“So will we all,” Gabriel’s father said. “Then we will find Lester Flume.”
Jeremy and Alcroft nodded, and it was done. The date was set.
The other men had left not ten minutes past, Gabriel speaking to each one individually and alone before they left, while Marietta gathered papers. He hadn’t stopped shifting and tapping at the kitchen table since, all the papers still spewed across the top in a disorganized fashion. He looked up. “I need to go to the Dentry estate.”
“What, now? I thought you said we were going tomorrow?” she asked.
“We will. But I need to go now.”
She was quiet for a second. “You think there will be an attempt made today? That we can’t wait for tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. “I’m coming with you.”
He shook his head. “Aside from the danger, if Lady Dentry sees you, she’ll make it her mission to destroy you.”
“Why?”
He looked away. “She just will.”
“I will deal with it. I’m coming.” She laughed lightly. “You can’t get rid of me so easily now.” She just hoped that was true.
Not twenty minutes later they were inside Gabriel’s carriage and leaving London proper.
Marietta shivered. She remembered a poem she had read just last year. She was finally going to meet the wicked witch.
Chapter 21
Upon arrival, they were immediately shown into a spacious library. Gabriel barely needed to present a card. Glittering panes of glass encased one side of the room, while books rimmed the others. Display cases and stands with curios dotted the space.
An icy blonde stepped forward to greet them. Marietta had seen her before at ton functions but never spoken with her. Lady Dentry was far above her socially and had reveled in staying apart from the other women in the ton, standing in her own space, putting her beauty on display at each event. Removed—an icy diamond separated from the paste.
Her gaze swept Marietta and dismissed her. Then immediately connected back. To Gabriel’s hand at her waist, to Gabriel. Wintry eyes narrowed on Marietta, and she suddenly understood Gabriel’s warning.
“I’ve never seen you so protective, Gabriel. This little sparrow deserves more of my attention.”
“You grow duller in your waning years, Lady Dentry, if you think that I will let you touch Miss Winters.”
An unexpected tingle swept through her at his tone.
Lady Dentry smiled. It was a pleasant smile, all the more chilling for the complete insincerity behind it.
“Come. Have some tea and biscuits.” She swept a hand toward the service on the table.
Marietta perched on a chair after Lady Dentry was seated and thought of the lesson of Persephone, never to eat at the dark table.
Lady Dentry smirked and sipped her tea. “Today is the day, is it, Gabriel? That I will be cruelly murdered? You, my white knight come to save me.”
Gabriel was as tense as he had been from the first. Marietta wished she could squeeze him, hug him, doanythingfor him. She squeezed her hands in her lap instead.
“If the knight suddenly decided to save the dragon, I suppose your statement would be true.”
Lady Dentry laughed, a light, breezy laugh. “Of course, dear Gabriel, of course.” Her eyes watched him, pleased. “But you are here. You returned.”
He tapped a finger on his chair’s arm. “You would see it that way. At this point I find myself disinterested in playing.”
Lady Dentry’s eyes turned chilling. She switched her gaze to Marietta. “You must tell me about yourself, dear.”
