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Arabella Acaster was in her element. The glittering and decadent theatre, the place that London society went to see and be seen, could outshine most people, but not her. Like her restaurant, she seemed to hold court and gather the attention of those around her, easily charming those that had gathered near, circled loosely around her where she stood in the theatre’s lobby. The gown she wore was in the most current fashion, the style and coloring meticulously picked to perfectly complement her features and skin tone. She looked beautiful, and she had the confidence of a woman who knew it.
Beside her, dressed in a crisp tailored suit was her escort. The pair made a handsome couple, and their good looks drew attention naturally to them. However, whereas Arabella was delighting in the attention, Detective Inspector William Wellington was not so inclined. More comfortable dealing with the criminals of London’s streets than making small talk with the theatre-going set of London’s upper middle class, William found the inane chatter of those around him quickly lost his attention. He would reply politely when asked something direct, but most of the intermission he found his attention wandering. There was only so much talk of the weather and the play – of which he had not paid much attention to, thinking of his most recent cases instead – that he could take.
He excused himself from Arabella’s group to make his way to where they were serving up drinks. He looked around as he leaned at the bar and waited to be served, taking in the theatre-goers. That is when he heard a familiar voice further along down the bar. Patrick Nash, of Nash and Sons – not that the man had any sons- was at the opposite end, chatting with the bartender. William watched as the man then walked away with drink in hand, leaning on the cane he now used. Somehow the cane only seemed to add to the man’s suave style, and William was of the thought that Nash rather liked having it. He was not surprised to find Nash at the theatre - the man seemed to have expensive tastes, as notated in his stylish but stately evening wear- and begrudgingly William acknowledged that Patrick Nash blended in with the theatre-going set much more than he himself did.
William temporarily lost track of Nash as he ordered drinks for himself and Arabella. He was not friends with the man, but after he ordered, he found himself trying to see where Nash had gone – William knew the man well enough to know that usually everything he did had a double motive - something to do with his private detective agency. He spotted Nash quickly, not too far from where he had lost track of him, but it was the man’s companion that took William off guard. He stared at the unmistakable honey-toned colored hair expertly curled and pinned in place up and off her neck and shoulders. Compared to her day dresses, which were always long sleeved, and high-necked in accordance to current fashion, tonight her dress showed off her elegant neck and smooth shoulders, her dress teasing the edges of her shoulders, with long gloves coming up over her elbows to almost meet the edge of the off-the-shoulder sleeves. He had seen her in this exact deep blue dress before – twice in fact, as he remembered the night she played charades in it and another they had dined out for a case- at Arabella’s in fact- but like those last two times, he still found it oddly distracting.
William’s eyes narrowed as he realized he was not the only one seeming to admire her dress. What was she doing here with Nash, anyway?
Eliza’s face was half turned toward him as she talked to Nash, sipping her drink. They seemed to be chatting companionably, giving no indication that she was trying to brush the man off. Had they come together?
They must have, as even Eliza would not have come to the theatre by herself. The only logical explanation would be that they were working a case, but why she would be working one with Nash he couldn’t possibly imagine.
He watched as Eliza smiled and laughed at something Nash had just said, and William felt his jaw clench. The man looked entirely far too pleased with himself for her reaction, and it was grating on William’s nerves. Surely Eliza couldn’t think the man charming. He looked back at the part of her face he could see. Could she?
“William? Are our drinks ready yet?”
William had not even noticed Arabella approach, and he quickly looked away from Nash and Eliza. Arabella was giving him a shrewd look and followed his gaze. William turned to see their two drinks were sitting on the bar next to him – he hadn’t even noticed the bartender had set them there- and he picked them up. He didn’t notice Arabella’s lips tighten almost unperceptively when he was turned away.
“Shall we?” he said, turning back and handing Arabella her glass.
But she was not to be distracted, her gaze fixed on Eliza. “Is that Eliza Scarlet?”
Before William could say anything, Arabella hooked her arm in his and steered them toward Eliza and Nash. William cursed inwardly as there was nothing he could think to say to deter her.
Patrick Nash spotted them first, as he was facing toward them as they approached. Perceptively quick, he took in William then Arabella, and her hand possessively placed on his arm, then looked back at Eliza and raised his glass to his lips. William could tell Nash was informing Eliza of their approach, and he saw the exact moment her shoulders stiffened.
