Page 103 of Lord of Fortune
Chapter 19
The soundof their door opening drew Penn to full wakefulness. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and blinked at the figure in the doorway. “Gideon?”
His half brother closed the door and moved into the chamber. “Get up. We don’t have much time. I can only stay a few minutes.”
Amelia stirred beside him. He leaned down and kissed her temple. “Gideon’s here. We need to get up.”
“I’ll turn my back,” Gideon said, positioning himself in front of the hearth.
Penn left the bed and pulled his clothing on as quickly as possible. He pulled Amelia’s chemise from the hook and handed it to her. “Do you need help?”
She shook her head. “I’ll manage.”
Penn went to the chair and sat down to pull on his stockings and boots. “How late is it?”
Gideon slid him a weary glance. “Nearly morning.”
“Can I assume from your urgency that you have the dagger?”
Pulling the blade from his coat, Gideon tossed it onto the table next to the book. “I’d write down the code before you go, just in case you lose it. Better to have two copies.”
Penn noted he said “you” not “we,” but perhaps it was a slip of the tongue. “We solved the code,” he said. “I’ll just decipher it now, and then we’ll know where we’re going.”
Gideon’s eyes flashed with admiration. “Well done. But then I’m not surprised.”
Penn finished pulling on his boot. “The words on the heart said the Vale of Neath.”
“Waterfalls and gorges and caverns,” Gideon said. “Your father took us there one summer.”
“You remember.” That had been their very best summer together, or so Penn had always thought. “It’s one of my favorite places.”
“Mine too. I haven’t been back.”
Penn smiled up at him as he turned toward the table and picked up the pencil. “Well, you will now.”
Gideon shook his head. “I’m not going with you. One of Foliot’s men followed me here. I need to go now and divert his attention.”
Penn copied down the code from the dagger, checking it twice before handing the weapon back to Gideon. “Here, take it. And the heart. We don’t need them. I’ll return the book to the Williams-Wynn family. After my father spends a few days with it first,” he added with a half smile.
“I don’t need any of it.” Gideon’s gray eyes were dark as iron. “I only want the real treasures—allof them.”
Penn frowned. “What happened with Foliot?”
Gideon shook his head. “There isn’t time. Just find the heart and keep it safe, please.”
“I will.”
Amelia pulled on her jacket as she came toward them. “What does the dagger say?”
Penn quickly deciphered the letters. “Sgwd yr Eira. It means waterfall of snow.”
“That’s where you’ll go?” Gideon asked.
Penn stood. “Meet us there.”
“I will if I can. But I won’t let Foliot or his men get to you. Only you can find the heart. I may be good at planning, but you’re the treasure hunter, Penn.”
“And you’re the earl—I’ll make sure you are, Gideon, even if I have to leave Britain.”
