Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick Page B

table. "This is the third time in a week that you have appeared at breakfast. You are becoming predictable in your habits, sir. I vow, it has reached the point where we could set our clock by your arrival here in the mornings."
    "I have reached the age at which a man must look after his constitution. They say that regular habits and a properly cooked breakfast are essential to good health."
    "So you've decided to combine both vital principles of health and eat here every morning, is that it?"
    "The routine also provides me with a daily walk, another extremely healthful activity."
    "You did not walk here this morning. You arrived in a hackney. I saw you."
    "Watching for me, were you?" He put down the paper, looking pleased. "I used a hack because it rained last night, in case you did not notice. The air is still somewhat damp."
    "Oh, dear." She bit her lip, concern temporarily swamping her irritable mood. "Is your leg aching badly today?"
    "Nothing a good breakfast cannot remedy." He drank some coffee with the air of a man settling in to savor the first meal of the day with hearty relish. "By the way, did I mention that you look like a sea nymph playing in the waves of a southern sea with the sunlight on your hair this morning?"
    She gave him a frosty glare. "It is far too early for such poor humor, sir."
    The breakfast-room door opened again. Mrs. Chilton bustled in with a dish of curried eggs and two currant biscuits. "Here you are, sir. Help yerself."
    "Ah, Mrs. Chilton, your cooking is just what a man needs to fortify himself to face the day."
    The heavy door knocker clanged in the distance.
    Lavinia frowned. "Probably one of Emeline's friends. Mrs. Chilton, please inform whomever it is that she went out walking with Mr. Sinclair."
    "Aye, madam."
    Mrs. Chilton disappeared down the hall. But a moment later when the front door opened, it was not the voice of one of Emeline's many acquaintances that Lavinia heard. It was Howard Hudson's low, rich tones that echoed in the corridor.
    "Hudson." Tobias did not look pleased. "What the devil is he doing here at such an uncivil hour?"
    "I might remind you, sir, that you chose to visit at a rather early hour yourself." Lavinia crumpled her napkin and rose quickly. "If you will excuse me, I shall go and see what he wants."
    "I'll come with you."
    "That is not necessary."
    Tobias ignored that comment. He was already on his feet. She knew from the look in his eyes that he was not going to allow her to banish him to the breakfast room while she greeted Howard.
    "Correct me if I am mistaken," she said as she led the way out the door, "but I have the impression that you are not overfond of Dr. Hudson."
    "The man is a mesmerist. I do not trust the members of his profession."
    "I am a mesmerist, sir."
    "A former mesmerist," he said as he followed her down the hall. "You have embarked upon a new career, if you will recall."
    "Yes, indeed, and I also seem to recall that you are not particularly approving of my new profession either."
    "That is another matter entirely."
    She arrived at the entrance of the parlor at that moment and was thus saved from having to respond to his remark.
    Howard paced in front of the window, his shoulders tight and hunched with tension. His clothes were rumpled. He had not bothered with a stylish knot in his neckcloth. His boots were unpolished.
    Although he had his face averted so that she could not see his expression, she knew at once that something terrible had occurred.
    "Howard?" She went forward quickly, conscious of Tobias behind her. "What is it? What has happened?"
    Howard spun around and fixed her with his fathomless gaze. For an instant it seemed to her that she had been transported to an odd metaphysical plane. The atmosphere around her was suddenly too still. The rattle of a carriage in the street was abruptly muted, as though the sound came from a vast distance.
    With a small, determined effort, she mentally shook off the strange sensation. Normal