Page 19 of Every Duke Has His Thorn
She replied with a lift of her shoulder, “This isn’t a Christmas riddle where the prize is a bag of apples and walnuts.”
“True. I should read the clue again.”
Miss Davies pulled a piece of paper from a pocket in her walking dress and read the first stanza of the poem aloud:
O listen thee seeker of fortune,
For children shall recount of old,
How a treasure went missing,
In the place where stories are not told.
“You made a copy of the poem.” To his ears, his words sounded grudgingly admiring. “If you solve the clue, please join your father at our morning meeting.”
“I will, Your Grace.”
He nodded at the young woman, she dipped a slight curtsy, and he strode down the corridor to the staircase. A moment later, he was whistling.
* * * * *
Returning to the dower house, Marina put a note in the project ledger stating that she’d inspected the nursery and the nurse’s room again and found no damage in either room.
“Would you like tea, Miss?”
She looked up from her work. “Yes. Thank you, Anne.”
When the girl returned with a tea tray, Marina had put away the ledger. “I spent some time in the nursery today. It is a lovely room. It would be nice to see it filled with children.”
“One of the grooms told me His Grace fled London to get away from matchmaking mamas,” the young woman replied with a grin.
She could well imagine. “I suppose the duke is young enough that he is in no hurry to wed.”
“Oh yes, Miss, he is only twenty-six years of age.”
Marina almost felt guilty at how easy it was to obtain information from Anne.
The maid sighed. “I best be getting on. Cook will have my head if I don’t help her with the evening meal.”
Tomorrow Marina would examine the entrance hall again. She’d not seen a reason for any refurbishment in the large area, but now she wanted to look closer for signs the former steward had been searching for treasure.
Until her encounter with the duke this afternoon, she’d worried he might object to her wandering about his home. Now she was sure he was just as interested as she was in finding out where the clues in the poem would lead them.
She poured herself a cup of tea and studied her copy of the poem. After several minutes, she had the answer. The room in the clue wasn’t the nursery. It was the library!
A quick glance at the carriage clock on the mantle alerted her to the fact it was almost time to dress for dinner. There was nothing she could do tonight about having solved the clue. She would speak with the duke in the morning.
Chapter Nine
Preston felt a surge of awareness when Miss Davies entered the library, telling himself it was merely due to his interest in deciphering the clues to the treasure. He’d contemplated the first stanza of the poem for some time last night without any luck.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Your Grace,” the architect and his daughter replied in unison as they both were seated.
“What news have you, Sir Joseph?”
“The repairs on the roof should be complete in a sennight, then restoration may commence on the second floor. The cleaning and replastering of the dining room ceiling will most likely take another fortnight. The intricate engravings on the plaster ceiling in that room are especially delicate and take a light hand to prevent their being damaged.” He paused and looked at his daughter. “Marina has something to add.”
