Drake smiled at them before saying, “I think it is fair to say that Mr Cassiel is a fraud, a very clever fraud. The question remains how he knew that was your mother’s preferred scent? Did you mention it to anyone?”
“No.” Ava paused. “I may have mentioned it at one of our meetings.”
“Miss Kendall meets with friends at my mother’s house every Friday,” Valentine informed.
Silence descended.
“Now I am rather glad Mr Cassiel did not come to visit me in the study,” Juliet said.
“He did not visit me, either.” Drake’s voice brimmed with tenderness. “But we do not need to hear of the past. All that matters is the present.”
Juliet smiled at him again, in the intimate way that made Valentine feel as if they were intruding.
Dariell sighed. “Drake is right. And yet Miss Kendall faces a situation that stems from the past but is very much active in the present. I am afraid to say she will have no peace until we discover what Cassiel wants.”
“I shall visit him tomorrow.” Valentine would relish another opportunity to punch the rogue.
“And I shall accompany you.” Drake seemed equally eager to flex his fists.
Ava shuffled in the seat to face Valentine. “But I have no idea where he lives.”
There was a moment’s silence.
“What do you mean? You sent a letter asking Cassiel to attend the dinner party, and he replied.” Valentine saw Ava give the boy the note but had not enquired as to the mystic’s address. “You contacted him and made the arrangements for him to come to my mother’s gathering.”
“Well, yes, though I did not contact him directly.”
Valentine frowned.
“Miss Faversham recommended him but was too nervous to suggest it to the group. She found the advertisement in the newspaper. Regarding the party tonight, I sent Miss Faversham a note asking Mr Cassiel to attend.”
“Then you have never met Mr Cassiel before that first night?”
“No. Miss Faversham booked the appointment on our behalf.”
Chapter Sixteen
“We must call on Miss Faversham as a matter of urgency.” Valentine sat back in the carriage seat and cursed under his breath. Ever since his conversation with Cassiel, he could not shake the sense of agitation writhing beneath his skin. “The lady’s timidity is a perfect mask for her deception.”
Ava cast him a disapproving look. “We do not know that Miss Faversham has deceived us. You have condemned her before hearing what she has to say.”
Valentine snorted. “Miss Faversham set up the initial meeting with Cassiel.” His tone was blunt, sharp enough to take the bristles off his chin in one clean sweep. “The girl is afraid of her own shadow, and yet she agreed to contact a strange man who delves into the black arts. The evidence speaks for itself.”
They had conspired to steal his mother’s ruby, had entered Ava’s house looking for other items of value.
A heavy tension filled the air.
Ava lifted her chin. “And I encouraged her to find her voice, to find the strength needed to survive as a woman on her own.”
“She won’t be a woman on her own,” he snapped. “The major will find her a suitable husband, and she will have no choice but to marry.”
“How noble of him,” Ava mocked. “Of course, I could always invite Miss Faversham to live with me.”
Agitation grew to irritation.
It crossed his mind to inform her that, as her husband, he would not have Miss Faversham living in their house, but the need to calm his temper forced him to say, “If that is what you want.”
Ava stared at him. Water filled her eyes. She turned to watch the dark shadows whipping past the window.