Page 76 of Rakes & Reticules
“Well done, Your Grace. Truly.” She opened up their next clue. “What goes up when it rains and down when it stops?”
The duke’s grin broadened into a smile. “By the look on your face, Amelia, I would say you know the answer to this one, too.”
She nodded. “I think it is an umbrella. But this is a common item. Whose umbrella are we to take?”
“There is a local haberdasher where I expect we shall find the one we are to collect.”
They walked down the High Street toward the shop where the owner, a portly, older man by the name of Mr. Cuttle, was seated outside his shop door in wait for them.
The duke nodded to him. “Good morning, Mr. Cuttle.”
He scrambled to his feet. “And to you, Your Grace, and your lovely companion.”
“We are here to collect our umbrella,” Amelia said with cheer, rather enjoying this scavenger hunt.
The man went inside and brought it out. “Here you go. Good luck to you. Your Grace, your uncle has the entire village enlisted in the game. You had better pick up your pace if you hope to win. Your brother and Lady Dorothea are already onto their fourth clue.”
Amelia arched an eyebrow. “They are?”
She was not competitive by nature, but the thought of that goose beating her out just rankled.
The duke laughed as he led her away. “Why Amelia, you are quietly seething.”
She grinned. “No, not at all. But I do find it galling that Lady Dorothea is proving to be better at this game than we are.”
“I’m sure she is every bit the irritating fool you believe her to be. It is my brother who is solving their riddles. She is not intelligent, just an expert in the art of conniving. Also, she is determined to be the one I must kiss.”
“You are grimacing. Would it be so awful if you had to kiss her? She is beautiful.”
“That is undeniable, but she is also petty, selfish, and not at all compassionate.”
Amelia arched an eyebrow, surprised he saw so clearly beyond her pretty facade. “Who do you hope to kiss, Your Grace?”
“You, of course. Is it not obvious? Knowing who Pythagoras is and appreciating his work has certainly earned you a kiss from me.”
She laughed and read off the third riddle as they walked away from the haberdasher. “I walk on four legs in my youth, on two legs in my prime, and three legs in old age. Find my third leg.”
“I know this one,” he said. “It is the ages of man. An infant who crawls on hands and knees, that’s the four legs. A grown man who strides, that’s the reference to two legs. An elderly man who requires a cane to walk. That’s the third leg. Come on, no wonder Mr. Cuttle had such a smug grin on his face. He sells canes as well.”
“Ah, back already, Your Grace?” The man grinned as he rose from his chair.
“Yes, Mr. Cuttle. We are here for our cane.”
“Right away,” he said and hurried inside to retrieve it. “Move on to number four.”
By this point, couples were running up and down the High Street, merrily calling to each other as they scrambled to find the answers to their clues.
Amelia now opened up the fourth clue. “I am broken the moment my name is uttered.”
The duke scratched his head. “What in blazes does that mean?”
She waited patiently for him to figure it out, then cleared her throat. “Well, I think I know the answer.”
“Of course,” he said with a chuckle. “All right, I give up. What is it?”
“The answer is silence. Silence is broken the moment someone speaks. But how does one find silence? It isn’t something you can grasp in your hand.”
“You are a clever thing,” he said with open admiration. “Well, let’s see if I can make a contribution to this hunt. A church is the only place I can think of where we are meant to be silent. Let’s start there.”
