Page 83 of His Unwanted Duchess

To his horror, an answer immediately presented itself. His new dream, it seemed, was aperson.

CHAPTER 24

“Iwas starting to think she’d never leave,” Beatrice mumbled, finally able to abandon the parlor and head upstairs.

After breakfast, Theodosia had made herself comfortable in the parlor, showing no intention of leaving to promenade. Beatrice had sat on the edge of her seat, trying not to fidget, making conversation.

But at long last, Theodosia had gone, and Beatrice was free to take out the purloined key and get started.

She held her breath, inserting the key into the door that led up to the observatory. Part of her had expected it not to turn, which would take her straight back to square one, but no. It turned, and the door opened, revealing a spiral staircase leading upwards.

Her heart thudded.

Would it really be such a great invasion of his privacy? After all, it’s only a room. It’s not as if he has another wife locked up in there.

At least, I hope not.

Pausing to strain her ears for any sign that Stephen was coming back early, Beatrice held her breath and began to climb.

The air grew warmer the higher she climbed, and she soon realized why. At the top of the staircase was a huge, circular room, the roof a glass dome.

Most of the roof was covered by immense panels, but there was one section where the panels had been pulled back, revealing a slice of the glass roof. The day was gray and cloudy, the sunshine weak, but even so, the room was faintly warm. Sunlight filtered through the glass, illuminating dancing dust motes.

Beatrice stood in the center of the room, taking it all in. She had never seen a place like this. Never.

There were telescopes of varying sizes everywhere, and a mechanism at the side of the room that she suspected worked the roof panels, which doubtless could be altered and shifted to reveal any part of the sky.

And the books! Beatrice had seen large collections of books, of course, but never quite as disorganized as this one. Piles sprouted all over the floor. There were desks and chairs all buthidden beneath papers and unfamiliar apparatus. The room was dominated by a large desk, which was similarly covered in paper and other things.

She noticed that there were plants up here, too, scattered seemingly at random around the room. A plant with heavy wax leaves sprouted red flowers beside a half-disassembled telescope, and a pot full of rioting English ivy had been balanced precariously on a pile of dusty old tomes.

Beatrice circled the room several times, the old wooden boards creaking beneath her feet. Every time she completed her circuit, she began again, seeing new things. The room was in need of a good clean.

The floor was gritty, with knots of dust sweeping along beside her skirts. She paused behind a telescope that was at least twice as tall as her and ran a finger over the lens. Her fingertip came away covered in dust. She experimentally peered through the part where one was meant to put one’s eye, but all she could see was a gray blur.

She moved across the room and paused by an instrument that seemed to have been recently moved. Curious, she picked it up. It was roughly triangular-shaped, complicated, and heavy, with a few brass parts. There was a curved ruler on it and a place to look through, but she had never seen a thing like it.

“What on earth is this for?” she murmured, trying to peer through it again. “Am I doing this right? No, I daresay I am not. Perhaps it’s just a very fancy paperweight.”

“It is a sextant.”

The voice almost made her jump out of her skin and drop the apparatus. Beatrice whirled around, red-faced as a child caught with their fingers in the jam-jar.

It was Stephen. Of course, it was Stephen. He must have crept up the stairs as quietly as a cat, and now he stood at the opposite end of the room, his hands on his hips.

Beatrice bit her lip, clutching the item to her chest. “Oh. Oh, I didn’t… I didn’t know you were coming home so soon. H-How is Anna? And the baby?”

Really, Beatrice,she scolded herself.Could you not think of anything else? You seem remarkably guilty now.

Well, I have been caught red-handed in the forbidden room.

Stephen smiled wryly, swaggering towards her. “What a pleasant surprise it must be for you. My arrival home, that is. Anna and her infant are well, and they send their regards.”

He took the sextant out of her hand and lifted it to his eye, peering through the lens.

“A sextant is an instrument of celestial navigation,” he announced, then shot her a wry smile. “That sounds grand, does it not? Simply put, it’s designed to allow sailors and travelers touse the stars for guidance. I’m sure you know that one can use the stars to find one’s way.”

“I know that the practice exists, but I’m afraid that I do not know how to do it.”

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