Harry glanced around, curious in spite of himself. He had visited Sally frequently, but she had never entertained him here in the drawing room after it had been turned into Pompeia's. The club was for women only, she had said. She could not violate the rules, even after hours.

"Gives a man an odd feeling, doesn't it?" Peter kept his voice down as he came to a halt next to Harry. "I was never allowed past the threshold, you know. But I always felt a little uncomfortable when I got a good look inside from the door."

"I see what you mean." Harry studied the shadowed pictures on the wall. He recognized many of them at once. They were all women who had managed to survive in myth and legend in spite of what Augusta called the general historical bias against females. Harry was beginning to wonder just how much history had been lost because it had pertained to women and had therefore been deemed unimportant.

"Makes a man curious about what females get up to and what they actually talk about when they are on their own together with no men around," Peter observed quietly. "Sally always said I'd be surprised if I knew."

"She used to tell me I'd be shocked," Harry admitted wryly.

He watched the black velvet cloak swirl around Augusta as she walked over to a Greek pedestal. There was a large, leather-bound volume lying on top.

"This is the notorious betting book?" Harry walked across the room to join Augusta.

"Yes. And it is closed. Just as she said I might someday find it." Augusta opened the volume slowly and started turning the pages. "I do not know what I am searching for."

Harry glanced at some of the entries, all in feminine handwriting.

Miss L.B. wagers Miss R.M. ten pounds that the latter will not get her journal returned in time to avert disaster.

Miss B.R. wagers Miss D.N. five pounds that Lord G will ask for the Angel's hand within the month.

Miss P.O. wagers Miss C.P. ten pounds that Miss A.B. will cry off her engagement to Lord G. within two months.

"Good God," Harry muttered. "So much for a man thinking he has some privacy."

"The ladies of Pompeia's are very fond of wagers, my lord." Augusta sniffed again. "The club will close now, I suppose. I shall miss it. It was a home to me. Nothing will ever be the same here."

Harry was about to remind Augusta that she did not need Pompeia's because she had a home of her own when a piece of notepaper fluttered between two pages of the book. "Let me see that." He snatched it up and examined the list of names.

Peter came forward to peer over his shoulder while Augusta craned her head to get a peek.

"Well?" Peter demanded.

"It's a list of names, all right. No doubt a partial membership list of the Saber Club. This is Sally's writing."

Peter scowled at the list. "I do not recognize any of those names."

"Hardly surprising." Harry pulled the lamp closer and studied the list more closely. "It's in the old code Sally was accustomed to use for her messages to me."

"How long will it take you to decode all those names?" Peter asked. "There must be at least ten there."

"Not long. But after we know who the members were, it will take some time to determine which ones could possibly be the Spider." Harry folded the paper and stuck it safely into his pocket. "Let us be off. We have much to do before dawn."

"What do you want me to do?" Augusta asked quickly.

Harry smiled grimly and readied himself for the battle ahead. "You must go home and awaken the household. Then you will see that you and Meredith are packed and ready to leave for Dorset by seven o'clock."

She stared up at him. "Seven o'clock this morning? But Harry, I do not want to leave town now that we are so close to finding Sally's killer and the identity of the Spider. You must let me stay."

"There is not a chance of me allowing you to stay. Not now that the Spider is aware of this list and will stop at nothing to get it." Harry took her arm and hauled her toward the door. "Peter, perhaps your fiancée would enjoy a short stay in Dorset?"

"I think that would be an excellent notion," Peter replied. "God knows I would just as soon she was out of town until we find the Spider, and I am certain Augusta would like the company."

"I do wish the two of you would cease making plans for me as though I were not able to think for myself," Augusta said loudly. "I do not want to go to Dorset."

"But you will," Harry said calmly.

"Harry, please—"

He thought fast, searching for the most effective lever to use in this argument. When he found it, he applied it mercilessly. "It is not just your own pretty neck I am worried about, Augusta. There is Meredith to consider. I must be certain my daughter is safe. We are dealing with a monster and we do not know to what depths he will sink."

