When Rufus's study doors burst open, and Roderick, Elphi, and her three ghostly companions walked inside regardless of Rouse's stammered protestations from the foyer, Rufus absently glanced up mid-sentence and lost his train of thought for the second time that day.
He'd been absorbed in a somewhat stilted discussion with his sister Rosalind for the past twenty minutes after she'd dropped by unexpectedly to announce she and her husband Reggie returned to town and he—Rufus—must join them for dinner for reasons she hadn't yet divulged.
To say he was thoroughly surprised and befuddled on all counts would be a gross understatement for three reasons.
First and foremost, visits from Rosalind to his home were few and far between and, without fail, were preceded by a note warning him of her impending arrival. The fact she hadn't sent one was indeed a cause for worry.
Second, unless he was sorely mistaken, Rufus could have sworn he and Roderick were supposed to meet later tonight at their club and, therefore, had no idea what would have brought Roderick to his door at such an early hour. With Elphi in tow, no less.
And it was this point that brought him straightway to the third and perhaps most resounding reason for his plight that morning.
Surprise visits from Rosalind and Roderick were relatively easy to deal with compared to the overwhelming shock and, if he were honest, pure unadulterated delight that crashed through him at the sight of Lady Melphia Matson walking into his study.
Despite his best attempts, he had struggled to put Elphi from his mind after last evening. Visions of her had plagued his dreams, and he'd awoken with an unshakable, driving need to seek her out this morning and ensure she was well.
It was a dangerous yearning he could not indulge in for countless reasons—even if he didn't believe with any certainty that she was cursed—which only added to his overall discombobulation.
Because it was as though his need to see her today had somehow willed her into existence.
He'd hoped it stemmed from last night at the séance when he'd fought an irrational, protective urge to leap across the table and throttle Mrs. Lynch for daring to use curse in association with Elphi.
Never in his life had he loathed a word as much as he had at that moment.
His entire body had recoiled, and he'd wanted to demand she take it back. But now that Elphi stood before him, Rufus realized his heart was in far more trouble than he ever could have imagined.
The first thing that struck him was the simple realization that until now, he'd never seen Lady Melphia Matson in daylight and, therefore, couldn't have known what he was missing out on.
He couldn't help but allow his eyes to drink their fill, brazenly raking over her from head to toe, studying every detail that had previously been hidden from him by the dimly lit interiors of Sanham and Terreworth Hall.
Last evening they'd called her hair auburn, but it seemed like such a lifeless, uninspired word when rays of sunshine awakened its secret, vibrant hue and brought to mind a dessert he'd had a year ago of pears poached in mulled wine.
Her gown was maroon, the shade so dark that Rufus would have thought it a black-brown color if he'd seen it in a darkened room. However, seeing it in the sunlight streaming through his windows reminded him of coagulated blood, and he couldn't help but think the color suited her pale, striking beauty.
"You're staring again, Lord Treadway," Elphi murmured, "and frowning. You seem to do both quite frequently, I dare say."
Rufus blinked, "Pardon?"
She gave him a funny look. "Are you unwell?"
"No, you merely caught me unaware," he said, forcing his gaze to focus on Roderick and Rosalind.
Clearing his throat, Rufus motioned to Rosalind, "Allow me to introduce my sister Lady Keating. She and her husband just returned to town this morning."
"Yes, it's lovely to see you again, Rosalind," Elphi murmured, sounding as though she genuinely meant it.
"You as well, Elphi," Rosalind said with a trembling attempt at a smile.
Rufus looked at Elphi in surprise. "I didn't realize you were acquainted with one another."
"It was ages ago," Elphi softly admitted with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We attended Sanrow Academy for girls together."
Rosalind inclined her head in a slight nod as she opened her mouth to respond but snapped it closed without making a sound and swallowed before casting one last glance at Roderick, who remained mute and frozen in place.
Turning to Rufus, she smiled, though it fell short of reaching her eyes. "I should be going, Rufus dear. Don't forget tonight."
"I won't," Rufus nodded, already dreading the evening ahead. But she'd all but begged for him to join them, so he didn't have much choice on the matter. At least it wasn't a séance.
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he watched Rosalind mumble her goodbyes to the others and leave, momentarily grateful for the distraction and opportunity it afforded to help him collect his scattered wits.
"What's tonight?" Elphi asked from behind.
Rufus clenched his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out before turning to face her.
It didn't help.
In actuality, it made everything worse because now he was out of oxygen, and the instant his eyes collided with hers, he forgot how to breathe. His heart increased its pounding rhythm tenfold, his hands began sweating, and his stomach flipped a series of disconcerting somersaults.
