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real. The very fact that my father trusts these quacks is proof of his incompetence.”
    “Your father is not a danger to himself or to others. He successfully manages both his business and his household. I see no signs of incompetence in that.”
    Nicholas took a slow, deliberate step away from his sister’s chair. “Perhaps you choose to misunderstand me, sir. I’ll speak plainly. You draft that will and I’ll contest it. Believe me, Mr. de la Noye, I have the connections to make you look as unbalanced as my father really is. By the time I’m through, you’ll be lucky if you can get a clerking position, let alone maintain a profitable law practice.”
    Adrian calmly returned his watch to his vest pocket. “Are you threatening me, Mr. Chapman?”
    “You may interpret my words however you wish.”
    “But what if it’s all true?” Jim’s comment sliced through the uncomfortable silence. “What if Elizabeth Chapman really has come to call?”
    Even the seagulls’ screeches overhead sounded incredulous.
    “I suggest you rein in your associate, Mr. de la Noye,” Nicholas Chapman said.
    Adrian dismissed his words with a raised hand. “Please, Mr. Reid, continue.”
    Jim shrugged. “My granny believed such things. Not a day went by that she didn’t pass on some pearl of wisdom she’d ‘heard’ from my departed grandad. And there was nobody more solid and down to earth than my granny, I can tell you that.”
    “I am not a quack,” Amy said in a clear little voice. “I am not something to belittle. I merely help Mrs. Chapman say what she can no longer say on her own.”
    “And how do you—” Adrian turned toward her, accidentally catching Catharine Walsh’s gaze along the way. That vulnerable curve of the neck . . . the way one of her eyeteeth slightly overlapped the tooth beside it . . . Somewhere in the distance he heard Jim Reid clear his throat, an obvious prompt for him to continue. But Catharine Walsh looked away, taking all his words with her.
    Jim filled the breach. “I’ve a proposition,” he said. “Mr. Chapman, am I correct in assuming that you and Lady Dinwoodie allege your father’s incompetence based on his willingness to believe the inconceivable?”
    “Of course. That shouldn’t require any further explanation.”
    “I am not a charlatan.” Amy’s pink cheeks made her appear even more doll-like than before.
    Jim studied her for one long moment before folding his arms across his chest. “I believe you have a right to prove that to us, Miss Walsh. I suggest a séance.”
    “Oh, dear God,” Nicholas Chapman started, reaching for the flask in Chloe’s hand.
    “A séance?” A broad smile lit Bennett Chapman’s face. “You mean . . . we would all be present for a conversation with Elizabeth? Splendid! How I’d like for you to meet her, Adrian!”
    Adrian forced himself back into the moment, quickly catching Jim’s intent. “An excellent plan, Mr. Reid, and, Mr. Chapman, one that I believe you and your sister may find more suitable than you think.”
    “Why would we acquiesce to this stupidity?” Nicholas demanded. Catharine winced as his hand slammed down onto the table.
    “Because it may prove the easiest way to get what you want,” Adrian said. “Here are the terms: if Miss Amy Walsh presents reasonable evidence that one could believe she communicates—”
    “Preposterous,” Nicholas snapped.
    “—with your mother—”
    “We could give it a whirl, Nicky,” Chloe said. “Séances are all the rage in New York.”
    “—then you must accept that your father is in his right mind.”
    Nicholas grunted.
    Adrian’s voice grew hard as steel. “If that is the case, you will allow me to draft his will in peace. There will be no public complaint on your part, no repercussions whatsoever against either myself or Mr. Reid.”
    “And? Do continue, Mr. de la Noye. Tell me the part I most wish to hear.”
    “If we deduce that Miss Walsh offers your father no reason at