“Hand me up, if you please, March. Wherever you are going, rest assured that you are not going there alone. You seem to make a habit of forgetting that we are partners.”

She could see at once that he was not pleased, but she chose to ignore his opinions. She was not in the best of moods herself.

She sat down and watched him shut the carriage door. The vehicle rumbled forward. Tobias unfolded the blanket that lay on the seat and tossed it to her.

“You’d better use this to keep warm,” he muttered. “That gown was obviously not designed to be worn outside an overheated ballroom.”

“If you had not been in such a hurry, I would have taken a moment to fetch my cloak.”

She was relieved to discover that the blanket was relatively clean. Quickly, she pulled it around her shoulders and was immediately grateful for the warmth. Tobias lounged in the corner, watching her with narrowed eyes.

“I was waiting for you on the balcony,” she said in response to his unspoken question. “I saw you and Vale enter and then I saw Anthony stop you. A moment later you turned and left. I knew at once that you were leaving to follow some clue. Where are we going?”

“I am on my way to meet a streetwalker named Maggie,” he said without inflection. “For your information, she has nothing whatsoever to do with the Medusa affair.”

“Rubbish. Do not expect me to believe that bit of nonsense. Why else would you go chasing off on a night like this to talk to a streetwalker, if not to pursue-”

She broke off abruptly, her jaw dropping in shock when it occurred to her that there certainly was a reason why a gentleman might take a hackney to visit a prostitute. A terrible pain uncurled like a serpent deep inside her. It was followed by a hollow, utterly numb sensation. She sat there, staring at Tobias, unable to speak.

“No, my sweet, that is not why I am off to visit the light-skirts. Surely you know me well enough by now to be certain of that much, at least.”

Relief flooded through her. Of course Tobias would not resort to a prostitute. He would not betray her. What was the matter with her? She reined in her scattered senses with an effort of will. Still feeling flustered, she tightened her grip on the blanket.

“Tell me what this is about, Tobias. I have every right to know.”

He contemplated her in silence for such a long time that she began to think he might not answer her.

“You are correct,” he said at last. “You do have a right to know. The long and the short of it is that I have been told that this woman named Maggie has been entertaining Pelling during his stay here in Town.”

She was so surprised she could only look at him rather blankly. Not an attractive expression, she reminded herself.

“This is about Oscar Pelling?” she finally managed.

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand.”

He rested an arm on the window ledge. “I thought it best to keep an eye on him while he was here in Town. Anthony asked some questions at the inn where Pelling is staying and learned that he has been visiting a prostitute in the area. I want to interview her.”

“But why? What do you hope to discover?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, probably. But I was never comfortable with the fact that both Pelling and Hudson showed up here in London at the same time.”

“I thought we agreed it was nothing more than chance.”

“ You were certain of that. I was not entirely convinced.”

“So you made some inquiries into Pelling’s activities?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” She was not certain what to say to that. She thought she ought to berate him for not telling her that he was conducting inquiries in that direction. On the other hand, he had been concerned on her behalf. She would save the lecture for later, she decided. “I assume that you learned nothing that was alarming.”

“I must admit I have begun to worry a bit about Maggie. Women who get close to Pelling seem to meet with bad ends, and Anthony had a deal of trouble locating her.”

She shuddered. “I understand.”

“I want to satisfy myself that she is unharmed. I also want to ask her a few questions about Pelling’s activities here in Town.”

She gave him a quizzical look. “But he has made no move to seek me out. Indeed, why would he? I told you, at the time he found it convenient to blame me for his wife’s supposed suicide. He cannot possibly have any interest in me now. Indeed, he has every reason to avoid me.”

“I know. But I do not like the situation.”

She smiled slightly. “I can see that.”

Tobias looked out at the fog-bound street. “That is the damnable thing about this business of conducting investigations, you see. One must keep blundering about, asking questions, until one finally gets some answers.”

“Not unlike our own relationship, if you ask me,” she said under her breath.

He turned his head. “What did you say?”

“Nothing important. Just some personal musings.”

She managed a bright little smile, but inwardly she was not feeling nearly so blasé. Their relationship was such a strange affair, she thought. Neither of them was a coward, yet in this matter they both walked as gingerly as if they were trying to cross a perilous landscape, a world in which unseen dangers lurked in every shadow.

Then again, perhaps that was only her view of the situation, she thought. For all she knew, Tobias saw nothing complicated or worrisome about their arrangement. He was a man, after all. In her experience, men tended to assess matters involving emotion in a more straightforward fashion than women did. When all was said and done, although he occasionally complained of the venue, Tobias was getting a certain amount of physical satisfaction on a regular basis. Mayhap that was enough for him.

They traveled the remainder of the distance to Cutt Lane in silence. When the hackney finally halted, Lavinia looked out and saw a solitary gas lamp glowing in front of a darkened doorway. Candles burned in some of the windows. Here and there a figure moved behind a thin curtain.

Tobias opened the door and got out. He reached up, gripped Lavinia around the waist, and lifted her out of the cab. Then he turned to toss a few coins to the coachman.

“We will not be long,” he said. “Be so good as to wait for us.”

“Aye.” The coachman checked the coins in the lantern light. Evidently satisfied, he pocketed them swiftly. “I’ll be here when yer ready to leave, sir.”

“Come.” Tobias took Lavinia’s arm and steered her toward the dark mouth of a small lane. “The sooner we find Maggie, the sooner we can return to the ball.”

She did not argue. She draped the blanket around her shoulders as if it were a fine Indian shawl and went forward at his side.

More candles and the occasional lantern burned in the windows of the tiny lane. Tobias stepped into the shelter of a stone doorway and clanged the knocker. The sound echoed eerily in the darkness.

There was no response, but Lavinia heard a window open on the floor above. She looked up and saw a woman leaning out, a candle set in a heavy iron candlestick in her hand. The light from the small flame illuminated sharp features and eyes that appeared to be sunk in deep wells.

The woman wore a dressing gown that was only loosely tied. The garment gaped, exposing her bony shoulders and thin breasts to the damp night and the casual view of passersby in the lane below.

“You down there,” the prostitute called in a drunken voice, “are ye lookin’ for some sport tonight?”

Tobias took a step back out of the doorway.

“We’re looking for Maggie,” he said.

“Well, now, yer in luck, then, because you’ve found her.” Maggie leaned precariously out over the sill. “But I see there’s two of ye, and yer friend is a lady. I take it yer one of those what likes to watch two women enjoyin’ themselves, eh? That’ll be extra.”