"Lord Treadway?" Elphi said, her brow puckering in a frown as she removed her gloves.
His brows slammed together as he gulped in a lungful of air and struggled to recall what she'd asked. Something about tonight? "Dinner with my sister and her husband," he said, the air whooshing out of him in one big exhale.
"You didn't mention they were back in town," Roderick stated, staring at the door for a moment before turning an accusing scowl Rufus's way.
Rufus leveled a scowl back at Roderick and settled his hands on his hips. "Perhaps you'll recall me saying mere seconds ago that she only just arrived—without warning—much as you tend to do."
Roderick grumbled under his breath as he lifted his shoulders in an unapologetic shrug and walked to one of the leather sitting chairs across from Rufus's desk. "I had no choice in the matter. Elphi wanted to return to Terreworth Hall to speak to Mrs. Lynch."
"Why?" Rufus said, refusing to give in to the desire to look at Elphi. "The woman is a fraud."
He marched to his desk and sat, hoping the physical barrier would help him strengthen his weakening inner fortifications.
"Because," Roderick began, setting his hat on his knee and smoothing his hair into place. "Elphi has questions—"
"What makes you so certain she's a fraud?" Elphi interrupted, folding her arms across her chest.
Rufus looked to Roderick, wondering how much of the situation he wished for him to divulge.
"I know he hired you," Elphi said.
Roderick sighed and slowly nodded. "It's true; I had to tell her."
Rufus arched a brow. "Strong-armed you, did she?"
"More or less."
Elphi rolled her eyes and shook her head as she continued, "And that you're a private investigator of the paranormal."
Rufus clenched his jaw and arched a brow at his friend. What else had Roderick divulged if he'd shared those two little nuggets of truth? "Is that so?"
"Quite right," Elphi murmured, "so you may as well tell me everything you know about Mrs. Lynch that led you to such a conclusion."
Rufus flicked a glance at the three ghostly companions behind Elphi's chair before allowing his gaze to fall on her—he couldn't help it, the desire to look at her was too strong—then forced himself to focus on his cluttered desk.
There were several ways he could go about this, the easiest of which was to find the folder of notes he'd gathered on Mrs. Lynch, hand them over, and escort his two guests out of his study and home.
Heaven knew his disconcerted brain could use the reprieve such an action would afford. But his weaker side, the part that rejoiced at merely being in Lady Melphia Matson's presence, recoiled at the thought.
To say the least, it was a curious sensation he had every intention of ignoring. However, much to his bewilderment, Rufus found himself not only locating the folder with surprising ease but also settling into his chair for a lengthy discussion as he willingly met and held Elphi's gaze.
"Her full name is Bernadine Fallow Lynch. She married a Mr. Ambros Lynch of Castlelee, Ireland, ten months ago. She has four sisters, two of whom are living. The other two died in infancy. Her parents are both deceased. The two living sisters, Melvina and Orpha, also claim to possess paranormal abilities—claims, which I might add, have been proven false on numerous occasions at home, which subsequently sent them abroad."
Elphi blinked. "Where is it she calls home, if I may ask?"
"A township called Portsboro in New York." Rufus forced his gaze to move between Roderick and Elphi before allowing it to settle on Elphi once more as he continued. "Despite what Lord Whitlock said, before meeting her last evening, Mrs. Lynch has been in England with her husband for eight months, and before that, spent two years performing her act with her sisters across Europe."
"You mentioned their claims at special abilities were proven false..." Elphi frowned, "how were they proven?"
Rufus withdrew a piece of paper from the folder and held it out for Elphi to take. "She and her sisters traveled from New York with a female companion named Miss Odessa Steen, who acted as a ladies maid to the three Fallows. I was fortunate to find her a few days ago and take her statement."
He fell silent while Elphi perused the paper.
"This is her statement?" She murmured, briefly lifting her gaze to Rufus.
Rufus nodded.
Elphi hmmm'd then continued reading. After a moment, her brow wrinkled, and she turned to Roderick. "According to this, one of Miss Steen's duties was to secretly obtain and copy the guest lists for the events, and the women would then study the local gossip papers beforehand."
Roderick snorted and shook his head. "Can't say I'm surprised."
Rufus bit back a smile as he nodded and continued, "Five months ago, while they were traveling between France and Germany to their next engagement, there was a falling out between the four women. According to Miss Steen, the Fallow sisters refused to pay her before they abandoned her in Switzerland with only the clothes on her back ."
Elphi handed the paper to Roderick as she asked Rufus, "And in your professional opinion, Miss Steen's allegations against the Fallow sisters are to be believed? Mrs. Lynch was up to her old tricks last night?"
Rufus nodded, "That's correct, down to the levitating table."
