Julia shuddered. "The press would certainly have seized upon a story that involved a sensation novelist being murdered by her lover."

Milly was aghast. "He actually expected such a scheme to work?"

Elsworth shook his head. "You do not understand how it is with those who are willing to suspend all logic and common sense in their desire to believe in the possibility of communicating with the Other Side. Trust me when I tell you that Reed was one of the most gullible people I have ever met"

Caroline looked at him. "Were you the one who sent the messages to Adam and me summoning us to Toller's house on the morning after she was murdered?"

"No" Ellsworth raised both hands, palms out. "I plead innocent to that charge."

"Reed sent them." Adam closed the journal. "He also sent an anonymous message to the police and several members of the press. He wanted to create a sensation."

"He no doubt hoped that you would be arrested," Wilson said. "At the very least, you would be placed under a heavy cloud of suspicion and scandal. His primary goal was to drive a wedge between you and Caroline. He assumed she would be shocked and horrified when she discovered that you were linked to a murder. He thought she would turn her back on you to protect her own reputation."

Adam smiled slowly and looked at Caroline. "Reed obviously had no psychical talent of his own. He failed to foresee that you would supply me with an alibi even though it meant that you would become more deeply entangled in a great scandal."

Laughter lit her eyes for the first time since her ordeal at Wintersett House. "He obviously knew nothing about sensation novelists. We thrive on that sort of thing"

FORTY-ONE

One month later….

"I say." Wilson's loud exclamation reverberated off the walls of the breakfast room. He slapped the copy of the Flying Intelligencer down onto the table. "This is indeed a very surprising turn of events."

Adam scooped jam out of a pot. "It is too early in the day to be shouting. What is it that has alarmed you? Bad financial news?"

"Hang the financial news. This is a far more earthshaking matter." Wilson stabbed at the newspaper with a forefinger. "This is the last chapter of The Mysterious Gentleman. You will not credit it, but Edmund Drake has emerged as the hero."

Adam felt something inside him go very still. Hope flared. He lowered the knife that he had been about to use to spread the jam on a slice of toast.

"I thought Drake was the villain of the piece," he said carefully.

^"So did I and everyone else who is following the story, I'll wager." Wilson reached for the coffee. "But there you have it. I just finished the last chapter in which Drake rescues Miss Lydia and unmasks that priggish Jonathan St. Claire."

"The character everyone assumed was the hero?"

"Yes. Never did like him. Too well-mannered and so excruciatingly proper. Quite a boring chap, really. I should have realized that Caroline would never allow him to marry Miss Lydia. Drake was the right man all along."

"Edmund Drake marries Miss Lydia?"

"Yes, indeed" Wilson grunted. "All very exciting stuff. Can't wait to hear what Julia has to say about it. I'm sure that all over London this morning readers are astonished and amazed. Once again the clever Mrs. Fordyce has thrilled us with a final, unexpected startling incident. The woman is brilliant, I tell you."

Adam whipped his napkin off his lap and tossed it onto the table. "You must excuse me, sir."

He got to his feet and headed toward the door.

"What's this? Where the deuce are you going, Adam? You haven't finished your breakfast"

"My apologies, sir, but I must be off immediately. There is a matter of vital importance that cannot wait any longer."

Wilson blinked owlishly and then the bewilderment cleared from his expression. Satisfaction replaced it.

He picked up the newspaper again. "Give my regards to Caroline

She was in her study, enjoying the warm sunlight that poured through the window and idly making some notes for her next story, when Adam walked into the room. She looked up, anticipation sleeting through her. Then she got a closer look at his expression. The smoldering heat in his eyes made her catch her breath.

"Adam? Is something wrong? You look a bit feverish" He came toward her with long, purposeful strides.

"You made Edmund Drake the hero of your story," he

said.

"Well, yes, I did. What of it?"

He halted in front of her desk, flattened his powerful hands on the surface and leaned forward. "Why did you do that?"

"I thought it made a rather exciting twist," she said cautiously. "I must say, I'm surprised you know how The Mysterious Gentleman ended. I thought you stopped after reading that one chapter."

"Wilson told me about your last startling incident."

"I see. May I ask why the matter is of such concern to you? Given that you do not read that sort of novel, I mean?"

He straightened and moved around the desk before she realized his intent. Leaning down, he seized her shoulders, hauled her out of the chair and set her on her feet.

"Because it gives me hope that you might love me as much as I love you," he said.

Wonder and joy flashed through her. "You love me?"

"Since the first moment I saw you here in this very room."

"Oh, Adam, I do love you with all my heart" She flung her arms around his neck.

"Now will you put me out of my misery and marry me?"

"Yes, of course. I have been hesitating only because I was afraid that it was your rules that obliged you to make the offer. I am well aware that your noble nature imposes a heavy sense of responsibility on you."

"Caroline," he said very evenly and with great force. "I love you more than words can say and I will love you for the rest of my life and beyond. Knowing that I have your love makes me the happiest man on earth. But I must tell you that there is nothing noble about my desire for you. I want you desperately. I would lie, cheat, steal or worse to get you"

She laughed. "What is the matter, sir? Does it unnerve you to know that you are fashioned of heroic material?"

"Heroes are for novels." He stroked her lower lip with the edge of his thumb. "I am a man. All I care about is that you love me the way a woman loves a man."

"For the rest of my life and beyond," she vowed.

He kissed her there in the golden sunlight, holding her so close and so tight that she forgot about all else.

It was the sound of familiar voices that brought her back to reality.

"Good day to you, Mr. Hardesty," Emma said from the doorway. "It is rather early for this sort of thing, is it not?^"

Adam raised his head. "Good day to you, madam. In answer to your question, no, it is not too early for this sort of thing. As it happens, I intend to marry Caroline and make it a regular practice to begin every day in a similar manner.^"

"How romantic" Milly hurried into the room with a tray and set it on a table. She picked up the pot and looked around expectantly. "Tea, anyone?"

"I think we could all use a cup," Caroline said from the circle of Adam's arms. "Adam was just attempting to convince me that he is not the heroic sort."

"Nonsense" Milly sat down and poured tea into four cups. "It is obvious that he is every inch the hero"

"That was certainly my impression," Emma said, taking a chair.

Adam assumed a deeply pained expression. "If we could change the subject, I would be extremely grateful."

`As you wish," Caroline said. "Actually, there was an-other topic that is of considerable interest to me. In fact, I was just making some notes for the first chapter of my new novel."