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The night had seeped into the land, surrounding House Ianus and the associated grounds in blackness.  The electric lights gleamed in a few windows with only a few flickers and stutters.  Most of the manor guests were either resting or deep in studies too entrenched in their work to pay much attention to the hour.  

Adam sat, sunk deeply into his high wing back chair, lost in deep thought.  He sensed the glimmers of a pattern in the chaos of his mind.  There were too many things that were not connected, and yet he knew they were intertwined somehow.  He just was unable to figure out how.  

He kept pulling at a thread of thought, unwinding it to see where it went, and finding nothing.  His Talent was heightened but without being able to see the pattern it was flaring wildly.  Adam was deeply entrenched in studying every perceivable pattern in hopes that one would actually fit the clues he had before him.  

It was entirely possible that they were unrelated; but his Talent told him there was more to each piece than was immediately obvious.   

He sipped the brandy in the near-dark, the electric lights having flickered off briefly leaving only the fire to light the room.  He wasn't worried about the lights.  They would come back eventually.  They always did.  If his father had been here he would have seen to setting the manor up in a more reliable style, more so than he already had.  But Marcus was gone and Adam had no head for such work.  It was just one more way to remind himself that he wasn't the leader his father was.  

 He looked at the clues he had gathered one more time, pondering each.   Finally he came to a decision.  It was well past midnight but he decided that the trail had to be followed.  Perhaps nothing would come of it but he didn't hold out hope for that.  

He opened his eyes, stood and stretched.  Carefully, using a nearby pair of forceps, he placed the letter he had received in an envelope.  He hadn't taken this precaution when he had received it thinking it nothing more than a letter from a member of the Society on some minor matter.   He corrected that mistake now thinking about the words in the letter as he did so.

[i]...my husband stands with me now...[/i]

Impossible.  Adam had seen the man's body.   The dead could not be brought back to life; that was ridiculous fiction.  There must be another explanation but he couldn't even begin to fathom what it would be.  

He rang for his valet.  The man kept the same hours as his master, thankfully, and he soon appeared. 

“Ahh there you are Ren” said Adam as the man materialized in the next room.  “I need you to take this envelope to the Lady Adriana and ask her if she would be so good as to look it over, without gloves, and see what she thinks.” 

Ren was much larger than his master, but he had grown up almost alongside Adam.  When Adam had moved here to the the Manor he had chosen Ren to be his personal body servant, at very handsome wages, and Ren was loathe to loose his post.  He had known Adam all his life and knew just what he could and could not say to the man but he still hesitated; it was clear that his Master's mind was uneasy and that could be somewhat problematic for everyone around him if he was not careful.  Adam tended to become obsessed.    

“Sir, its past midnight.  The Lady, indeed her whole household, will no doubt be abed.”

“Nonsense” said Adam with a wave of his hand.  “She is undoubtedly at some soiree or another, it won't be winding down for at least two more hours.”  

“ Sir, by the time I reach town, figure out which cursed ball she is at, get there, find her, it will be at least two hours.  She will have left or very probably will not wish to be disturbed.”

Adam gave a sigh.  Ren was right.  He hated leaving a problem hanging though, not now that he had crafted a solution. 

“Very well.  See to it then at the first acceptable hour of the morning.”  

Ren took the letter and turned to leave when Adam called out again. 

“One moment” Adam called out.  “Send a runner to Mr. Martin and ask him if he would be so good as to Breakfast with me on the morrow.  And find Ben, he may be in the tunnels here at the house  in research or any of a dozen other places, and leave a message for...wait.  Nevermind.”

Adam paused as his thoughts ran ahead of him.  Ren was used to his Master having fits of energy and waited patiently for Adam to sort out each step in his process.  

“See that the message gets to the Lady as I previously said with the addendum that she should deliver a personal report once she has done so.  You are also to send notices to Mr. Martin, Mr. Moshe, and Ms. Valervicus and ask that they join me at their earliest convenience; I will ensure I have breakfast laid out for all in case they wish to join for that, otherwise I hope to see them shortly after.  If there are any questions just mention that the Society has need of their expertise.” 

With that Adam closed his door, mind considerably eased. He had three separate puzzles, he was convinced they joined somehow, but he would not mention that.  He would see what others thought.  If they came to the same conclusion after independent investigation so much the better; but it was his experience that if he didn't cloud people's judgment with his own opinions things went so much smoother.

He briefly pondered paying a call on his Lady, warm arms awaited him there.  But his mood was still consumed with the puzzle and he would be poor company.  He did not wish to inflict himself upon her when he was in such a mood.  Instead he sunk back into his chair, leaned his head back, and drifted off into a lonely sleep.  Dawn would be here soon enough.