“Mad as a hatter.”
Eunice drew herself up. “I most certainly am not.”
Dr. Franklin ignored her as he took the paper Nurse Grady was holding out to him, set it on top of his desk, and scribbled something on it. He turned to Eunice. “You’ve now been officially committed to Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum.”
“And the reason for that?”
He exchanged an amused look with Nurse Grady. “Further proof the poor thing is delusional.” He caught Eunice’s eye. “You’re insane, my dear. Your fits of acute melancholy and female hysteria have damaged your mind to where I’m afraid there’s little hope you’ll ever recover.”
“I don’t feel at all melancholy at the moment, nor am I displaying any symptoms of female hysteria,” she couldn’t resist pointing out.
Dr. Franklin’s brows drew together, but instead of responding to what was clearly a rational statement, he sent Nurse Grady a jerk of his head. “See that she gets taken immediately to one of our private rooms. I fear she’s soon to suffer from a hysterical fit, given her obstinate attitude, which may pose a danger to the other inmates. I’m not yet convinced she belongs in the Lodge, but time will tell. Hopefully, spending the rest of today and tonight alone will see her in an improved state, her hysteria aided by a day of complete quiet. You may include her with the general population tomorrow.”
“A well-thought-out decision on your part, Dr. Franklin.” Nurse Grady stepped next to Eunice and took hold of her arm in a grip that was so tight there was little doubtEunice’sarm would soon be sporting another bruise, one to match the bruise from the pinch. After sending Dr. Franklin a smile, Nurse Grady dragged Eunice out of the room, down a hallway, up several flights of stairs, finally stopping in front of a door that had number 28 stamped on it.
“You’ll be staying here,” Nurse Grady said, pulling out a ring filled with keys from a chain around her waist and opening the door. She shoved Eunice into the room. “You’ll not be served dinner, which will hopefully go far in seeing you stifle your ridiculous questions and observations from this point forward. If you refuse to do so, I assure you that you’ll find yourself at the Lodge come tomorrow. Believe me, you won’t enjoy a stay there, especially not when that lovely hair of yours will need to be shorn off to spare it being pulled out by some of our more violent inmates.”
Thirty seconds later, the door slammed shut, leaving Eunice all alone and wondering, not for the first time, if Ivan had the right of it and she didn’t have the experience needed to maneuver her way through a case that was in no way, shape, or form anything like she’d been expecting.
CHAPTER
Nine
“I see you’re still in a morose frame of mind, although I’m not surprised, given that you managed to get yourself tossed out on your ear from an inquiry agency that doesn’t enjoy a reputation for abusing potential clients in such an amusing manner.”
Refusing a sigh, Arthur turned toward the library door and watched as his younger brother Chase bounded into the room, the cheerful smile on his face doing nothing to banish the morose frame of mind Arthur was actually in at the moment.
Chase, the baby of the family at twenty-three, was possessed of an unusually sunny disposition, which meant he was brimming with good cheer more often than not. That trait was decidedly annoying when the person being subjected to all that good cheer was perfectly content to descend into bouts of moroseness every now and again.
“I didn’t get tossed out of the agency, merely shown the door in a forceful fashion,” Arthur said as Chase settled himself into a chair.
“You told me Eunice Holbrooke brandished a pistol at you two days ago, propelled you out of the agency, then slammed the door in your face. If that’s not being tossed out on your ear, I don’t know what is.”
“She overreacted.”
Chase laughed. “You may keep telling yourself that, brother, but considering you told her that you were going to marry Eugenia Howland for that lady’s own good, I think her reaction was warranted.” He shook his head. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking it was best to be truthful, and there’s nothing untruthful about it being in Eugenia’s best interest to marry me.”
“I imagine Eugenia might have something to say about that. From what you’ve said about the time you spent with her, I got the impression the two of you shared an acrimonious relationship. Acrimonious isn’t exactly a state most women long to pursue, especially when it pertains to marriage.”
“Eugenia is practical to a fault. If, or rather, when I find her, I assure you, she’ll agree with my decision because she’ll need a strong man by her side to help her reclaim her inheritance. Her relatives are determined to see that inheritance divided between them, and they’re not going to take kindly to Eugenia depriving them of millions.”
“Your presence would assuredly come in handy, but marrying her seems a little over the top.” Chase shook his head. “You’ve been a consultant for the Mason estate ever since James Mason died. If you ask me, taking on that consulting position was acting in Eugenia’s best interests while she’s been gone. I would think the most logical path forward would be for you to continue in a consulting capacity, which will spare you marriage to a woman I’ve never gotten the impression you like.”
“I never said I disliked Eugenia.”
“You told me the two of you argued all the time.”
“True, but that’s mostly because I might have, or actually did, go out of my way to provoke her.”
Chase crossed one ankle over the other. “That seems quite unlike you. The brother I know has always been solicitous to the feminine set and wouldn’t try to provoke anyone on purpose. Why did you do that?”
“Because James Mason made it clear that he was anxious to seea union between me and his granddaughter. From the moment I caught my first glimpse of Eugenia, I knew that a union between us wasn’t going to be possible.”
“You knew that from a first glimpse?”
“She was a disaster, covered in mud after having taken her beast of a stallion out during a storm. She’d apparently allowed her stallion his head, or perhaps he did that all on his own, which was why she was drenched after barreling over a field that was inches deep in water.” Arthur frowned. “Come to think of it, though, the mud might have come about because her horse threw her after jumping a hedge. She was a little sketchy about the details.”
