William kept his face as neutral as possible when he slipped back to the party, recording cylinders tucked safely in a canvas bag. His clothing was dusted off and all was back in order in the other room so he gave Miss Bloom and his wife the signal to wrap up their 'performance.'

Julia, for her part, continued to flirt with the guests, overtly catching William's eye in the process as if it were great fun. Lord knows why, chattered sourly in his head.

He realized that their extrication had to move quickly and at the same time seem natural, so it took all his patience to wait it out. Miss Bloom threw her final kisses and bowed, receiving some appreciative applause, allowing William to wheel the remains of the 'cake' out of the room and herd both ladies to the street and into the waiting carriage, never so grateful to hear a door slam behind him. Miss Bloom and Julia were exuberantly talking about their adventure in the carriage box, sharing a laugh. William took the reins and nearly shouted in exasperation when Julia suddenly ordered him to stop.

"We have to go, NOW!" he grumbled, none too gently.

"Stop! I need a sample of that road tar. Here, take this." She handed him a spoon she'd cadged from the club. "I saw it when we came in. I think I can connect it to Mr. Dobbs' body."

"No," he said as he drove the horse forward without waiting for her response. "Julia, be sensible. Any evidence about Mr. Dobbs' death must be properly collected by the actual constabulary, not us. We cannot be seen to be "investigating" anything. I hope to get Detective Watts to do that tomorrow, God willing. Right now we have to get Miss Bloom safely away and listen to the recordings."

Though William would have liked for Nina to have stayed at a hotel that night for her safety, Nina insisted that that she would be fine; the only reason Lydia had ended up dead is because she had seen a murder. However, she allowed William to sweep her room to allay his concerns as well as give Julia a chance to change back into her male disguise.

Having inspected doors, windows, and locks, William was as reassured as he could be that Miss Bloom would be safe. Promising to keep Nina informed if they heard anything about George, and thanking her again for being the distraction to allow William and Julia to work and gather intelligence at the party.

"Julia, I know it's late, but I really would like to get my hands on Davis' possessions at the asylum. According to Giles, there could be some very valuable information and evidence in his notes," William stated, hoping his tone demonstrated that this was more than a request. Sticking to the investigation was the only thing he could think of doing at the moment, certainly not discussing her actions nor talking about his feelings. That would undo him if he gave into it, he was sure, so he needed time to settle his thoughts.

"I thought you might, and yes, it's actually for the best. There are very few staff at night and we can sneak in the same way I did a couple nights previous," she agreed, sensing something had set him ill at ease at the club.

Coming in through the asylum basement before making their way to a long neglected and forgotten ward, William forgot that he was angry with Julia and began to, if not exactly enjoy the skullduggery and skulking through the building, at least relax in his wife's company. Even more so as Julia assured him that the night watch only prowled the halls at two hour intervals and his most recent was at midnight, and it was now 12:45. If they were quiet and quick, Julia assured him they wouldn't be caught.

As they found their way into the staff room, Julia went straight to a particular locker and removed a large bundle of clothes and such – presumably Jeffrey Davis' effects, clothes and other items and stuffed them into a bag.

"We can go through everything back in our room," Julia explained before she stopped and thought of something else. "I don't suppose you've thought of a way to listen to the cylinder, have you?" she wondered.

"Do you know of a machine here?" William asked.

"I do. There should be one in the Director's office," she answered, clearly thinking of how she was going to get it.

"Far too risky I think," he said. "We have to make sure we are never discovered. That device going missing might raise a red flag."

"Just as well, then. I want to check in on Davis while we're here. He's just around the corner," she added as she brought out her set of keys from her pocket and cracked open a door to make sure the coast was clear before darting down the hall with him, pulling him by the hand.

William recognized the place as the women's ward where his wife had been assaulted, the painful memory coming back to him, but she did not seem to give it a second thought.

Julia unlocked the ward's outer door and slipped in wordlessly, then went to one of the individual cells and opened that was well. "I want to check Davis' vitals as well as his wound," Julia explained. "It will not do to lose him to an infection before he can tell us what you need him to."

With her brief examination complete, and nodding at him with a smile, Julia stood. "He'll be all right for tonight, perhaps tomorrow. There is no pus in the wound and it does not smell." She frowned. "The real problem is hydration and eventually nutrition." William gestured in understanding.

They slipped back outside and locked the cell. Glancing at her pocket watch to ensure she had enough time, she made her way out of the unused part of the basement into the more actively used portion and stopped in front of a set of glass cases positioned in the wide hallway. She reached into a library case of old textbooks and reference materials to pull out a scarred and dirty copy of Gray's Anatomy, quickly flipping to a predetermined page and took out a note.

Quickly scanning it, Julia looked up. "My students have been taking care of him, but they don't think they can keep him hidden and sedated much past Thursday. Their shifts will be over then, much as I assumed." Julia informed him.

"But they can do it?" William asked, dreading the fact that Julia had roped her students into this deception as well.

"Yes, they can."

"All right, we'll do our best. That will give us two days to see what evidence we have in his notes, the recordings and anything else before finding a place to move him to," William agreed, while scanning the glass-fronted shelving.

