Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick Page B

other two enforcers, Jed and Leggett, listening from the shadows of the hall. “Jed and I got the bleeding stopped very quickly and the doctor who was summoned appeared competent.”
    “He bloody well better be competent. Owes the Boss a favor, and that’s a fact.”
    “I see. Well, rest assured, I called in Mrs. Jones merely as a precaution against infection.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Delbert hesitated, glancing up the staircase. “It’s just that the Boss is sleeping so soundly. Has us a bit worried, if you want to know.”
    “Why? Sleep is what he needs now.”
    “The thing is, he hasn’t been sleeping well for some time. The way he is at the moment, it strikes us as a bit unnatural is all.”
    “He’ll awaken soon,” she assured him. “When he does he will need some nourishing broth. Please ask Mrs. Trevelyan to send up a tray in an hour.”
    Delbert squinted. “How do you know the Boss will be awake by then?”
    “Trust me.”
    She seized handfuls of her skirts and flew up the stairs. The last thing she and Mrs. Trevelyan needed just now was for Griffin’s enforcers to wonder whether she was trying to murder their boss.

10
     
     
     
    CALEB WATCHED LUCINDA LOWER THE HOOD OF HER CLOAK. Her energy was a tonic to all of his senses. He still could not believe that he was married to this remarkable woman.
    “Obviously you were not immediately thrown out of the house as I predicted,” he observed. “Winters must, indeed, be in a bad way if he allowed a woman named Jones to attend him.”
    “Mr. Winters does not even know that I was summoned,” Lucinda said. “He did not awaken during the time I was in the house.”
    Caleb whistled softly. “Well, that certainly explains why you got past the front door. I wonder what he’ll say when he wakes up and discovers that he was treated by you.” He paused a beat. “Always assuming that he will wake up, of course. How bad is it?”
    “Not as bad as it could have been. Mr. Winters was shot in the shoulder. But it is clear that he did not lose a great amount of blood, nor did he slide too far into shock, thanks to the quick actions of Mrs. Pyne. The major danger now is, as always in such cases, infection. That is why I was summoned. Mr. Winters is fortunate in his nurse. Mrs. Pyne seems well versed in modern notions of sickroom hygiene and cleanliness.”
    “Any clue to the identity of the man who shot him?”
    “No, and I did not want to push the matter,” Lucinda said. “It is obvious that the household is on guard, however. There are three men inside. They are all carrying American-style revolvers under their coats. I also noticed two very large dogs.”
    “There is nothing odd about the presence of armed guards in that household. As the Director of the Consortium, Winters has made a lot of enemies. I wonder which one got to him last night?”
    “Do you think Jones and Jones should make some discreet inquiries?”
    “I doubt if we would get far. Winters comes from a different world, my dear.”
    “The criminal underworld, you mean.”
    “It has its own rules, just as our world does. Winters’s connections on the streets of his world are infinitely more impressive than our own. He will not need our assistance to discover the name of the shooter, nor would he welcome it.”
    Lucinda watched him very steadily. “What will happen when Mr. Winters discovers the identity of the man who tried to kill him?”
    “I expect the would- be murderer will quietly disappear. I can also guarantee you that there will be no evidence left behind that could be traced back to the head of the Consortium. Winters is nothing if not subtle. Scotland Yard will never touch him. Spellar, I think, actually owes him a favor or two.”
    Lucinda shivered. “Mr. Winters is a very dangerous man.”
    “Yes, and possibly on the brink of becoming more so.”
    “Do you know him well?”
    “Our families are linked through some ancient history, as you know, but the Winters and the