The Dark Between (31 page)

Had he learned her name yet? Perhaps he’d already reported her to the police.

“I think I should tell you both something,” she said quietly, keeping her head down. She could feel their eyes on her.

Elsie’s voice was gentle. “What is it, Kate?”

Kate set the trousers aside. “Do you remember the night I didn’t go to dinner because I heard Robert Eliot’s voice?”

“Of course. You seemed very frightened of the man.”

“I told you he was Martineau’s patron. He was her lover, too, I think. His behavior during séances was often … unseemly.”

“In what way?” asked Asher.

Kate swallowed before answering. “He couldn’t keep his hands to himself. There were other male sitters like that, of course, but there was always something especially rough about him. And when I was sacked, Martineau threatened to have him punish me if I didn’t leave right away.”

“He certainly seemed like a beast that night at dinner,” Asher said. “He mentioned you. Not by name, of course, but that he wished the police to get hold of you. Mr. Thompson betrayed nothing, however.”

“What is it you wished to tell us, Kate?” Elsie prompted.

“That day by the river—when I said I’d seen someone I knew?”

“And you ran after him in the rain. Yes, I remember.”

“It was Tec. I never could catch up to him, but I ran into someone else instead.”

“Eliot?” asked Asher.

“Yes. And he threatened to drag me to the police right then and there. He was still angry with me for ruining things with Martineau and making him look a fool. I tried to break away from him, but I couldn’t get free. I was frightened, and I didn’t want to be locked up as a fraud and a thief. So I … well, I had a knife that Billy gave me, and I was just so scared—”

Elsie gasped. “Kate, did you kill him?”

“No! I’m not sure I could have even if I’d wanted to. But … I stabbed him.” Her voice pitched higher. “Just enough to make him let me go.”

“Good Lord,” said Asher.

“He never knew my name, but it wouldn’t be that hard to discover it. What will happen to me? I’m an orphan, a swindler, and a stabber of gentlemen—for the last few days I’ve been plotting to run away to London.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Elsie.

“Thought I could manage on my own, but I’ve just made things worse.”

Asher straightened in his chair. “Well, no one’s going to drag you off to prison. We won’t let that happen. We’ll get you a lawyer if we must.”

“And perhaps Eliot will let the matter drop.” Elsie’s eyes brightened. “Or we could have Aunt Helena speak to him. I’m certain he’s quite intimidated by her.”

“If Eliot was fool enough to take a fraudulent medium as mistress, we can figure out some way to get around him,” Asher said. “Even if it comes to blackmail.”

“Blackmail can prove a deadly scheme,” said Kate.

Asher closed his eyes. “Of course. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about Eliot. We’ll get that sorted later.” Elsie rose from her seat. “I’ve finished this jacket, but you’ll need braces if you’re to keep the trousers up. I’ll go poke about in Uncle’s things. He’s grown so thin he’s hardly bigger than you, Kate.”

Once Elsie was gone, Kate found it hard to concentrate on sewing, especially with Asher staring at her from across the room.

“What is it?” she finally asked.

“I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

He frowned. “Robert Eliot.”

“That’s a waste of time, unless you’ve discovered a way to make him vanish from the earth.”

“No, I’m thinking of him and Martineau. Wondering why a gentleman would lower himself like that.”

“I rather thought of it the other way around. He’s a disgusting brute.”

“So is Martineau.” Asher’s voice was harsh. “She’s yet another example of why I detest Spiritualism. It’s a con game, and half the time the medium uses her beauty to seduce her patrons.”

“You talk like someone who’s been conned,” said Kate.

Asher was silent for a moment. “Not me, exactly.”

Kate leaned forward, interested. “Who, then?”

Asher shook his head and picked at his fingernails.

“Does this have something to do with your father? The day we met you mentioned a quarrel, and since then you haven’t read any of his telegrams.”

Asher stared at the floor in silence.

Kate took a breath, striving to gentle her tone. “Your father was conned by a medium?”

“
Seduced
more than conned,” he finally said.

She waited for him to elaborate, but he continued to stare at the floor.

“Tell me, Asher. Unless you wish to hold on to this anger until it burns you up.”

