Whipping off the hat a second later, she flipped it over, fumbled a little with the tab because Charles was almost beside her, pulled up the compartment, grabbed the derringer, and—
A sharp blast was the first indication that something had gone horribly amiss, followed by bits of hat spewing into the air. The sound of something shattering then echoed about the room even as Camilla, Charles, and Gideon dove for the ground.
Seventeen
“I must apologize once again for murdering your oriental vase,” Adelaide said, taking hold of Gideon’s arm and pulling him to a stop in the middle of the training field he and other members of the accounting firm used to hone their skills. “I promise I’ll replace it for you, although...” She hesitated. “The vase seemed rather old, but give me time and I’m sure I’ll be able to find a suitable alternative for you to store your canes in.”
Gideon drew in a deep breath, which didn’t do a thing to dampen the temper that had been roiling through him ever since Adelaide had accidently fired the derringer two hours prior. He forced himself to meet her gaze. “You don’t need to apologize, Adelaide. It was only a vase, and besides, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Since I’m the one who discharged the derringer, it was, without a doubt, my fault.”
“Not when I’m the idiot who didn’t check it to ascertain the hammer wasn’t cocked. Derringers don’t have a trigger guard on them, which means they’ve been known to fire when the trigger is barely touched.”
Adelaide frowned. “Perhaps I flicked the hammer when I reached my hand into the hat.”
“It’s more likely the derringer shifted at some point, the cushioning pressing against it leaving it armed and ready to fire.”
“That’s hardly your fault.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “It was my responsibility to make sure it was safe for you to handle. I failed in that regard, especially when I didn’t even bother to make sure it wasn’t loaded before encouraging you to try it out. For that, you havemysincerest apologies. We’re fortunate you only shattered a vase. It could have been far worse.”
“Is that why you’re so angry? I’ve been worried you’re furious with me for making a muddle of things yet again.”
His stomach gave a curious lurch. Setting down the satchel filled with an assortment of weapons he’d brought from his apartment, Gideon took hold of Adelaide’s hand. “I’m sorry if I’ve given you the impression I’m angry with you. I’m not. All the anger I’m experiencing right now is self-induced. I placed you, along with Camilla and Charles, in jeopardy because I wasn’t diligent with taking expected safety precautions. The whole point of providing you with a weapon is to ensure your safety. Instead, I was careless. That could have cost you or the others your lives.”
Adelaide bit her lip. “I think you’re being a little too hard on yourself.”
“Placing an armed pistol into the hands of a novice was an inexcusable error on my part.”
She gave his arm a pat. “But it was an error that’s completely understandable because I’m sure I was distracting you from your normal safety precautions because of all the questions I was asking you about your different gadgets.”
It took a great deal of effort to not contradict her and tell her that he hadn’t been distracted because of her questions—he’d been distracted simply because she’d been near him.
Adelaide’s enthusiasm had been contagious, which was why, instead of locating the derringer and getting on their way, he’dtaken the time to unveil piece after piece of his extensive collection, enjoying the way her eyes lit up with every new gadget.
He could have spent hours revealing all of his treasures to her but hadn’t because he’d caught Camilla watching him with something interesting in her eyes, something that resembled speculation.
It wasn’t much of a stretch, given that Camilla was a former matchmaker, to conclude that her speculation would most assuredly lead to a decision on her part to help him find that spark she’d mentioned not all that long ago. And while he couldn’t deny, if he were honest with himself, that he felt something that might be a spark for Adelaide, he couldn’t very well fan the flame, so to speak, because dragging Adelaide into his dangerous lifestyle was a certain recipe for disaster.
“Now there’s a worthy distraction if there ever was one,” Adelaide said, pulling him from his thoughts before he turned and couldn’t help but smile at the sight that met his eyes.
Moe, with Harvey clinging to his back, was loping across the field beside Charles and Camilla, Edna having decided after the derringer debacle that she’d had quite enough excitement for the day and had asked to be delivered back to the Pierpont mansion.
“I think you may have a time of it convincing your dog to give up Harvey, Gideon,” Charles said once he reached them. “Moe seems rather attached to the little fur ball.”
“I’ve noticed,” Gideon said, bending over to give Moe, and then Harvey, a pat once they came to a stop beside him. He straightened and turned to Adelaide. “I suppose it’s only fair, since I’m responsible for placing you in a precarious position today, to offer Harvey a permanent home to make up for my serious lack in judgment—not that I think I have a choice in the matter now since Moe seems incredibly attached to Harvey already.”
Adelaide beamed a smile at him, which left him feeling unusually off-kilter. “You’re going to keep him?”
“It appears so, but...” He narrowed his eyes on her. “Do not think for a second that you’ll get another cat into my house. One is all I’m willing to take on.”
“Unless Moe decides differently,” Camilla muttered as she stopped beside him, lifting up the collar of her overcoat when a gust of wind blew up. “And not that I want to point out the obvious, but we should probably get on with the how-to-handle-a-pistol lesson since it feels as if it wants to snow.”
“Indeed,” Gideon agreed, grabbing the satchel and heading across the field, a line of targets set up twenty-five feet away from where he was standing. He set the bag on the ground as Charles did the same with the satchel he’d brought, both of them emptying the contents, although Gideon’s bag contained different guns, such as a Colt Pocket 49 revolver, and a few varieties of pistols that weren’t overly heavy and could fit in Adelaide’s reticule, but ones that were equipped with trigger guards, which would make them safer for her to handle.
Charles, on the other hand, had brought the Assassin’s Creed, a flintlock two-shot revolver, and a very unusual gadget—a grappling hook that shot out of a pistol, something Adelaide was already eyeing with far too much interest.
“Don’t even think about it,” he told her, earning a sigh from Adelaide in return.
