“Of course he didn’t do it!” I said, and added, when I realized what I’d just admitted, “And how do you know that’s what I was doing? You can’t possibly know that!”
“If I didn’t before, I do now,” Crispin said coolly. “But actually I did know. Remember when you and Kit were alone in the study earlier, after Francis had left to take Kit’s boyfriend and the doctor into the maze?”
“I don’t think he’s Christopher’s boyfriend,” I said, “and I think it would be a very good idea if you didn’t use that word.” About either of them, actually. “I think he’s just an old friend from Eton who happened to know about the raid on Friday night, and who made sure…”
Crispin’s eyebrows rose, and I caught myself before I volunteered any more information he didn’t already know. “Never mind. We were alone in the study. You said so yourself. How would you know what we were talking about?” Or that Francis had taken Tom Gardiner and the surgeon into the maze?
He smirked. “You know what’s in the corner of the study, don’t you?”
Of course I did. “The secret staircase. Eavesdropping again, St George?”
“One learns such fascinating things,” Crispin drawled. “Although that wasn’t the gist of what I was trying to do. I was just coming down to join you. I took the staircase because I thought it would be faster. But then, when I heard you talking…”
He trailed off.
“What did you hear?”
The smirk widened. “Oh, all sorts of things. Like the fact that Kit’s on a first-name basis with Detective Sergeant Thomas Gardiner, and that Grimsby was blackmailing him over it.”
“That’s not—”
“Of course not, Darling. I’m sure what Grimsby was holding over Kit’s head was the whole gown-and-wig thing that I happened to see when I was in London Friday evening.”
That had, in fact, been exactly what Grimsby had been holding over Christopher’s head, and I absolutely hated the fact that Crispin knew it.
“What do you want?” I asked flatly. “Why are you telling me this, and how much would it cost for you to keep your mouth shut?”
The smirk turned into a grin. “More than you could afford, Darling. However, I wouldn’t expect you to pay anything at all. That would be blackmail, wouldn’t it, and we both know what happens to blackmailers.”
The implication was clear, and I fought back a chill that threatened to creep down my spine like a cold drop of rain. Yes, we did both know what happened to blackmailers. Unlike Christopher, who had missed that pleasure, Crispin and I had both seen the results of blackmail up close and personally this morning.
“What is it you want, then? Why tell me, if you don’t want something from me?”
“Who said I don’t want something from you?” Crispin retorted, and I had to physically clench my hand into a fist to keep from slapping the annoying expression off his face.
“You know, St George, you are without a doubt the most frustrating person on the face of the earth.”
“Thank you, Darling,” Crispin said.
“That wasn’t a compliment. So what is it you want me to do in this friendly exchange of favors?”
“I want you to forget every single word you heard my father say to me yesterday afternoon,” Crispin said. “And any words you may have heard me say to him.”
“So the whole conversation.”
“That’s correct. Whatever part of it you heard while you were lurking in the hallway outside my door yesterday, I want you to forget it.”
I smirked. “You’re a fine one to talk about eavesdropping, you know. It’s not so enjoyable when it happens to you, is it?”
“That’s different,” Crispin said.
“Oh, is it really? Because it’s you, I suppose?”
He didn’t answer, and I added, “It’s easier said than done, you know. It’s not like I can actually unhear what I know I heard.”
“You can put it out of your mind,” Crispin said. “And if you know what’s good for you, you will.”
I stuck my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. “Are you threatening me, St George?”