He rolled his eyes. “I hate to even think about it … much less talk about it. But you deserve to know. Father’s been collecting data on a Boston medium for years—a Miss Letitia Smith.” He laughed bitterly. “An unassuming name for such an accomplished schemer.”

Kate nodded, trying to keep her expression open.

“Father’s certain she has legitimate ability, but documenting it has been a trial. He’s worked so often and so
closely
with her that even Mother complains.”

“So he spends too much time with her?”

He shook his head. “He’s in love with the woman.
She
told me so.”

She read betrayal in his expression, but not that of a child’s disillusionment over a father’s failings. Something else fueled this anger, and she’d have to prod him further to learn what exactly.

“Do you feel badly for your mother? Is that why you’re so bitter?”

He glanced at her, and she was surprised to see a glaze of tears in his eyes. “I hardly care what Mother thinks. It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s true.”

And then Kate knew. Strangely enough, it pained her. “This Miss Smith … 
you
cared for her, didn’t you?”

He closed his eyes. “She encouraged it, and I was a fool.”

The anguish in his voice took her by surprise. She could think of no appropriate response. He
was
a fool, and yet her heart went out to him.

“As you might imagine, Father proved the worthier target. Once his obsession became apparent, Letty dropped me like a piece of trash. In fact, she mocked my feelings to my face, and I’m sure she made a joke of it to Father.” He rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

Kate clenched the hands in her lap. “What a wretched woman. If she were here, I’d … I don’t know. I’d pull her hair out.”

He grinned faintly. “I’ve no doubt you could do her some damage.”

Asher’s grin brought a strange flutter to her heart. “Is that why you came to England? To get away from this creature?”

“Yes … mostly.”

She turned to face him again. “Was there some other reason, Asher?”

He returned her gaze evenly. “You already know Father sent me away—I admitted that our first night here.” His tone was light. “He sent me to stay with my uncle in Rye, which is the same thing as being sent to the edge of nowhere, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Why was he punishing you?”

He looked away. “I don’t want you to think ill of me.”

“And yet clearly you wish to speak of this. You’ve been angry about something ever since I met you. There must be a reason you refuse to read your Father’s messages.”

After a moment his stony expression crumbled. “I stole from him.” He glanced at her. “A great deal of cash. I arranged for passage to England. And do you know why? Even after she betrayed me and made me look an utter fool, I hoped Letty would come away with me … if I had enough money.”

Kate imagined the beautiful young lady—she rather disliked the way he’d said
Letty
—smiling seductively at him. So
seductively that he’d betrayed his own family to have her. It really was very childish. But also bold … and strangely passionate from gruff, scornful Asher.

She cleared her throat. “So your father found out and banished you to Rye.”

“Without much in the way of funds, as you might imagine. It was my uncle’s generosity that enabled this trip to Cambridge. I’m certain he was quite bored with my sulks.”

“And this Letty person? What became of her?”

“She’s the one who told Father of my theft. As far as I know, she has him under her spell to this day.” He turned away, rubbing again at his eyelids.

Kate could think of nothing to say, so she held her tongue.

“Please don’t tell Elsie any of this,” Asher finally said. “It’s so humiliating.”

That rankled a bit. Was it better to be the one confided in or the one to be protected? She shrugged the question away, peeved by her own peevishness. “Neither of us has any reason to be proud of our fathers. Yours is in love with a medium. Mine kept a secret mistress and died from taking too much chloroform in some bizarre experiment that I still don’t understand.”

“We’ll learn more tonight, Kate. I fear it won’t be pleasant, but at least we’ll know. And if all goes as it should, we will find damning evidence.”

Kate nodded. That was what she wanted most—to tie everything together, to finally understand. And, of course, to make the villain pay.

Chapter 33

T
he sight of Kate in boys’ clothing left Asher speechless. He could only stare as Elsie proudly paraded the girl before him. His disquiet must have been obvious, for as soon as they’d slipped away from Summerfield, Kate laid a hand on his arm.

