she had clung to it.
"What did you see when you went to Delmont's ad-dress?" Emma asked, looking, as usual, as though
she was braced for the worst possible news.
Caroline propped her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on the heels of her hands. "There was a
constable standing at the door and a crowd of curious neighbors and some gentlemen of the press
gathered in the street."
"You were careful not to be seen, I trust?" Emma said anxiously.
"Of course." Caroline wrinkled her nose. "Not that any-one would have recognized me. in any event."
"Nevertheless, one cannot he too cautious in a matter such as this," Emma reminded her. "The murder
will be a great sensation in the papers soon. It would not do to have your name linked to it in any way,
especially in light of that unfortunate article concerning your demonstration of psychical powers at Harriet
Hughes's tea"
"Don't remind me," Caroline muttered. "What a mistake that was. I don't know why I let you and Aunt
Emma talk me into it. "
`"Now, now, it was very entertaining," Milly said lightly. "Harriet and her friends were all quite thrilled."
Emma frowned. "But who knows what the press might make of such a connection if Caroline were seen
at the house where a medium was murdered? It could prove disastrous. We can only pray that it does
not get out that she was among the sitters at Delmont's last séance"
"Mr. Grove led me to believe that he has no intention of giving the list of sitters to the police," Caroline
said. But what if he changed his mind?
Emma echoed her thoughts. "Who knows what the man will do? He sounds quite eccentric, to say the
least. Imagine setting out to find a killer on his own."
"It is certainly not the sort of behavior one expects from a gentleman who moves in elevated circles,"
Milly agreed. "I wonder what is in that missing diary that concerns him.
And then there's that business of a false name." She made a tut-tutting sound.
So many questions, Caroline thought. She had not been able to write a single line after the man who had
called him-self Adam Grove had departed. He was gone but he had left his shadow behind. It hovered
over the entire household.
She looked at the two people she loved most in the world. Anxiety gripped her. It was her fault that their
lives had been turned upside down three years ago. She could not allow such a thing to happen again.
She had a responsibility to protect them from another great scandal—or worse.
Emma and Milly had raised her from the age of two. They had taken her into their home after her mother
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
had expired from an overdose of laudanum. She had called each woman "aunt" since she had learned to
talk, but in truth Emma, her mother's sister, was the only one of the pair who was related to her by blood.
They were both women of a certain age. They had been something more than very good friends for
years, sharing not only a home and the responsibility of raising a child, but a seemingly endless variety of
enthusiasms and interests.
The pair made a striking contrast in both looks and temperament. Emma was tall, handsome in a severe
manner and inclined to a dour view of the world. She was not entirely devoid of a sense of humor but
laughter did not come easily to her.
Milly, on the other hand, was short, plump and so light of heart that those who did not know her well
often concluded that she was a bit frivolous. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Milly was as
intelligent and well-educated as Emma but there was a strong streak of the romantic in her.
Caroline had long ago concluded that her aunts' tastes in gowns paralleled their temperaments. Emma
favored dark, subdued dresses with a minimum of ribbons and flounces. She went about looking as
though she were in perpetual mourning, a style that happened to be very much in fashion.
But there was another, equally popular direction in
"What did you see when you went to Delmont's ad-dress?" Emma asked, looking, as usual, as though
she was braced for the worst possible news.
Caroline propped her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on the heels of her hands. "There was a
constable standing at the door and a crowd of curious neighbors and some gentlemen of the press
gathered in the street."
"You were careful not to be seen, I trust?" Emma said anxiously.
"Of course." Caroline wrinkled her nose. "Not that any-one would have recognized me. in any event."
"Nevertheless, one cannot he too cautious in a matter such as this," Emma reminded her. "The murder
will be a great sensation in the papers soon. It would not do to have your name linked to it in any way,
especially in light of that unfortunate article concerning your demonstration of psychical powers at Harriet
Hughes's tea"
"Don't remind me," Caroline muttered. "What a mistake that was. I don't know why I let you and Aunt
Emma talk me into it. "
`"Now, now, it was very entertaining," Milly said lightly. "Harriet and her friends were all quite thrilled."
Emma frowned. "But who knows what the press might make of such a connection if Caroline were seen
at the house where a medium was murdered? It could prove disastrous. We can only pray that it does
not get out that she was among the sitters at Delmont's last séance"
"Mr. Grove led me to believe that he has no intention of giving the list of sitters to the police," Caroline
said. But what if he changed his mind?
Emma echoed her thoughts. "Who knows what the man will do? He sounds quite eccentric, to say the
least. Imagine setting out to find a killer on his own."
"It is certainly not the sort of behavior one expects from a gentleman who moves in elevated circles,"
Milly agreed. "I wonder what is in that missing diary that concerns him.
And then there's that business of a false name." She made a tut-tutting sound.
So many questions, Caroline thought. She had not been able to write a single line after the man who had
called him-self Adam Grove had departed. He was gone but he had left his shadow behind. It hovered
over the entire household.
She looked at the two people she loved most in the world. Anxiety gripped her. It was her fault that their
lives had been turned upside down three years ago. She could not allow such a thing to happen again.
She had a responsibility to protect them from another great scandal—or worse.
Emma and Milly had raised her from the age of two. They had taken her into their home after her mother
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
had expired from an overdose of laudanum. She had called each woman "aunt" since she had learned to
talk, but in truth Emma, her mother's sister, was the only one of the pair who was related to her by blood.
They were both women of a certain age. They had been something more than very good friends for
years, sharing not only a home and the responsibility of raising a child, but a seemingly endless variety of
enthusiasms and interests.
The pair made a striking contrast in both looks and temperament. Emma was tall, handsome in a severe
manner and inclined to a dour view of the world. She was not entirely devoid of a sense of humor but
laughter did not come easily to her.
Milly, on the other hand, was short, plump and so light of heart that those who did not know her well
often concluded that she was a bit frivolous. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Milly was as
intelligent and well-educated as Emma but there was a strong streak of the romantic in her.
Caroline had long ago concluded that her aunts' tastes in gowns paralleled their temperaments. Emma
favored dark, subdued dresses with a minimum of ribbons and flounces. She went about looking as
though she were in perpetual mourning, a style that happened to be very much in fashion.
But there was another, equally popular direction in
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