"But what about Miss Welter?"
Roderick turned to Elphi with a blank expression on his face. "Who?"
"The woman who was supposed to ensure Mrs. Lynch wasn't hiding any sort of contraptions under her gown."
Rufus withdrew another slip of paper from the folder and held it out for Roderick. "I believe you'll both find this of interest."
Roderick grabbed the paper and looked it over before handing it to Elphi, "What is it?"
"The guest list from last evening," Rufus said with an arched brow as he clasped his hands together and settled them atop his desk. "I managed to procure a copy three days ago. You'll also be interested to know Miss Welter is Mrs. Lynch's new assistant, and the gentleman listed as Mr. Welter is none other than Mr. Lynch, her husband. Either one of them could have manipulated the table into levitating themselves or Miss Welter lied about contraptions hiding beneath Mrs. Lynch's gown."
"So it's all a giant ruse?" Elphi murmured, staring at the sheet of paper in her hand.
Rufus nodded. "One which she and her sisters have performed countless times on unsuspecting victims and have grown quite wealthy from in the process."
Silence ensued—the kind that seemed especially welcome and necessary after receiving such an abundance of information in a short amount of time and was only broken several moments later when Roderick looked at Elphi and whispered, "Feel better?"
She cast him a dirty look. "No. I don't."
"Why not?"
Elphi growled low in her throat and glared at the paper she still held before stating, "Because she might be a fraud, but I'm still cursed. That much she got right."
Roderick rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of his chair as he motioned to Rufus. "Would you tell her what you told me, please? Perhaps you will have greater success where I failed."
"What do you mean? What did you tell him?" Elphi asked, folding her arms across her chest.
Rufus's gaze darted between Elphi and Roderick.
"The day I hired you," Roderick prompted. "I told you Elphi was cursed; then you asked me if I had any evidence or if it was a theory—"
"How is it you can remember all that," Elphi interrupted, incredulous wonder on her face, "and yet you struggle to recall where you hid Princess Odessa?"
Rufus blinked several times. "I beg your pardon?"
Roderick's lips curled in a comical snarl of distaste as he waved a dismissive hand. "Her favorite doll from years ago. And trust me, I did everyone a favor hiding that nightmarish one-eyed hag. But back to more important matters," he said, leveling his intense stare on Rufus.
His stomach performed a series of somersaults, his hands started to sweat again, and his mouth suddenly became dry. Speaking seemed impossible now that he had no notes on the subject to be discussed.
Perhaps if he wrote the words down on a scrap of paper? It would make it easier to get them to dislodge from the back of his throat and tongue. It was worth a shot; otherwise, who knew how long they'd be sitting here, staring at him as though he'd lost his mind, waiting for him to utter a sound he was suddenly incapable of making?
Rufus snatched up his pen, dipped it in his black inkwell, and quickly scribbled out the necessary sentence, followed by two possible replies for whatever Elphi might say, just to be safe.
"Curse is a strong word," Rufus read aloud, supremely proud of himself when the concise sentence rolled from his tongue without issue.
With his confidence bolstered, he went off script and recited from memory, "I'm reluctant to use it until I know without a doubt that is indeed the source of your woes."
"HA," Roderick exclaimed, with a noticeably forced wide grin bending his lips. "That settles it."
"Does it?" Elphi asked, her voice strained and threatening to break. "I don't understand how you can think so when I'm precisely where I was before and where it seems I shall remain... forever alone."
Rufus studied her rigid bearing, tense features, and how she held her chin at a haughty angle. The position tilted her face, allowing the sunlight filtering through the windows to catch and reveal the tears gathered in her lashes.
It was a heartbreaking sight he never anticipated needing to guard himself against, and, at that moment, Rufus realized he would willingly say or do anything to keep the woman he was growing terrifyingly fond of from crying.
"You won't be forever alone, Elphi," Roderick grumbled.
"Oh? And how do you know that?" She asked. "Have you a gypsy's crystal ball hidden away I'm unaware of?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Roderick scoffed. "I have something infinitely better—complete faith in Rufus's ability to discover how to fix this situation. It's why I hired him."
Elphi clenched and unclenched her fists for several heartbeats. Then muttered unintelligibly before turning her tormented gaze on Rufus in silent question.
Rufus studied Elphi as a plan slowly began to take shape; he then looked to Roderick and found desperate hope that he would somehow have the answer shining bright in his eyes.
They may not like the solution he felt was all but staring them in the face, but in his mind, it was the only way to know with any certainty.
The problem was if they decided to go along with his harebrained plan, and in the end, Elphi was cursed, not only would he be forcing her to suffer another devastating loss, but someone would also be dead.