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bad sign.
    He reached the hidden staircase and climbed it swiftly. At the top he paused to listen before opening the secret panel.
    All of his senses were fully open now. In this heightened state of awareness he could detect his prey and anticipate its actions in the way that only a true predator can.
    It chagrined him to realize that he had been so intent on trying to decide how and when to tell Venetia the full truth about their situation that he had not immediately sensed the intruders. The fact that she had noticed them first was embarrassing, to say the least. Obviously his attention and his concentration had been elsewhere.
    Nevertheless, it was astonishing that she had been able to see them at all in the dark woods that ringed Arcane House. He would have to ask her about that the next time they met.
    The psychical side of his nature would no doubt prove quite useful in dealing with whatever was about to happen here tonight. But it was an unpleasant reality that he could not make use of his paranormal senses without succumbing to the chilling fever of the hunt. It was already upon him, igniting his blood.
    His father was convinced that psychical senses represented a new, more advanced development in humans. But Gabriel secretly wondered if in his case the reverse might be true. Perhaps he was in reality some sort of throwback.
    When he was in this state his deepest fear was that beneath his expensive clothes and the gloss of a fine education and drawing room mariners, he was actually something quite the opposite of a truly modern man. He wondered it, in fact, he was exhibiting traits and characteristics that could only be described as primeval.
    If Mr. Darwin’s theories were correct, what did that make him? he wondered.
    There were two reasons he had wanted Venetia safely away from this place tonight. The first was to ensure her safety as well as that of the only other woman on the premises, Mrs. Willard.
    But the second reason was to prevent Venetia from seeing him while the fever was upon him.
    It was not the sort of thing that would make a good impression on one’s future wife.

Chapter 4
    Bath: One week later…
     
    Mr. Jones is dead. Venetia stared, horrified, at the small notice in the newspaper. She felt as though she had been turned inside out. “Impossible. It can’t be true.”
    Her aunt, Beatrice Sawyer, her sixteen-year-old sister, Amelia, and her nine-year-old brother, Edward, all looked up from their breakfasts. It was just a small item buried next to the shipping news. Venetia realized that she had almost missed it entirely.
    Shaken, she read it again, this time out loud for the benefit of the others at the table.

    *Fatal Fire and Accident in the North *
    The body of a man named Gabriel Jones was discovered following a devastating fire in a mansion known locally as the Abbey. The tragic events occurred on the 16th of the month. Mr. Jones was found dead amid a collection of ancient relics, evidently having been killed when one of the heavy artifacts toppled over and struck him on the head.
    It is believed that at the time of his death the victim was attempting to save the antiquities from the fire that swept through the premises. Many of the objects were destroyed in the blaze.
    The body was identified by the housekeeper and her husband. The pair told the authorities that Mr. Jones had taken up residence at the Abbey shortly before the dreadful fire that took his life. Neither servant knew much about their employer. Both stated that he was exceedingly secretive and eccentric in his ways.

    Stunned, Venetia lowered the paper and looked at her companions. “The sixteenth was the night I left Arcane House. It isn’t possible. He said that we would meet again. He said there were things we needed to discuss.”
    “Indeed?” Amelia was clearly intrigued. Her pretty face brightened with curiosity. “What was it he wished to talk to you about?”
    Venetia brought herself back to the moment with an act