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been told. I regretted losing valuable time that could have
been better spent researching and not chasing my elusive
father.
    "You can visit in the middle of the night if
it's important." He opened the front door and a footman sailed
across the tiles to meet us. "Library?" George said to me as the
footman took our coats and hats.
    "Most definitely."
    "Greggs, have tea sent up to the library and
lunch in an hour. Is Mother at home?"
    "Mrs. Culvert is preparing to go out, sir,"
Greggs said in his deadpan voice.
    "Preparing, eh? That could take hours."
George hooked his arm through mine. "There's no need to tell her
that I have a guest in the library. Unless she asks of course, then
I suppose you must answer truthfully."
    "Very good, sir."
    "You could order him to lie to her," I
whispered as we walked arm in arm into the library adjoining the
entrance hall. "He is your servant after all, not your
mother's."
    "Mother has Greggs wrapped around her little
finger. Besides, she would sniff out the presence of a visitor,
particularly one connected to Lady Preston, regardless of what I
tell her. Mother's senses function all too well when hunting prey
that could help her in certain circles. You, my dear, are a tasty
morsel indeed."
    I stopped at the massive central table with
its leather inlay and squat, solid legs, and set my reticule on the
surface. "I'm not connected to Lady Preston at all. We are merely
acquaintances."
    "But you are friends with Adelaide, aren't
you? I mean, Miss Beaufort." From the way he leaned forward, I
sensed he was interested in the answer for his own sake, not his
mother's.
    "We are friends of sorts, although I'm not
sure how close we are considering she is the daughter of an earl
and I am the illegitimate daughter of a—" I realized I didn't know
what my father did for a living. Perhaps he was a grocer like his
father. "A nobody."
    He winced. "Friendship knows no boundaries,
Emily. Nor does love."
    "You are sounding positively egalitarian,
George." I scanned one of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that
occupied three entire walls of the cavernous room. George's library
was very impressive, with many of the books being old and rare. His
library was a reader's dream, as long as that reader had an
interest in the paranormal. "What's happened to make you so
fair-minded? When we first met, you thought my friendship with
Adelaide quite shocking."
    "You happened, as a matter of fact."
    "Me?" I paused, my hand on a book spine, and
looked at him over my shoulder.
    "Yes, you. Your friendship has enriched me
beyond anything these dusty books ever taught me." He swept his
arms wide to indicate the library with its thousands upon thousands
of volumes.
    "Why George, you're being very sweet all of a
sudden." I narrowed my eyes. "Do you want something from me?" His
cheeks reddened and I laughed. "I knew it!"
    "No, no. Oh very well, yes." He gave me a
crooked smile and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I simply want to
ask you some questions about Miss Beaufort. What sort of dances she
likes best, her hobbies, that sort of thing."
    Meaning he wanted to charm her at the ball.
Dear George got sweeter and sweeter with every moment. "What I
could teach you about women in general, and Adelaide in particular,
would take the rest of the day, and that's only because you know so
little. I'm sorry, George, we don't have the luxury today."
    He sighed. "Of course. You did say it was
important. Something's happened in the Waiting Area?"
    I told him about the fading spirits and
everything Jacob had said. "He's going to find out what he can from
the Administrators, but it's chaotic up there apparently."
    "And he thinks a living person is causing the
chaos?"
    "He does. But how can that be? How can
someone from here influence what happens there?"
    "A curse perhaps." He moved one of the
ladders fixed to the bookshelf railing and positioned it near the
fireplace. That corner of the library seemed gloomier than the
rest, being furthest away from