"Katherine Kurtz - Adept 01 - The Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

evidence of anyone's presence. As he paused on the bottom-most step to get his bearings, however, he
noticed that the door to the library was standing slightly ajar. Taking his courage firmly in hand, he went up to
the threshold and rapped lightly on the paneled oak.
"Come in," said Adam Sinclair's deep voice from inside.
Peregrine pushed the door open and stepped timorously into the room. Adam was sitting at his desk with his
back to the window, the sleeves of an immaculate white shirt aglow in the morning sun against a dark
waistcoat and cravat. The jacket of the morning suit was hanging over the back of another chair. Peregrine
was surprised to see his host so formally attired until he remembered, with a pang, that Adam had promised
to pay a sympathy call on the Kintoul family that morning, and apparently had done so.
"You've already been up to Kintoul House, haven't you?" Peregrine said, flinching from the direct gaze as
Adam looked up. "I - I meant to go with you. You shouldn't have let me sleep."
Smiling, Adam set aside a newspaper cutting he had been reading, laying it on a stack of similar items in an
open manila file folder.
"I felt that you needed the sleep more than the family needed yet another caller this morning," he said easily.
"There will be ample time for a more meaningful visit in the week to come. Besides," he added, not unkindly,
"I think you may be sure that Lady Laura would not have begrudged you the benefit of a good night's sleep."
Peregrine opened his mouth as if to protest, then shut it again when he realized that Adam had spoken ho
more than the truth. While he was still searching for a suitably chastened rejoinder, Adam said, "Humphrey's
set up a table for brunch in the room across the hall from this one. If you're sufficiently wide awake to feel
peckish, I'll ring down to let him know we're ready for something to eat."
When Peregrine made no demur, Adam reached across the bay to tug at an embroidered bellpull, then
returned his attention to tidying up the stack of cuttings in his file. The motion drew Peregrine's gaze like a
magnet, and the words, "Antique Sword," jumped out at him from the headline on the top cutting, just as
Adam closed the folder.
"You'll find I have a variety of interests," Adam said casually, taking no apparent note of the slightly guilty
look of surprise on Peregrine's face as the artist quickly looked up. "Every once in a while, I get asked to
assist the police with cases that have aspects of the - shall we say, unusual about them. For quite some
time now, I've made a habit of saving anything in the papers that happens to catch my eye. More than once,
this eccentricity has given me advance warning that my services may be called for."
Peregrine blinked and nodded, but he had the sudden, inexplicable feeling that something had just gone
totally over his head. Adam's manner seemed as relaxed as ever, but Peregrine abruptly was certain of one
thing: his host's apparently simple and open explanation was camouflage for something far from simple.
Whatever the nature of the case involving this mysterious sword, Sir Adam Sinclair had some personal stake
in the affair.
"I'm sorry, Sir Adam," Peregrine said stiffly. "I didn't mean to pry."
Adam cocked his head at Peregrine in some amusement. "Sir Adam?" he said archly. "If we're going to work
together, Peregrine, I think you might be entitled to drop the Sir, at least in private. And you're not prying. If
you'd not been meant to see this, do you think I would have been reading it when I knew you might come in
at any time? Besides, it's all been in the newspapers at one time or other. Have a look, if you're interested."
He held out the file folder, still smiling, but Peregrine shook his head, aware of feeling a little silly to have
made such a fuss, yet quite certain that Adam was not laughing at him.
"That isn't necessary," he murmured. "I - just didn't want you to think I'd take advantage of your kindness.
And frankly, even if I did read that," he jutted his chin toward the folder with a sheepish grin, "I doubt I'd be
any the wiser."
"Perhaps not," Adam agreed with a chuckle. He opened a drawer on the right-hand side of the desk and
deposited the folder inside before reaching for his jacket. "Shall we go? I seem to recall that Humphrey
mentioned something about fresh salmonтАж."
Later, after they had disposed of the salmon, not to mention eggs Benedict and fresh asparagus, Adam took
Peregrine on a long guided tour of the house. The present Strathmourne House was not of any great
antiquity, having been rebuilt on the site of an earlier house ravaged by fire in the mid-nineteenth century -