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This letter is to advise you that, in accordance with your contract with Chatto & Windus, Publishers, we require you to appear at the book festival to be held at Atkinson & Tucker Booksellers. The date shall follow.
Yours truly,
Mr. Edmond Gordon, Editor
* * *
On Thursday evening, William arrived at the Atkinson & Tucker bookstore with his mother once more in tow. Hopefully she would not spend all her time chatting away with Amy, trying to push her toward the altar.
He had to admit that he’d gone from marriage is not for me to maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible with the right woman to Lady Amy is most likely the right woman to give up my bachelorhood for.
Although he’d eschewed marriage for a long time, he’d always known in the back of his mind that, being the only son, he had an obligation to produce the next Viscount Wethington. If he should die without issue, the title would pass to an obscure relative currently residing in the American states with some Indian tribe.
But when he decided to make that huge change in his life, it would be his decision to make, and his proposal to make, and her acceptance to give. Trying to keep his mother and her father out of it had become trying.
He was pleased to see Amy and Miss Gertrude conversing in the bookstore while they pretended to browse the shelves. He hurried his mother into the meeting room, not wanting her to see Amy and break up their conversation.
Several people had already arrived and were gathered in a circle. When he reached the gathering, Mr. Davidson introduced a friend, Mr. Christopher Rawlings, who was new to the club. With the O’Neill sisters, William’s mother, and now Davidson’s friend added to their numbers, the group was growing into quite a sizable crowd.
Eventually the two Misses O’Neill and Amy arrived from the bookstore. Mr. Colbert seemed to have to drag himself away from fawning all over Mother, who was blushing like a debutante. William shook his head in disgust.
The man eventually called the meeting to order. Once he had everyone’s attention, he began the discussion of their current read.
With all that William had been dealing with in trying to get his finances in order, he hadn’t spent much time reading his copy of “A Case of Identity,” another Sherlock Holmes story.
“Do you think it was wise of Holmes not to tell his client what he had discovered about her missing lover?” Mr. Colbert tossed out the first question.
Amy quickly related the plot of the book to William as the group began to share their opinions.
William spent his time studying the members of the club. Had any of them also been clients of Harding? How had Harding learned whatever it was he knew about Miss Gertrude that had made her willing to pay him to keep it quiet?
He needed to speak with Amy about the conversation she’d been having with the woman when he first arrived. Miss Gertrude did not look upset, leaving him to wonder if Amy had addressed the question of her being blackmailed at all. Assuredly there must be something lurid in the woman’s background for Harding to have been able to get money from her on a regular basis.
Once the story had been torn apart by the club members and put back together again, Mr. Colbert made one final announcement.
“Friends, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to announce that the date for the book fair here at Atkinson and Tucker will be Wednesday, the twenty-fifth of March, so please make your plans. Also, I have heard from Mr. Dobish, the manager of the store, that it has been confirmed that Mr. E. D. Burton will make an appearance at the book fair.” He glowed with happiness as he made this declaration.
William looked over at Amy, who looked back at him and shook her head furiously.
Right after that, the meeting broke up, and the members began to filter out of the room. “Since we have separate carriages, we won’t be able to exchange information.” Amy looked annoyed as she mumbled to him on their way out of the bookstore.
“ ’Twas your idea,” William said. “Although in all fairness, since my mother has decided to continue attending the book club meetings, we would not have been able to converse anyway.”
Amy and William stood apart from a small group, including his mother, who waited in front of the store for their carriages to be brought around, chatting away with Mr. Colbert.
William glared in their direction as he spoke to Amy. “I have come up with a plan to visit Harding’s home again. All I can tell you is be ready tomorrow night around midnight.”
“Midnight!”
“Shh.” William glanced over her shoulder, but her comment hadn’t garnered any interest. “Yes. It is not too far, but a large house, so it may take all night, but that’s our best chance of searching without running into the police again.”
“Very well. I probably won’t have trouble getting out. I can go down the back staircase and leave through the servants’ door. Papa has usually retired to his room by that time. But depending on how long it takes, it might be tricky for me to get back in when we return.”
“We’ll work something out. Just be ready.”
CHAPTER 16
Just as Amy stepped out of her room to head to the back staircase and meet William, Persephone began to bark. Amy sucked in a deep breath, closed the door, and turned back to the dog. Going down on one knee, she ran her hand over the animal’s soft fur. “Quiet, Persephone. You will wake everyone.”
