Page 90 of The Heir
Jane realized was shaking.
What am I doing? What am I thinking? What will I tell him when he finds me?
Mother and Father watched her with their painted eyes—Father in command, Mother in pain.
I’ll say I’m doing what the princess asked me. That the princess knows you lie. The princess doesn’t trust you. She will never trust you and is looking for an excuse to have you thrown out.
That’s why I’m doing this.
The key was on the mantel, underneath the clock, right where she remembered it. She snatched it up and hurried to the desk. She’d been in here before when Father was working. When he was angry with his children, he would call them in singly or together. They would then have to stand in front of the desk in silence while he finished with whatever matter currently occupied him, and could then turn the full force of his attention on them.
As a result, she had seen him put away his files, his ledgers, and his letters.
Jane unlocked the lower drawer on the left-hand side. As she expected, it was filled with individual packets of letters. Jane sorted through them as quickly as she could. Some were from men she recognized as lords of Parliament or members of the Kensington Board. There were some from relatives, and some others with names she did not recognize.
Then, at the bottom, she found two packets stacked together. One for Mr. William Rea. One for Dr. William Maton.
The Two Gentle-Williams of Verona. . . , thought Jane absurdly as she pulled them out of the drawer.
The door opened.
Jane slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. A man cursed roundly and slammed the door, shutting them both in together.
But it wasn’t Father.
It was Ned.
“What the devil are you doing here?” he demanded in a harsh stage whisper.
Jane was so relieved, she forgot to be afraid. “I could ask you the same thing! What are you even doing up so early? Do you have another horse to go look at?”
The truth was, her brother didn’t look as if he’d ever gone to bed. His trousers and coat were rumpled; his hair was uncombed. The stubble of his beard made his face look like it was smeared with ash, and his eyes were as exhausted as they were bloodshot.
“Your new position as favorite minder to our shrimp of a princess has made you saucy,” he sneered. “And you still haven’t said what you’re doing here.”
“Father sent me to retrieve a letter he needed.”
“Did he? Perhaps I’ll go ask him about that.”
Jane shrugged. “Go ahead. You’ll have to explain what you were doing in his study without permission. I wish you luck with that.”
“Puts us in the same boat, doesn’t it? Difference is, I’ve got nothing to lose, and I rather suspect you do.”
Jane held on to her determination for a full minute. The difficulty was, Ned was right. She did have something to lose. If Father ceased to trust her, he’d banish her from the palace and the princess’s company. There was a time when she would have liked nothing better. Now it was exactly what she feared.
“What have you got there?” Ned made an impatient gesture with two fingers. “Come on, give over.”
Jane could see nothing else to do. She scowled, but she held out both packets of letters. If she was lucky, Ned would just be confused, and she could tell him some story....
Ned snatched them away and looked at their neat labels.
And blanched. And swallowed.
He recovered fairly quickly. He also pocketed the letters.
“Give those back!” Jane hissed.
“No. They are none of your business.”