"Very well. Let me write them a quick note that we'll move him Thursday night then," she murmured, scribbling a quick reply. When she looked up, William was reaching high into one of the shelves and brought out a rectangular wooden box, a huge, satisfied grin on his face. "Julia. This is an Edison cylinder player. It is missing some of the pieces, which is why it is stashed away here I presume, but I think I can make it work. Do you think anyone will miss it?"

Julia shook her head and told him to go ahead and take it, shifting a few books around to fill in the 'hole' on the shelf as he added it to the bag. A few minutes later, they were sneaking back off the grounds, holding hands and laughing as they ran out the back gate and into the street. Forgetting himself, that awful party and their disguises for just a moment, William grabbed Julia and pulled her towards him in a demanding kiss of their own, his hands roaming the curves of her body, unbound and loose beneath male attire. Backing her against a tree well hidden in the shadows, William pressed her up against the bark, debating with himself if it were safe enough to grant her one of her experiences.

Surprised that he was acting so boldly, she smiled inwardly. It had been ages since he had kissed her like this, and it had been so long since she'd experienced this kind of passion she lost all awareness of time in the melting rush she felt overtaking her. This is the William I have been missing!

Suddenly, the sound of a horses hooves could be heard down the street, and they were brought back to reality, remembering that all was not well and that they were not free to be lovers stealing into the shadows. They pulled apart and quickly ran down a side street to the Star Room's borrowed wagon to evade further scrutiny.

Settled into the wagon, Julia sighed contentedly and made a laughing comment about how much she enjoyed herself today, expecting him to agree, when William at that point remembered he did not enjoy seeing her cavort with other men and did not respond to her, thinking it best to hold his tongue.

Julia could sense the change come back over him, and knew for sure that he was disturbed with her, probably about what happened at the party. The moment having been broken, they rode back to the Star Room in silence, with Julia ruminating about their situation.

A while ago he could not keep his hands off of me. Why should he be angry? And they say women are difficult to understand! Julia frowned.

After dropping off the wagon, they walked to the hotel. William remained quiet, and Julia doubted that his thoughts were completely absorbed by their investigation or wondering how to best repair the broken Edison player. Given the scowl on his face, she was willing to wager that he was unhappy about what had happened at the club.

The longer the silence between them, the more irritated she became. He's being ridiculous! I was playing a part! I had to flirt with other men, lead them on…it's what I had to do! As they neared the Prince Albert Julia decided that she had had enough and confronted him.

"All right William, you've been upset with me ever since we left the party. You know I was playing a role! Being a virtious, respectable married woman was not going to get me the information we needed! Why are you jealous?" she goaded him.

William considered if answering honestly was wise, and decided that he would, as he was too angry to be polite.. "I'm well aware of the role you played, but it seems to me that you enjoyed it a bit too much," his voice tight, unable to inject any levity. "Since your husband is boring you of late, perhaps you have discovered yourself amenable to enjoying some amusements elsewhere?" He saw Julia's face redden; she obviously did not know he'd overheard her conversation from the vantage of the air grate.

Julia immediately felt a jolt of apprehension tear through her at his words. What on Earth had he seen? She winced as he continued quickly enough.

"Were you incited to compare my kisses to others? Did Pendrick lead you to wonder what else you were missing? Did you need more subjects for your little experiment?" William's tone veered to sarcastic. "Perhaps you should ask Nina if you can get a job at the Star Room and then you'll have an excuse for your escapades," he hissed under his breath.

Julia's outrage flared, so she slapped him across the cheek, surprising the both of them with her sudden fury. "What about you William, when did you become bored with me? When did I fail to inspire passion in you anymore?" she spat out, aware that she risked their cover stories with her behaviour. Fortunately there was no one on the street to witness her outburst.

His eyes went wide with shock, but William said nothing in response, closed himself down with obvious effort, and went directly into the hotel, taking his pipe out and clamping it between his teeth, assuming the persona of glowering father with a recalcitrant progeny for the benefit of the desk clerk. Julia followed him in, her thoughts confused and racing, trying to understand William's point of view and to justify, rationalize, her own actions. Nothing good came to her. Once upstairs in their room, William began fiddling with his Edison device, ignoring her. Julia got ready for bed and by the time she got out of the water closet, William was already on the mattress, facing the other side, pretending to be asleep when Julia knew he wasn't. They had only argued this way once before and it was not a pleasant memory. That time she had eventually apologized, but at the moment she was feeling righteous and disinclined.

She was too restless to sleep. She saw that William had examined Davis' belongings – retrieving all the keys and laying them out in groups. He set three aside, labeled with notes about what sort of locks they might fit. That gave Julia an idea of where they'd be searching the next day.

Sighing, she conceded that with the hard hours of travel as well as the excitement of the past few days, she was far too exhausted to think too deeply about anything. Making sure to leave everything on the desk for William to find it in the morning, she climbed into bed alongside her husband to try and rest, making it a point to face the opposite wall and ignore the guilt eating her from within that she told another man she was bored with her marriage.

The worst of it was that it was partly true.