Read Quick, Amanda for Free Online Page A

considered an eccentric, but he was definitely no gamester." Beatrice went to
    stand behind a chair. She gripped the back with both hands and gazed at Leo down the length of the
    room. "Shortly before he died, Uncle Reggie made a single very expensive purchase. There is a record of
    it among his personal papers."
    Leo watched her closely. "And that one purchase destroyed his finances?"
    "From what I have been able to determine, yes."
    "If you are about to tell me that your uncle purchased the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite, save your
    breath. I would not believe you.'
    "That is precisely what I am telling you, sir."
    She was deadly serious. Leo studied every nuance of her expression. Her clear, direct gaze did not
    waver. He thought about the rumors he had heard.
    "What led you to believe that your uncle acquired the Rings?"
    "Some notes that he left. The only reason I have them is because Uncle Reggie kept a detailed
    appointment book. He also kept a journal, but it is missing."
    "Missing?"
    "Thieves broke into his house the night he died. I believe the journal was taken by them."
    Leo frowned. "Why would common housebreakers steal a gentleman's personal journal? They could not
    hope to fence it."
    "Perhaps these housebreakers were not so common."
    "Was anything else of value removed?" Leo asked sharply.
    "Some silver and such." Beatrice shrugged. "But I think that was done only to make it appear that the
    housebreaking was the work of ordinary thieves."
    He eyed her thoughtfully. "But you don't believe that." "Not for a moment."
    "Impossible." Leo drummed his fingers on the mantel. "It defies credibility." But he could not forget the
    tales of the Rings that had come to his attention. "Did your uncle have an interest in collecting antiquities?"
    "He was always interested but he could not afford to collect them until he came into his inheritance. After
    that he did not purchase many, however. He claimed that most of the items that were for sale in the
    antiquities shops were fakes and frauds."
    Leo was impressed in spite of himself. "He was right. It sounds as if your uncle had good instincts for
    artifacts."
    "A certain sensibility for that sort of thing runs in the family," she said vaguely. "In any event, Uncle Reggie
    apparently believed that the Forbidden Rings were the key to a fabulous treasure. That is what compelled
    him to pursue them."
    "Ah, yes. The lure of fabled treasure. It has drawn more than one man to his doom." Leo frowned. "Did
    he go to the House of the Rod often?"
    Beatrice turned pink. "Apparently he was a regular client of the proprietress, Madame Virtue."
    "How do you know that?"
    Beatrice studied her fingers. "Uncle Reggie made a note of the visits in his appointment book. He, uh,
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    treated them rather as if they were visits to a doctor. I believe he suffered from a certain type of, uh,
    masculine malady."
    "A masculine malady?"
    She cleared her throat again. "A sort of weakness in a certain extremity that is unique to gentlemen."
    "He was impotent."
    "Yes, well, in addition to his appointments at the House of the Rod, he was apparently a regular patron of
    a certain Dr. Cox, who sold him a concoction called the Elixir of Manly Vigor."
    "I see." Leo released his grip on the mantel and crossed the room to his desk.
    For the first time, he considered seriously the possibility that there had been some truth to the rumors that
    he had heard. The notion was absurd on the face of it. The tales stretched logic and credibility to the limit.
    But what if the Forbidden Rings had been found?
    Beatrice watched him intently. "I have told you the particulars of my situation, sir. It is time for you to
    keep your end of the bargain."
    "Very well." Leo recalled what he had read in the old volume he had consulted after the antiquities dealer
    had contacted him. "According to the legend, a certain alchemist crafted a statue of Aphrodite some