The River of No Return

dragging her back to my house, where that man was waiting for her. Perhaps that is a sign that she is lucky. Perhaps she has come to no harm.”
    Jemison was silent, his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his jacket. His face was expressionless, neither friendly nor hostile.
    Solvig snorted, eager to continue her search.
    Nick sighed. “You do not believe me,” he said. “You think me war-addled.”
    Jemison smiled as calmly as if Nick had been describing the theory of gravity. “On the contrary, my lord. I believe you completely.”

CHAPTER FORTY
    Itell you, Nick, she is not here.”
    “Your godforsaken dog thinks she’s here.” Nick yanked at Solvig’s lead; the dog was pulling away from him, straining down the front steps of Alva’s house. She was fascinated by some spot in the street.
    Solvig turned resentful eyes on Nick and barked, then with one strong yank of her lead she broke free and bounded down the stairs, to stand over that spot on the pavement, her nose pushing back and forth in the dirt.
    Alva was wearing a silver wrap over not very much, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a complicated confection of loops and curls. Now she watched her former pet, a furrow between her brows. “Perhaps she didn’t follow the trail at all. Perhaps she just led you home to me.”
    “She was following some sort of scent,” Nick said. “She dragged us up and down every street in Soho, her nose down and her tail up like a flag.”
    Alva pursed her lips, then turned to Jemison. “Who is your friend, Nick? Are you going to introduce us?”
    “Miss Blomgren, Mr. Jemison,” Nick said, gesturing impatiently from one to the other. “I’ve told him about the Ofan and the Guild, Alva, so you’ve no need to be secretive.”
    “Oh, have you.” Alva tipped her head on one side and gave her full attention to Jemison. “And you believe his lordship, Mr. Jemison?”
    Jemison bowed. “I have reason to trust what he says.”
    Alva nodded, once. “That is high praise, indeed.” She turned back to Nick, who was almost quivering with impatience. “That was a remarkable decision you made, Nick, to tell a Natural about the River of Time. You must trust Mr. Jemison, in return.”
    “Obviously.” Nick punched his fist into his open palm. “Now can we stop caring and sharing and get on with finding a young woman who might well be in mortal danger? Why, for instance, would Julia come here of all places?”
    Alva glanced down and fingered the fine texture of her garment. “I’m not sure.”
    “That is not the truth,” Jemison said.
    Alva’s gaze flew up and Nick watched as the courtesan and the ex-soldier locked eyes.
    “You are an observant man,” Alva said.
    Jemison bowed his head.
    “Your friend is correct.” Alva turned to Nick with a half smile. “Or at least, he is not wrong. I don’t know why Julia would come to me. But she was here yesterday. She came with your sister.”
    “They visited you? A prostitute?”
    Alva put her hand on Nick’s arm. “Please do not play the marquess with me, Nick. I met your sister on a harmless walk a week or so ago. She did not inform me of her rank, and we chatted quite naturally. Then she and Julia turned up yesterday hoping to extend the friendship. When I learned who they were, I sent them on their way with a flea in their ear.”
    “I find that not at all comforting.”
    “The young lady is missing,” Jemison said, “and the dog led us to you, Miss Blomgren. You know her, Nick knows you. There must be some reason she came here.”
    “The only reason I can think of is no reason at all,” Alva said in answer. “The poor child thinks I am Nick’s mistress.”
    “And how,” Nick said with contempt, “did she come to think that?”
    Alva’s eyes warmed. “The icy resolve of a man in love,” she said. “How lovely for Julia. But I’m afraid you can’t blame me. She arrived fully aware that you had a mistress and what she looked like. When she saw me, she put two and two together.”
    “This was yesterday? Yesterday morning?”
    “Yes.”
    The icy resolve melted like a snowflake. Nick sat down on the step, not caring if it cost him his dignity. So Julia had come directly from Alva’s house, called for him, and then she had simply . . . made him her lover. What must she have thought when he told her he loved her? No wonder that strange expression had flitted across her face. No wonder her reply had been so flat.
    Alva stepped out of