Augusta was clearly thunderstruck by the implications. "You believe he might threaten Meredith? But why would he do that, my lord?"

"Is it not obvious? If the Spider reasons I am the one trying to find him, he could use Meredith to get at me."

"Oh, yes. I see what you mean. Your daughter is your one great weakness. He might know that."

You are wrong about that, Augusta. I have two great weaknesses. You are the other, Harry thought. He said nothing aloud, however. Let her think his chief concern was Meredith and that he was depending on her to take care of his daughter. It was her nature to go to the rescue and defend the innocent. "Please, Augusta. I need your help. I must know Meredith is safely out of the city before I can concentrate on finding the Spider."

"Yes, of course." She looked at him, her eyes grave with the acknowledgment of her responsibility. "I will guard her with my life, Harry."

Harry touched her cheek gently. "And you will take excellent care of yourself, too, hmmm?"

"Certainly."

"You and Meredith shall have a little help," Harry said. "I am sending you down to Dorset with an armed escort. The men will stay with you at Graystone until I get down there myself."

"An armed escort. Whatever does that mean, Harry?" Augusta was clearly startled.

"Less exciting than it sounds. I shall send a couple of grooms with you who have been in my service a long while. They both will be armed and they will know what to do if there is any trouble."

"She'll be safe enough at Graystone," Peter said. "In the country everyone knows everyone else and a stranger in the district will be noticed immediately. And then there are the dogs. No stranger will be able to get into the house without the dogs sounding an alarm."

"Exactly." Harry looked at Augusta. "And you will have Claudia for company."

Augusta smiled slightly. "I would not count on that. I seriously doubt that my cousin can be ready to travel by seven o'clock this morning."

"She will be ready," Peter vowed softly. "I want her out of Town as badly as Harry wants you out."

Augusta eyed him thoughtfully. "I see. I am certain Claudia will find the experience of being sent off at a moment's notice extremely interesting."

Peter shrugged, apparently unconcerned by the notion of a recalcitrant Claudia.

By seven o'clock the next morning, all was in readiness. Harry stood on the steps of the town house and said good-bye first to his daughter. Meredith was disappointed at having to leave the city and all its entertainments, but her father had explained there were matters at the estate which required Augusta's attention. She accepted that explanation, but nevertheless reminded him that she had not yet seen Vauxhall Gardens.

"You shall return shortly and I will take you there myself," he promised her.

Meredith nodded, satisfied. She hugged him fiercely. "That will be nice, Papa. Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Meredith."

Harry put his daughter into the big black traveling coach and then turned to meet Augusta, who was just coming down the steps. He smiled at her elegant dark green carriage dress and frivolous high-crowned bonnet. Trust Augusta to look stylish even when she was being hurriedly packed off to the country at seven in the morning.

"Is all well, then?" she asked as she came to a halt in front of him. She fixed him with a steady look, her eyes serious in the shadow of the bonnet.

"Yes. Your cousin will be waiting for you at her house. You shall all be on your way shortly. You will spend the night at an inn and be at Graystone tomorrow afternoon." Harry paused. "I shall miss you, Augusta."

She smiled tremulously. "And I shall miss you, my lord. We shall be awaiting your arrival down in Dorset. Please be very, very careful, Harry."

"I will."

She nodded and then, without any warning, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him full on the mouth right there in front of Meredith and the cluster of servants milling about the carriage. Harry started to fold her close, but it was too late. She was already pulling away.

"I love you, Harry," Augusta said.

"Augusta." Harry instinctively reached out for her, but she had already turned and stepped into the waiting coach.

Harry stood watching as the black and silver coach rumbled out into the street. For a long while he simply stood there, repeating Augusta's parting words over and over again in his mind. I love you, Harry.

It was, he realized, the first time she had ever actually said the words aloud. He knew now that a part of him had been waiting to hear them for a very long while.

I love you, Harry. The locked door hidden deep inside him opened wide and what lay behind it no longer appeared so bleak.