“I’m not keeping Harvey.”
She gave an airy wave of her hand. “I’m not suggesting you should, although it might be nice for Moe if you’d allow Harvey to stay here temporarily. That way he’d get to develop a closer friendship with Harvey, and I’d get an opportunity to spend time with my other cats, who’ve been slightly neglected since I’ve been hauling Harvey around with me everywhere, hoping his adorability will have someone longing to give him a special home.”
“You seem to be using different versions of the wordadorablea lot, but even though I’ll admit that Harvey possesses a certain charm, I’m not that someone longing to give him a special home.”
Edna stepped up beside Gideon and gave his arm a pat. “You keep telling yourself that, dear, but I’m afraid you’re doomed to become a kitten father.” She turned to Louis. “I know it was mentioned we wouldn’t be here long, but could Ipossibly prevail upon you for a restorative cup of tea? I fear, what with all the excitement of thinking Harvey was about to be devoured, my nerves are all aflutter.”
“It’ll be no trouble at all,” Louis assured her. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll see you settled in the parlor.” With that, and after assuring everyone he’d make enough tea for all, Louis escorted Edna down the hallway, Moe and Harvey scrambling after them a second later.
“Louis is notorious for sneaking Moe treats,” Gideon said as Louis disappeared from sight. “I’m sure he’s about to indulge Harvey as well.”
“Which will leave Harvey incredibly reluctant to leave,” Adelaide said.
“I’m not keeping Harvey,” Gideon reiterated before he took hold of Adelaide’s arm and drew her down the hallway, Camilla and Charles, who’d been lingering in the entranceway, trailing behind them.
After passing a suit of armor that Gideon told her he’d found in a crumbling old castle in Scotland, they stepped into a living room that held a fireplace with a tiled hearth, brass fixtures, and a carved mirror with a gilded frame hanging over the mantel. Displayed beside the fireplace was what appeared to be a samurai battle costume, complete with sword and helmet, an artifact that left Adelaide wondering where in the world Gideon had found such a treasure. Before she could ask, Gideon was steering her toward another door, barely giving Adelaide time to appreciate the décor of the living room, which was done up in muted shades of brown, peach, and ivory. Splashes of color on numerous embroidered pillows added a lovely touch of warmth to the room.
“Did you embroider those?” she asked, earning a nod from Gideon before they left the living room behind and moved through a dining room that had crown molding on surprisingly high ceilings and a mahogany table polished to a high sheencentered underneath a beautiful chandelier. Twelve matching chairs upholstered in red velvet surrounded the table, while fresh flowers set into Tiffany vases lent the room a dignified air.
After the dining room, they strode through what Gideon said was a second living room that seemed straight out of the pages of an architectural magazine, what with its Italian furniture, abstract oil paintings on the walls, and an Aubusson rug gracing the floor.
They soon left that room behind, walking down another hallway that led to a library. Stepping into the room, Adelaide found herself immersed in the most delicious scent of leather and paper, but before she could truly appreciate her surroundings, Gideon moved to one of the bookcases, withdrew a few books, stuck his hand into the space where the books had been, then sent her a wink when the bookcase swung open, revealing a room behind it.
She drew in a sharp breath. “You have a secret lair?”
“Given my occupation, are you really surprised?” he asked, gesturing her forward as he turned on the lights.
Her mouth had no choice but to drop open when she stepped into the room because ... it was a room anyone who held a proclivity for matters of intrigue would adore.
A cache of weapons was mounted on the walls, from guns she’d never seen before to swords with gleaming blades as well as sabers that looked deadly. One wall held an ornate cabinet with large drawers, and her fingers itched to pull every drawer open. A pocket watch lying on a table drew her attention, and unable to help herself, she picked it up, frowning a second later.
“Is there a reason this is so heavy?” she asked.
“It’s a camera disguised as a watch,” Gideon explained. “It’s a protype Samuel Montague, an engineer who works for us, is tinkering with.”
“May I open it?” Adelaide asked.
“Of course.”
Adelaide flipped open the latch and unfolded what looked like a telescope. “This is genius, but doesn’t anyone get suspicious since you must have to keep it pointed at a target for an extended period of time?”
“It uses gelatin dry plates that don’t need long exposures. Feel free to take it with you and try it out today if you’d like.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“Since it’s a camera and you can only shoot pictures with it, which poses relatively little danger to you or anyone else in your vicinity, certainly.”
“And wasn’t that a wonderful way to dim my excitement about the matter?” she muttered, earning a laugh from Gideon in return.
“I’m sure your enthusiasm will return after you get a peep at the rest of my collection,” he said, drawing her over to the cabinet, where he began pulling out various items, barely allowing her to ooh and ahh over them before he moved on to the next.
Different cameras hidden in small bags were pulled from one drawer, then elaborate rings that could hold sleeping draughts or poisons from another, one of which got stuck on her finger when she tried it on.
“We might need some soap to get this off me,” she said, giving it another tug and wincing when it wouldn’t budge.
Gideon smiled. “Or you can just keep it. I have a few of those.”
Pleased beyond measure to be the proud owner of a ring that might have once held a sleeping draught or even some vile manner of poison that had, hopefully, only made an intended victim sick instead of dead, Adelaide took a moment to admire her new possession, abandoning that admiration when Gideon pulled out what looked to be razor-sharp discs shaped in the form of stars.
