A frown played across his lips. “Business beckons.”
“Oh.” Madelina realized her hand still rested on his arm. She yanked it away. “I should return to my aunt.”
He nodded. “I would offer to escort you, but I’m meeting someone here.”
As had happened when he’d left the dance, his attention shifting from her opened a void. One that hadn’t existed before they met but which now seemed dreadful and deep. “Of course.”
He caught her hand and bowed over it. “I shall call tomorrow.”
She mustered a smile, taking refuge in banter. “And maybe I will receive you.”
His lips quirked in a fresh smile, but he released her. Madelina watched him walk away. The moment he moved from sight, she bent to one of the glass-encased ledgers, feigning great interest, and waited.
A veiled woman flittered past, a similarly cloaked companion trailing a few steps behind. Madelina permitted only a single quick glance, not wanting the women to feel observed. They crossed the room, continuing to the next as Mister Mclintock had.
The first of the two women must be who Mister Mclintock meant to meet. Her clothing exuded wealth and her bearing, superiority. A twinge of jealousy, along with the desire to gather information, welled in Madelina. She longed to follow, but the second woman kept looking back. Her veil might conceal her features but didn’t hide how diligently she worked to keep her mistress from being followed.
Madelina waited until both passed from sight into the next room. Steps slow, she strolled to another case, nearer the path they’d taken. Then another, until she reached the end of the room. She pretended interest in yet another moldering manuscript while listening hard. No voices could be heard. From what she’d seen of the building’s exterior, the next room would be the last in that wing. Had she any hope of entering it unseen, of getting near enough to Mister Mclintock to listen?
Adopting an unfocused, daydreamy expression, Madelina strode around the corner. Immediately, the second of the two women appeared before her. Past her, at the far side of the room, Mister Mclintock stood with the expensively dressed lady, their heads near and their backs to Madelina.
“Where are you going?” the veiled woman asked, voice pitched low.
Madelina blinked rapidly as if surprised to find she wasn’t alone. “To look in the cases?” she asked, deliberately making her words a timid question.
“This room is closed.”
Madelina frowned, radiating confusion to buy time. Would protesting gain her anything?
The other woman stepped closer, crowding Madelina back to the room’s entrance. “I said, this room is closed.”
With a toss of her curls, Madelina permitted the other woman to usher her away, aware she’d no hope of listening to Mister Mclintock’s conversation. She’d gain nothing by staying, save the embarrassment of him thinking she’d followed him out of some sort of jealousy.
Aggravation filled her as she retraced her steps to her aunt. For all her effort, she hadn’t learned anything new. Not about Mister Mclintock or the illegal trade of girls.
“Aubrey Saint Lawrence.” The stark fear ringing through those gasped words didn’t prevent Madelina from recognizing Miss White’s voice, coming from the next room.
Madelina stilled. What was Miss White doing here? Was she on her way to meet Mister Mclintock, after all, despite his earnest promises, or had she come to follow him, her spy unable to enter the museum for her?
“Clementine,” her aunt said, voice cold.
Madelina’s aunt and Miss White knew one another?
“Wh—what are you doing here?” Miss White’s voice trembled.
“I haven’t come to exact revenge for the ball you put in my hip, if that’s what you fear.”
Madelina pressed a hand to her mouth. Miss White was the one who’d ended Aunt Aubrey’s mysterious work for the crown?
A nervous laugh sounded.
Madelina edged farther down the hall. Sighting a larger-than-life statue of a half man, half aquatic life form set to one side of the room’s doorway, she slipped into the shadow it cast against the wall.
“You know she made me shoot you,” Miss White’s tone wheedled.
“Aye. You were nothing but Madam Dequenne’s instrument,” Aunt Aubrey said. “Though you made your choices, girl.”
Her aunt knew Madam Dequenne? As did Miss White? Why hadn’t Aunt Aubrey said anything when Madelina reported what she’d learned at the auction?
