Page 10 of Betrayal from Beyond
“Turner, of course.” She yawned again. “The head gardener, too, and likely his son.” She forced her mind to focus. “Turner may have shared it with young Tom.” Her brow furrowed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of the footmen knew. It’s not as protected a secret as the tunnels are. My father used to say that letting a lesser secret out kept people from looking for more.”
Niall pursed his lips. “Those who know about it do not use it, though, do they?”
“No. My father would use it occasionally, to avoid visitors he had no wish to see. I used it for the same reason a time or two.” She gave him a sleepy grin. “But not since that night, when I found you here.”
“Someone has used it recently,” he said quietly.
She frowned. “How would you know?”
“I twisted a thin piece of twine at the bottom of the gate, so that I would know if it has been opened.”
She blinked. “When did you set that up?”
“Back when I first moved into the loft above the forge. It seemed like a good idea, to keep track of something that was supposed to be secret. The twine was never shifted, however. I checked it again before we left on our tour. It was intact then. It isn’t any longer.”
“But the gate is hidden in the hedge. It could have been disturbed by weather, or by a bird or an animal.”
“Perhaps.”
She could tell he didn’t believe it. She started to rise up on one elbow, but he shifted his gaze to the chair again. “You might have thrown me a bone, that first night in here,” he said dryly. “As I recall, you had already bested me once that day.”
She made a face. “No. I could not have made any of it easier on you.”
“Why not?” He lowered his tone to a whisper. “Didn’t youlikeme?”
“Oh, I liked you. And that is precisely why I had to challenge you. I wanted to keep you interested.” She looped her hands around his neck. “Did it work?”
“I was interested.”
“Was?” She pouted.
“I was interested back then.” He kissed her. “Now, I am spellbound.”
“Just the way I like you,” she murmured.
He moved over her and kissed her again. Perfectly willing to abandon the discussion of the gate, she sank back and set about freeing the buttons of his waistcoat. Impatient, he tore at the thing. Buttons went flying about the bed, but Niall ignored them,focusing instead on a long, slow caress that started at her ankle and trailed upward, rucking her night rail high and banishing any further worry from her mind.
*
Kara woke earlythe next morning. Dawn was just a hint of pink in the sky outside her window. Rolling over, she found the other side of the bed empty. She sat up. “Niall?”
His spot beside her was still slightly warm, but he wasn’t to be found in her rooms or his. A niggle of worry set her to dressing. All that talk of the gate last night, and now this. The last time he’d stayed out so late and left so early—when he wasn’t deeply involved in a project in the forge—it was because he’d been patrolling the grounds, watching for trouble.
Surely they had not been home long enough for trouble to find them? Perhaps he’d begun work on Mr. Blundel’s gates. She finished shrugging into one of her simple laboratory gowns and went to check the forge.
It was cold and closed. Unease settled in her belly. She headed for the lab. It was still locked. Turner hadn’t yet sent anyone out to light the fires. She let herself in and stood in the cool dark a moment, breathing in the slightly metallic scent of one of her favorite places in the world. Once her eyes had adjusted, she moved to the first hearth, the one near her workbenches. Luckily, the fire had been laid out already. It took her a moment or two to get it going, but once it was starting to crackle, she moved on to the second, near the table and chairs where she and Niall often breakfasted together.
In the growing but dim light, she noticed something sitting on the table. A box—the sort that might come from a bakery. Perhaps Turner had been out here after all?
A thought—more a memory, really—occurred to her. Her heart began to pound.
She approached the table slowly. Carefully. Reaching out a hand, she flipped the box open.
Butter biscuits.
Her stomach dropped.
The laboratory door opened and she crouched, bracing herself for a fight.
