“Mister Garrett,” said Cedric, extending his hand in greeting. “A pleasure to see you. I didn’t know the McGraw Agency had business out here in the wilderness.”
Silas Garrett, the royal investigative agent, regarded us speculatively. “His Majesty has business in all the colonies, and I am but his humble servant. You . . .” He frowned, taking in my rough clothes and disheveled hair. “You were one of the girls at Wisteria Hollow?”
I was getting tired of having the difference in my state constantly being reinforced. “Yes. I’m Adelaide Bailey.”
I stated my assumed name firmly. I didn’t know what had happened with the search for my former self, but if he’d seen my portrait, I was pretty sure he would’ve identified me immediately. Surely I hadn’t changed that much.
“I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you girls married up? Unless you’ve found some successful prospector . . .” Again, his tone told me he found that hard to believe, given my appearance.
“Things change,” I said. “And you never know—anyone can make their fortune out here. But it’s certainly a lot of hard work.”
“Hard, sweaty, dirty work,” Cedric confirmed. “Not like the glamorous life of a McGraw agent.”
Silas guffawed. “Not that glamorous. Lots of hard and dirty work there too.”
Cedric wore the bright, dazzled look of someone in the throes of hero worship. “Come on, don’t ruin it for us. I don’t suppose you can tell us anything about what you’re working on? The case you mentioned that was so top secret?”
“Still top secret,” said Silas. His tone was gruff, but I got the impression he liked the attention.
I picked up on Cedric’s lead. “What about your associate’s case? That missing noblewoman? You can tell us about that, can’t you?”
“Not much to tell, I’m afraid. That other agent got delayed up north, and I’m sure last night’s storm hasn’t helped things. But I expect he’ll arrive soon. He may end up out here, for all I know. Rumor has it the lady in question might have fled to some of the outer settlements.” Again, his eyes fell on me, and I laughed.
“I have a hard time believing that—at least if she’s anything like the noblewomen I worked around. I remember our household was in an uproar when my lady cracked a nail just before some fancy gala. Someone like her could never handle this.” I held out my hands and pulled off some of the wrappings. The bleeding had stopped overnight, but they still looked pretty terrible. Silas actually flinched.
“My goodness,” he said, looking away. “That . . . must hurt quite a bit.”
“That’s life out here, Mister McGraw.” Cedric gave him a polite nod of farewell. “And now we’ve got other things to attend to. Good luck with your case.”
We strolled away casually, but I groaned as soon as we were out of earshot. “Why do I have the feeling that the latest ‘rumor’ he heard came from Viola Doyle?”
“Because, as previously established, you’re a smart and intelligent woman. And Viola Doyle is a vindictive one.”
I came to a halt in front of some shops where men busily hammered away, making conversation difficult. “If that picture gets shown in Cape Triumph, the other agent doesn’t even have to come to Hadisen himself. All it’ll take is some enterprising bounty hunter trekking out here to claim his prize.”
“You need to get married.”
“A conversation we keep having over and over.”
He started to respond, but then his eyes fell on something across the dusty road—or, more specifically, someone. “I know that man . . .” Cedric murmured. His brow furrowed and then smoothed out. “It can’t be. I need to go talk to him.”
I nearly said I’d follow, but then I realized we were standing in front of the courier’s office. “Meet me back here,” I said.
The office had sustained only a little damage and was still operating. The mail chief recognized me from our first day and produced two letters he’d been holding, one each for Cedric and me. Cedric’s was from his associate, Walter, back in Cape Triumph. I tucked it into my pocket and tore into my envelope. It was from Mira.
Dear Adelaide,
I know it hasn’t been that long, but life without you feels so strange. I’ve had you by my side for the last year, and there’s an emptiness now that you’re gone. Having Tamsin back helps a lot. She won’t talk much about Grashond and seems troubled when it comes up. But aside from those moments, she’s her same old self.