“I hoped you’d make good on your threats of stalking me.” His stare drifted over my ensemble. “Perhaps the style of your hair has had a positive effect on your brain. Beauty and function.”
I narrowed my eyes, tucking the fact he’d called me beautiful away for further inspection. “How did you know I was here?”
A devious smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Tell me something, Wadsworth. Why is it you wriggled in your seat when we were in your parlor, though your aunt was upstairs?” He moved closer, tentatively trailing a finger down my cheek. “Yet you follow me in the dead of night, with no hope of a chaperone to intervene should I try stealing a kiss?”
He focused on my lips, and I was petrified my breaths would snap the stays of my corset. In some ways, he looked as frightened as I felt, his attention flicking back up to gauge my reaction. He certainly wanted to kiss me. Of that I was positive. I couldn’t deny my wanting, traitorous heart, either.
“Didn’t your family warn you against sneaking around at night alone?” he asked. “Dangerous things linger in the dark.”
Now my heart thudded for an entirely new reason.
He leaned in, cupping my face gently before I regained my senses and swatted his hands away. If he wanted to kiss me, he’d have to come up with something a bit more romantic than an alley outside a funeral station. “What are you doing here?”
With great effort, he tore his gaze from mine and stepped back. “Securing a body for my personal laboratory. What else would I be doing—finding a nice girl to court in the Necropolis?”
I blinked. “Truly? You’re thieving a corpse and outright admitting it?”
“Who said I was thieving?” Thomas looked at me as if I were the mad one. “This corpse was unclaimed. I’ve permission to study unclaimed bodies and bring them back.”
I crossed my arms. “Which is why you’re sneaking about at night?”
Thomas jerked his chin toward the retreating carriage noise. “I’m here when Oliver’s shift ends.” He laughed at my confused expression. “Honestly, your imagination is fascinating, Wadsworth. Next you’ll be accusing me of the murders.”
I noticed his gaze drop to my lips and pursed them in response. “I’ve never heard of such an arrangement before.”
“While it’s quite intriguing being holed up in a dark, deserted alleyway with you, arguing about facts,” he said, “I have better uses of my time.” He paused, taking in my hurt expression. “Allow me to amend that statement. We have better uses of our time. However, if you prefer we can stay here. I enjoy loitering in darkened places with you fine enough.” I couldn’t help smiling. He was devilish. “Now then, are you coming? This one’s nice and fresh.”
He rubbed his hands together, hardly able to contain his dark glee. If I were a good girl I’d go home and pretend I had no inkling of what Thomas was up to. I’d climb into my bed and attend breakfast with my aunt and cousin. We’d discuss the circus and plan another tea while stitching seams and napkins for our future husbands. But I wasn’t like my cousin or aunt. I was not wicked, simply curious.
I wanted to study the body as much as Thomas did, even if the acts of human dissection and going home with a boy damned me to a wretched death in society.
Half an hour later we were outside his flat, paying the man who’d delivered the cadaver. He glared at me before pocketing the money. His eyes were two black holes, void of human emotion. It took my entire concentration, but I managed to hold in my shudder. Thomas motioned me inside, then shut the door. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but a simple foyer and a staircase leading to a flat upstairs wasn’t it.
“Cozy,” I said. A small table was set with a tray of biscuits that smelled as if they’d been freshly baked and laid out within the hour.
Thomas nodded toward the food. “Help yourself. Mrs. Harvey can be quite insufferable when her treats get stale overnight.”
I wasn’t hungry, but didn’t want to offend this mysterious biscuit-making woman he kept hidden God only knew where.
We reached the door to his flat and Thomas hesitated only slightly before pushing it open. Inside, papers and journals were scattered about in haphazard piles, towering three feet high. Taxidermy animals lined the shelves around the room, and scientific tools were lying about in disarray.
A strong scent of laboratory chemicals lingered in the air. In the far corner stood a portable table with the fresh cadaver on it.
I was momentarily speechless. Not because of the body, but because of the room itself. How Thomas found anything in this mess was another mystery to figure out. I was getting used to expecting the unexpected when it came to him, but this still managed to pry a bit of shock from me. His person was so neat and clean, and this… this was not.
“Where are your parents?” I asked, noticing a photograph of a pretty dark-haired girl on a shelf. A fist clenched in my chest. Was Thomas promised to someone else? His family was titled and an early betrothal wasn’t out of the ordinary. I didn’t care for that thought one bit. I motioned toward the picture. “She’s lovely.”
He turned his back on me and walked toward it.
“She is quite lovely,” he said, picking up the photograph. “Enchanting, really. Those eyes, and perfectly proportioned features. Comes from a magnificent family, too.” He sighed happily. “I love her with all my heart.”
He was in love. How exceptionally wonderful for him. I wished them both a lifetime of misery with ill-mannered children. I swallowed my annoyance down and plastered on a smile. “I hope you’ll both be very happy together.”
Thomas whipped his head around. “Pardon? You…” He studied the set of my jaw and forced indifference of my features. The scoundrel had the audacity to laugh. “She’s lovely because she’s my sister, Audrey Rose. I’m referring to the superior genes we have in common. My heart belongs only to you.”
I blinked. “You have a sister?”
“I assume you haven’t come here to ask questions about my personal life, or tell me about the circus you attended with your brother this evening.” He glanced in my direction, his grin spreading. “Much to my dismay you’ve not come here for a clandestine tryst, either.”