“Eliza!” Arabella tittered as they drew up to them. “Imagine us running in to you at the theatre of all places. You do just pop up in the most unexpected places, don’t you?”
Eliza turned toward them with a fixed smiled on her lips, ignoring Arabella’s comment as she greeted them both. “Arabella. William.” William didn’t think he imagined the annoyed look as her eyes met his briefly.
William greeted Eliza and Nash in turn, wanting to be there as little as Eliza.
But Arabella was undaunted by the undeniably tense mood. “Would you mind introducing me to your…friend?” she asked. There was a slight question in her tone at the word friend that no one could have misunderstood.
Nash stepped in smoothly and introduced himself. “Patrick Nash, of Nash and Sons Private Detective Agency.”
Arabella proceeded to introduce herself, before saying, “Oh you are a private detective also?” She looked between Eliza and Nash with feigned delight. “Oh isn’t that just perfect, William?”
None of them missed how Arabella laid her hand on William’s arm, crooning up at him. Nash’s eyebrows rose slightly at the gesture, and William could see Eliza’s eyes flicker with a suppressed eye roll.
William cleared his throat. “Indeed.” Before Arabella could say something else uncomfortable, he asked, “Here on a case, I take it?” He asked it of both Nash and Eliza, but he was only looking at Eliza for the answer. It’s not that he needed to know why they were here, together. But from a professional standpoint, if they were working on case, he figured he’d best find out. And that, he told himself, was the only reason for his curiosity.
Nash glanced between William and Eliza, and the tenseness between them, then replied, “One you need not concern yourself about, Inspector. After tonight we shall have the case tied up quite nicely without any aid from Scotland Yard.”
Eliza noticed how William’s jaw clenched at the small slight as he gave Nash a dark look. Nash, on the other hand, looked as unaffected as ever. Nash turned to Arabella. “You said you own a restaurant?”
She had mentioned it when she introduced herself to Nash, and Arabella confirmed his question with a pleased look. Eliza bit her tongue.
“Do you happen to know the chef at Gilbert’s?” Nash continued. “Eliza and I had reservations to dine there this evening before the play, as I hear the food is superb, but I had to cancel since Eliza wasn’t able to make it on time. Such a waste of a perfectly good meal,” Nash said with a teasing look at Eliza.
Eliza pretended not to notice as William’s penetrating gaze once again focused on her. She felt heat suffuse her cheeks, hoping he wouldn’t notice. It’s not like she had purposefully worked late to avoid going to the same place they had gone to dinner together those four weeks in a row. So why was she avoiding William’s gaze?
Her steady avoidance was quickly ended when Arabella turned to William with a small frown. “Gilbert’s? William you said that their reservations were full?”
William sniffed. “They are.” Suddenly curious, Eliza glanced up to see William now shifting under Arabella’s gaze. It was clear he was uncomfortable, and overly conscious of Eliza and Nash’s attention. It was rare for William to fidget, which was what made the scene doubly curious to Eliza. And not to mention that William always sniffed when he lied. And whereas a moment ago he was looking at her so intently, he now was studiously avoiding her gaze. In spite of the awkward situation, this somehow buoyed Eliza’s mood.
Breaking the tension, Nash said brightly, “I was able to call in an old favor. I helped one of the staff on a case in years past, so was able to get a last-minute reservation.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
The look William gave him clearly insinuated that he doubted the kind of “help” that Nash had given the person in order to garner such a “favor”. But Nash only glanced back at him innocently, nonplussed by William’s disbelieving look.
Knowing that look in William’s eye all too well- it was usually the look he got when he was about to call her out for doing something she shouldn’t- Eliza stepped in quickly, “Patrick, I think we had better get back to our seats.”
After they bade a quick farewell, William watched as Eliza looped her arm around Nash’s and the pair walked off. William was mulling over the whole interaction as he and Arabella returned to their seats.
He was oddly touched that she and Nash hadn’t gone to Gilbert’s together, but if that was by accident or design, William felt he would never know. But the image of the high color in her cheeks as she avoided his gaze felt like it meant something, and he would find himself revisiting that thought later in the evening.
As quickly as this thought came though, another came right on it’s heels - but since when had Nash become Patrick?