Page 46 of Betrayal from Beyond
She started to place kisses along his neck, above the line of the linen shirt he wore to work in.
“Kara.”
She raised her head and pulled away, examining his countenance. “What is it?”
He nodded toward her bed.
She turned to look—and gasped.
“Well, now we know.” He let her feet slide down the front of him. “Whatever you saw, it was not all in your head.”
Chapter Twelve
Kara stared. Anotherbakery box, this one sitting squarely in the center of her bed. Whoever was perpetrating this campaign, they had been in her bedroom. A wave of fury and dismay struck her, but she was forced to admit to a bit of vindication in there, too. She wasn’t imagining things. She let herself wallow in her immediate reaction for a moment, then deliberately swept it away as she called up determination instead.
She crept close enough to see the mark that proved it was indeed from Eliassen’s Bakery. When she turned, Niall gave her a stern look.
“This wasnotPetra Scot.”
“No,” she agreed. “It was not.”
She moved past him to open the door and call for her maid.
“Yes, ma’am?” Elsie came hurrying down the passage from the guest chamber that she and Gyda had turned into a sewing room as they raced to finish Gyda’s Nordic gown. The maid was clearly surprised to be summoned by her mistress at this hour of the day.
Kara stood in the doorway, opening it only a bit. “Elsie, did a parcel arrive for me today?”
“No, indeed.” The maid frowned. “Not that I am aware of.”
“Did you leave anything in here for me?”
“No, ma’am.” Elsie’s confusion was clear and genuine. “Were you expecting a delivery?”
“I was not.” Kara swung the door wide and beckoned the woman in. “Do you have any idea how that got here?”
Puzzled, Elsie ventured in. She curtsied to Niall, then stilled when she spotted the box. “Oh, no, ma’am,” she breathed. “Is that…?”
“It is.” Kara drew a deep breath. “Please go and send Turner up here, if you will. And would you ask around amongst the other maids? We need to know if anyone…strange has been spotted in or around the house today.”
“Yes, ma’am. Right away.”
But Turner’s instincts were still finely honed. He turned up in the passage outside just a moment or two after Elsie’s departure. As the door was open, he put his head inside. “Is there anything—” He stopped. “That’s not…?”
“It is.”
Turner entered, and together the three of them approached the bed. Niall gingerly reached out and flipped the box lid open.
“Butter biscuits,” Kara said with a sigh. But looking closer, she saw that each biscuit had a single bite taken out of it. “Good heavens. Is that supposed to be a threat?”
“Turner, have you found anything else about that would-be footman?” asked Niall.
“Nothing,” the butler said. “I sent one of the lads into the village to ask around again, but no one has spotted him.” He tilted his head. “Do you believe it is him, lurking about and leaving these nasty little signs?”
“He might be hanging around the vicinity, carrying out Petra’s agenda,” Niall mused.
Kara turned at a scratch on the door.
“Ma’am?” Elsie stood there, looking pale and troubled. “I think you had all better come downstairs and have a word with Prudence.”
