when first he had entered the room. “What have you discovered?” she demanded, though her insides clenched in fear at what the answer would be.
His expression turned bleak. “Nothing good.”
“Nicky—”
“Locke is fine, though a date for the trial has been set.” The earl frowned. “And it’s even sooner than I expected.”
“Dear God. That means . . .” Charlotte looked away to the far windows, where shadows dipped and darted through the midnight gloom. “That means we haven’t much time to prove him innocent.”
Wrexford took her arm. “Come, sit.”
Ye gods.That didn’t bode well.
“H-Has there been another murder?”
A low rumble seemed to catch in his throat. “In a sense.”
“Wrexford!” Now she was truly alarmed. “You’re speaking in riddles.”
The earl took a seat on the sofa and drew her down besidehim before he responded. “That’s because I’m having trouble making any rational assessment of it.” Leaning back, he ran a hand through his hair. “The only creature to lose its life was a rat—at least I am guessing it was a rat . . .”
Charlotte listened in growing horror as he went on to describe the macabre discovery in Thornton’s laboratory, and his subsequent conversation with Henning about Galvani and Aldini.
