Page 28 of Black and Silver

Lawrence made a sound that was half laughter, half choking as he joined her by the lascivious carving.

“I, er, I do not wish to give myself airs,” he said, face downturned and clearly red, even in the light of the lanterns, “but my familiarity with the female form through intensive artistic study means that I know where all the important things are located.”

Minnie snorted particularly loudly, then clapped a dusty hand to her face. “I am afraid I know all too well what you mean by that,” she said, sending him a sideways look.

“You do?” Lawrence asked, almost forlorn, as Minnie stepped around the statue to see if there was any way to recognize the man in the carving as Lawrence.

Minnie glanced at him from the other side of the statue. “Did you assume I was a virgin, my lord?” she asked with teasing formality. “At my age?”

“I, er, that is, I did not want to presume….”

Minnie laughed and shook her head, but made no further comment on the topic.

“It’s larger than I thought it would be,” she said, nearly laughing again at the potential double entendre of her words. Although when it came to the statue, she did not know about that particular appendage, as it was not visible, given the intimate position of the figures.

“Were you expecting it to be a desktop ornament?” Lawrence asked, setting his lamp on a nearby crate and reaching for the statue.

“Well, yes,” Minnie said.

In fact, the statue was easily as long as her arm and nearly a foot tall. It seemed to be the sort of thing one set on a pedestal in the hallway…of a brothel.

“I would imagine it is heavy,” she said with a frown, studying the carving as an object.

Lawrence sighed. “No doubt it is. I believe we could manage it together, but if we cannot, you must go and fetch Silas.”

Minnie shook her head. “No, I should be able to do my part in carrying it. I am more worried about how we might transport the lanterns and the statue at the same time.”

That proved to be the real challenge of their task. Between the two of them, they could manage the weight of the statue. Barely. Carrying lanterns while they moved it was out of the question, however.

In the end, they had to resort to a piecemeal process of Minnie carrying the lanterns to the attic door, then the two of them hauling the statue to the door and down the stairs. Then, when they reached the hall, Lawrence was forced to balance the statue against a small windowsill while Minnie ran back to fetch the lanterns and close the attic door, then take the lanterns to the end of the hall and place them on the floor. Once that was done, she returned to Lawrence to help him with the immense weight of the marble.

They carried it down the hall and as far past the lanterns as they dared before Lawrence was forced to rest again while Minnie fetched the lanterns and relocated them to a spot farther along.

They proceeded in that manner until they descended to the ground floor and down the hall to the entrance to the servants’ hall. It was a minor miracle that no one was stirring in the house and that they were not discovered.

Once they reached the top of the servants’ stairs, Minnie descended into the hall to find Silas. Blessedly, Lawrence’s driver was waiting there for them and rushed to take Minnie’s place carrying the statue.

They made much better time carting the heavy thing through the servants’ hall and past the few servants who were still up at that late hour—whom Silas had apprised of their plot earlier, and who were more than happy to keep silent about it at the expense of their master and mistress—and out to the courtyard behind the kitchens.

From there, Silas took over the task of securing the wicked thing within a trunk still strapped to the back of the carriage while Minnie and Lawrence returned to their room.

“I am in utter awe of the fact that we’ve succeeded at our mission,” Minnie said from the dressing room as she peeled out of her dusty clothing and quickly washed away the grime that had managed to cover her. “I wish I had known the statue was as large and heavy as that. I would have devised some sort of carrying mechanism.”

“No doubt you would have,” Lawrence said from the main part of the room.

Minnie finished with her ablutions and stepped into the bedroom in just her nightgown.

She gasped a moment later at the sight of Lawrence slipping his nightshirt over his head. He was faced the other way, and she stepped into the room before he had completely covered himself. The sight of his firm round backside and strong back sent a thrill through Minnie.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’d’ve invented a way to lower the statue out the attic window and straight into the carriage,” Lawrence said, his voice loud enough to indicate he still believed her to be in the dressing room.

When he turned around a moment later and caught Minnie staring at him, he jumped slightly and sucked in a breath.

Whether it was the excitement of the night, the unguarded expression Lawrence wore, or the glimpse of his magnificent body Minnie had been treated to, something ignited inside her. She did not hesitate for a moment. She propelled herself forward, crossing the room to Lawrence in a few, swift, sure strides, and threw her arms around him.

“Minerva,” Lawrence whispered, catching her awkwardly at first, but moving smoothly into an embrace.

There was no hesitation at all in Minnie’s heart, mind, or in her actions. She lifted to her toes, pressing herself into Lawrence’s warm body, and slanted her mouth over his, demanding a kiss.

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