“Is there something wrong with the clothes? Should I swagger a little more?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

How could he say it? In truth, she looked quite fetching in trousers. He’d thought her a rather scrawny girl, but apparently her made-over blouse and skirt had swallowed her form. Now he could see the slimness of her waist, the slight curve of her hips. The unexpected length of her legs. All this added to the way she’d bundled her hair into that cap—so that it drew his eyes to her long neck—left him hardly knowing how to treat her as the same old Kate.

He forced himself to look away. It was nerves, really. He couldn’t think why else he’d be distracted by such things. “It’s nothing, Kate. I’m just getting accustomed to seeing you in trousers.”

She cocked her head. “Don’t I make a good boy?”

“To someone who doesn’t know you, perhaps.”

He knew, however, that seeing her this way only made him more conscious of her being a girl. And if he didn’t stop acting like a fool, she would know
exactly
what he was thinking. In fact, she probably already did, for she’d dropped her gaze to the ground.

“Shall we move on?” he finally said.

He kept his eyes focused ahead after that, grateful for the silence that fell between them. When they finally reached the wrought-iron gate at the Queen’s Road entrance to Trinity College, he welcomed the strange quivering in his stomach, for it had had nothing to do with Kate.

“Are you certain you’re ready for this?” he asked her.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I am—this was
my
plan, after all.”

“You couldn’t have managed it without me.”

“Don’t be so sure of that.” She reached out to trace the pattern of the wrought iron. “I’ve always admired the Queen’s Road gate. From this side, the college seems full of mystery and secrets. The Great Gate on the other end looks more like a prison tower.”

“This gate will be easier to enter, but not by much.” He paced the length of it to study the ditch on either side. The water looked to be several inches deep. “I’ll go first. It’s going to take quite a leap to get over this.” He glanced back at her. “Hope you’re not afraid to get those trousers muddy.”

“That’s why I wore them,” she said mildly.

He turned back to the ditch. As far as he could tell in the low light, it was shallowest at the southern end of the gate. As he studied the distance, mentally calculating where to take the leap, he heard Kate yawn. Heat came to his cheeks, and he tensed his muscles in preparation. The leap across was quite bold, but he
crumpled to his knees upon landing. By the time he’d scrambled up the hill, his hands and knees were filthy with mud.

“Kate, I’m not sure how you’ll manage.” He wiped his hands on his trousers. “That was harder than I thought.”

“Oh, I’ll manage,” she said softly.

He turned to find her dragging a small plank toward the ditch. “Where’d you find that?”

“Tucked away under the bridge,” she said, gingerly lowering the plank across the ditch. “I figure that’s how Billy got across. I’d wager a student stored it there ages ago.”

He watched in silence as she neatly stepped sideways across the plank. Once on the other side, she grabbed a low-hanging tree branch and used it to pull herself up the embankment. He offered a hand to ease her final steps toward him.

“Well done,” he said. “We should avoid the graveled avenue and take the meadow up to the river instead. It may not be smooth going, but I can’t think of any better way in.”

“I’ll go first.”

“Kate, you must be stealthy.”

She chuckled. “Getting around in the dark is what I do best, remember?”

As they crossed the meadow, Asher thought back to the day he’d lain there and first realized how much he wanted to be part of Trinity. Matters had become so strangely complicated since then. If they could just make it through this night without being locked up for trespassing, he would give serious thought to what he really wanted to do with his life.

“Stop here,” he whispered, pausing by a tree. “We must cross that bridge. Directly across from us is the Wren Library. We need to get into the courtyard next to it.”

“New Court,” said Kate.

He turned to her. “How did you know?”

“The rowing trip. We had a picnic in the grass over there.”

“Of course you did,” Asher muttered. “The New Court entrance would be the most direct way to Dr. Marshall’s rooms, but the gate is closed and certainly locked. Even if you could unlock it, there’s probably a porter just within.”

“I don’t like the look of that gate,” said Kate. “I’m not sure I could manage the lock, and opening that hulking thing would be noisy anyway. If there’s a porter in there, he couldn’t fail to hear it. Much too risky.” She paused, staring at the Wren Library. “What about that entry there?” She pointed at the center of the building. “If we get through there, can we find our way to New Court without crossing the porter’s path?”