Part 33 (1/2)
Evelyn stared at her friend. ”How did you-”
”When did you-”
”Just now.” She nodded toward the desk, ”My notes to Sir are in his desk. When did you-”
”Last night,” Celeste said, ”I overheard Lord W and Max. I came to the masquerade to find Max because Davies reported your abduction. An abduction orchestrated by Max and your husband.”
”Ah-ha!” Evelyn scoffed. ”It's no wonder the men who took me seemed so professional. They obviously worked for the department. My only question is why?”
”It's my understanding that Lord W had decided it was time for Sir and Eve to meet in person.”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes. ”Oh, he had, had he?”
”This part is a bit confusing but apparently Max thought kidnapping was the plan while Lord W thought Sir would simply meet you at the masquerade.” Celeste shook her head. ”I'm not entirely clear on how it was all supposed to work, but then Max didn't seem very clear about it all either.”
”And yet I find it very clear.”
”Do you?” Caution sounded in Celeste's voice.
”Oh yes.” A grim note sounded in her voice. ”Last night's was not the only masquerade.”
”Evelyn-”
” 'No price is to high for you, my love.' ” She paced the room. ”That's what he said. 'I would have no life without you,' he said. 'If anything had happened to you,' he said.” She resisted the urge to clench her fists and scream. ”Apparently the greatest danger I was in was from a head cold as result of wet feet!”
Celeste studied her. ”What are you going to do?”
”I don't know.” Evelyn thought for a moment. ”But it should be something appropriate. Something involving, oh, I don't know, deception?”
”You could simply be honest with him and tell him you know the truth,” Celeste said slowly.
”Yes, because he is so adept at honesty himself,” she snapped. ”Oh, no. Honesty is entirely too easy for Lord Waterston. Or Sir, for that matter. Besides he has forfeited the right to honesty from me.” She glanced at the other woman. ”Will Max tell him you know the truth?”
Celeste shook her head. ”Absolutely not.”
”Are you sure?”
”There's not a doubt in my mind.”
Evelyn studied her closely. ”There's something else, isn't there? What else have you not told me?”
”Nothing of importance.” She rolled her gaze toward the ceiling and sighed. ”I am seriously considering marriage.”
Evelyn stared. ”To whom?”
Celeste winced. ”To Max.”
”Why?” Evelyn scoffed. ”He is no better than his friend.”
”Given that you have been quite happy with his friend until recently and you will, no doubt, be quite happy in the future if, of course, you both survive, that is not a bad endors.e.m.e.nt. Besides ...” She shrugged. ”I could do far worse.”
”You could do far better.”
”Yes, but I don't seem to want far better, I seem to want him.” Celeste shook her head as if she couldn't believe it herself. ”It makes no sense, it's completely impractical, totally irrational, and he's never seemed the kind of man one would wish to keep around forever.”
”And?”
”And nonetheless, I do.”
”You might wish to reconsider,” Evelyn said grimly.
Celeste stifled a smile and turned to answer a knock at the door. Evelyn paced. The other woman was right. She and Adrian would be happy in the future if they survived this. In doubt, however, was whether they could survive.
It was as if their entire marriage had been nothing but a sham. Yes, she had long felt guilty for keeping the truth of her past from him, but as he already knew all, it seemed to her that was no longer even a lie of omission. Whereas his lies were ones of ... of ... deception!
”Stewart says you have a caller.” Celeste paused. ”Lady Dunwell. She's in the red salon.”
”How perfect for her,” she muttered and started for the door. ”And what perfect timing she has.”
”You're not going to confide in her, are you?”
”I'm furious, Celeste, not insane. Regardless of anything else, revealing my husband as the former head of a secretive government department is something I would never do.” She narrowed her eyes. ”However, there are few women I know that are cleverer than Beryl Dunwell when it comes to seduction. Or, I suspect, settling a score.”
”Well,” Beryl said the moment Evelyn stepped into the room. ”Who was he? What happened?”
”You were right after all.” She shrugged. ”It was Adrian.”
”Really?” Beryl's eyes widened. ”Odd, I don't remember him being that tall.”
”He's grown.”
”That would explain it,” Beryl murmured, then shook her head as if to clear it. ”How terribly romantic of him to try to seduce you as another man.”
Evelyn froze. ”Another man?”
”A masked stranger, of course.” She studied Evelyn carefully. ”Whatever is the matter with you today?”
”It was a very late night.”
”Yes, of course.” She stared for a moment, then realization dawned in her eyes and she nodded. ”Oh, now I understand.”
”Understand what?”
”I could be wrong, of course.”
”One can only hope.”
”Well, a man who bursts into a hotel room to catch his wife in a compromising position and then flirts with her incognito, well ...”