Page 19 of The Lady Glass
Luck was on her side, for she made it back to the corridor on the second floor by the captain’s room again without being caught. She would deliver the letter first to the captain’s room and then continue her search for her vase. It was after noon now, so it was probable that his bedchamber would be empty. The captain did not strike her as a man who overslept. Even so, she pushed the door open slowly. If she ran into another underdressed version of the man, she feared her sensibilitieswould not withstand the occurrence twice without her swooning, especially when the memory of the first time kept her awake at night.
Peering into his room, she saw no one. She slipped inside and shut the door behind her. Her nose filled with the faint smell of... him: soap, resin, and fresh, clean air. A smile crossed her lips, and she pushed farther into the room. Not wanting to be caught unawares again, she opened the closet to make sure Granger was not hiding there, napping or polishing boots.
Instead of Granger, clothes neatly filled the space. The captain’s uniform caught her eye, and without thinking, she ran her fingers over what was surely his dress coat, with a gold epaulet on the right shoulder and a medal hanging from a ribbon pinned to the chest. She dared think seeing him in uniform would be a sight to behold.
Out of her apron pocket she pulled the wrap of linen strips and a piece of parchment folded around healing herbs; after a bit of begging, Mrs. Bedrich had come through for her. Theresia had not forgotten the glimpse she’d caught of the captain’s wound. He would need more bandages until he was fully healed. She set the linens on a shelf in the closet, hoping he would not connect them to her. She wanted to help, but giving a gift to a man was not something Mrs. Stone would have approved of.
Shutting the closet door, she moved to the single bedside table on the far end of the room by the window. She perched on the edge of the bed and reached into her sleeve, pulling out the note. She set it on her lap and folded the handkerchief. In the process, her hand accidentally brushed against the folded letter, sending it to the floor.
“Clumsy girl.” She pushed off the bed and bent to retrieve the missive. Her fingertips pinched the folded parchment right when the bedchamber door swung open, carrying with it an unfamiliar voice.
Dropping to her stomach, she did what anyone of sense would do in such an awkward circumstance and swiftly pushed herself beneath the bed. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, crumpling the letter and handkerchief in her tight fist. If she could just find the vase, things like this would stop happening. She mouthed a prayer as not one but multiple pairs of boots clipped into the room.
Chapter 10
Rolland went straight to hiswindow and opened it. The greatest thing these old houses lacked was air circulation. He craved the fresh air of the sea more than anything. Unfortunately, the library had been commandeered by guests, and he and his friends had been forced to meet upstairs, which was far more stifling. The warm breeze met his skin, and he was on his ship again, minus the salty flavor in the air. His mind cleared, and he turned around with his back to the window.
Lewis took a seat at his desk and pulled out a paper. “Let’s make this quick. Miss Yearsley requested I play her in a game of croquet.”
Marcus plopped onto the bed and propped himself up against the pillows. His hands went behind his head, and he leaned against them. “Because croquet is more important than protecting the precarious balance of European powers.”
Lewis shrugged one shoulder. “It could be a revealing game. Besides, between your ability to tell whether someone is lying, Rolland’s naval experience and gift with strategizing, and my talent with codes and puzzles that has saved this country more than once, we should be able to weasel out our spy in no time at all.”
“Especially one under our very nose,” Rolland added, shifting so he could feel more of the breeze on his neck.
“And soon we will have Cadogen here, and we can depend on his fierce reputation and pantherlike movements,” Lewis added.
“And yet we have made no progress in the few days we have all been together.” Marcus stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “I want to see this task through as quickly as you do, Lewis. Being a host is exhausting. We might have to apply ourselves to more than playing croquet with the enemy.”
Rolland reviewed the facts in his mind. It seemed silly tomention the gold coin he’d discovered the day before. After the violinist had left, he’d pulled it out of his pocket to discover its owner, only to realize it was French currency, not English: a twenty-franc Napoleon coin, to be exact. But surely a little French coinage could not point to a criminal. No one at the party was French or had any connections they knew of. Besides, the Congress of Vienna was not even involving France. Despite his reasoning against it, he’d held on to the coin. He had to be certain about it before he said anything to his friends since a wrong clue was as damaging as no clue. It had the power to distract a person’s mind.
“Let’s gather what we have learned,” he said quickly, refusing to let the coin divert his own attention for now either. He pointed to Lewis. “You can go first since you are the most impatient today.”
Lewis smirked. “I have learned that Miss Yearsley has captivating green eyes.”
Rolland nodded slowly. “An effective trait. She must use her eyes to lure people in before she kills them.” Was Lewis taking this job seriously at all?
Lewis tapped his chin. “I’ve been thinking of the latest information Cadogen sent us, and there was nothing more he could find about her. And I don’t need Marcus’s skills of perception to see her innocence in a single glance.”
Rolland didn’t waste his time responding to such an idiotic statement, and without proof, there was no reason to. “Marcus? Have you learned anything new since our meeting yesterday?”
Marcus sat up. “Actually, I do have a theory based on my interactions yesterday. I noticed Mr. Haversham carries himself differently when around Mr. Hawke. He visibly straightens his shoulders. The two have history.”
“The last correspondence from the Home Office said they both have investments that lead to Prussia,” Lewis said. “It wouldbe helpful if we knew who was on the other end. Are the investments trade-related or mercenary?”
“My questions exactly,” Marcus agreed. “My guess is Mr. Hawke is the stronger character of the two. I believe if we can get to know him better, we will know where Mr. Haversham’s loyalty lies too.”
“Focus on the greater enemy? I like it.” Rolland scratched his hurt shoulder through his jacket and immediately regretted it. His eyes went to his arm, and in the process, something on the floor caught his eye. A bit of gray fabric stuck out beneath his bed skirt. “Lewis,” he said, keeping his eyes on the floor, “why not split your attentions between Miss Yearsley and Miss Haversham? You might learn a thing or two.” He pushed away from the wall and made a show of relaxing on the edge of his bed. He caught the fabric with the toe of his boot and tugged it out. It just kept coming.
“Miss Haversham and her mother seem to excel at gossiping, so I am sure I can come up with some sort of fodder that meets their interest.”
Rolland barely registered Lewis’s words as the fabric finally pulled tight beneath his boot. Either he was losing his mind, or this was the hem of a woman’s skirt.
The violinist.
That cheeky woman!
He bent over and lifted up the bed skirt, coming eye-to-eye with her. His eyes narrowed.
