Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

ANNE

I sneaked into the drawing room, closing the door softly behind me. The darkness sent a chill over my spine, so I hurried to draw the curtains. They hadn’t yet been opened for the morning.

It had been two days since I had put in a dedicated effort to my search for the letters that spelled Walter. Before that, I had spent a week searching and thinking, and I hadn’t found a single one. Not a W , not an A . Nothing. Alexander had been helping me with my search, but he hadn’t been successful either. I would have assumed that the name was incorrect, but I hadn’t found any obvious letters around the house at all. I had checked all the engravings in the wood in the study, parlor, hexagon room, and vestibule. I had opened most of the books in the study as well, paying attention to the order of the spines and titles on the shelves.

The only room I hadn’t searched yet was the drawing room.

The early mornings were my only opportunity to search the house unnoticed, but ever since I had seen Lady Tottenham meeting with her visitor, the man with the spectacles, I had been wary of venturing to the drawing room before breakfast.

Keeping my steps quiet, I crossed the room to the fireplace. The mantle was trimmed with carved wood. I examined every inch, not finding a single letter. I stepped back in frustration. I was looking in the wrong place. Those carvings had been there for more than a century. Even Lady Tottenham wouldn’t be wild enough to dig a knife into such a historic part of the house.

It had been nine days since I had been given that blasted clue, and I hadn’t made any progress in solving it. I had spent the days of the party adhering to Lady Tottenham’s schedule, following her rules, and convincing every guest at the house that Alexander and I were madly in love. The games carried on, but the crickets had been the worst of it. The week before, Lady Tottenham had been feeling unwell and had kept to her room for four days straight. Without a strict schedule or strange games to participate in, we had been free to spend the days at our own leisure.

Victoria and Mrs. Pike embroidered or played the pianoforte in the drawing room most afternoons, and I often joined them. Octavia preferred to be where the men were, outside riding horses, shooting arrows, playing croquet, or some other form of sport. She seemed to have given up on Alexander and had turned her attentions to Mr. Hatcher. He had been previously intrigued by Victoria, but it had only taken Octavia a day to steal his attention from her sister with her constant flirting. Mrs. Pike and Mr. Lymington seemed to be the perfect match, and he often joined her in the drawing room, quietly reading while she played music or stitched.

Alexander rarely associated with the other men of the party, and if he did, it was only with Mr. Amesbury and Mr. Lymington. The three of them often invited me to play whist, though Alexander and I were not a fair team. We won every time. Most afternoons, Alexander joined Mrs. Pike, Victoria, and me in the drawing room while we embroidered. I sat with him on the opposite side of the room, and he even allowed me to teach him how to embroider a simple flower. He only punctured his finger twice, and I felt horrible for laughing.

When Lady Tottenham was well again, she had resumed her games, including the midnight ones. I received four invitations over the course of the week to join the other weary guests in the parlor. Alexander and I were always invited to join on the same evenings, and I noticed that Octavia and Mr. Hatcher had been paired together as well. Mrs. Pike and Mr. Lymington arrived on the same evenings. As did Victoria and Mr. Amesbury, though she didn’t seem to be interested in him at all. The other three men—Lord Kirkham included—were only invited on rare occasions.

Lady Tottenham must have lost hope in the possibility of any of them making a match at her party.

Lord Kirkham no longer frightened me. My fake courtship had done its duty in deterring him. But I had developed a new fear over the course of the four midnight parlor games I had attended.

Kissing forfeits.

Victoria had been forced to kiss Mr. Amesbury after failing to write a suitable poem during a game of wit. Mrs. Pike had kissed Mr. Lymington after losing the game the night before. Each time Alexander and I had played a game as partners, we had managed to win. But there were enough evenings remaining at Birch House that I feared my luck would eventually run out.

Our friendship had finally become comfortable. My acting abilities had improved. Pretending to adore Alexander in public felt natural, though I reminded myself every day that it wasn’t natural at all. It was fake. We were not courting, we were pretending. Any stolen moments we took in the drawing room during the afternoons were strictly for the purpose of adding credibility to our act. Of course we would choose to spend our spare moments together if we had formed an attachment.

We would only confuse everyone if we didn’t.

I moved to the bookcase, checking the spines of all the volumes. I only had a few minutes before?—

I froze as the door unlatched behind me. I snatched a book from the shelf, pretending to read a page somewhere in the middle.

I looked up as the door opened. I slumped with relief. “I thought you were Lady Tottenham and her secret lover,” I said with a breathless laugh.

Alexander grinned. “Not to worry. It’s only your secret lover.”

I had learned to ignore remarks like that. He found my reactions far too entertaining. He had agreed to help me search the drawing room for clues before the other guests awoke and began roaming the house.

I shoved the book back into its place on the shelf before turning around. Alexander strode toward me, hands interlocked behind his back. He stopped to examine the bookshelf. His dark hair was more curled than usual, still slightly damp on the ends. He smelled of fresh soap and leather. His jaw was clean shaven, and I found myself staring at it for far too long.

His eyes met mine.

“You—you shaved,” I blurted.

A smile curved the edges of his lips. I stared at that too. “I can’t take the credit. The valet did it,” he said. “Have you found anything?”

It wasn’t fair how handsome he looked so early in the morning. The tan of his waistcoat brought out the warm tones of his eyes, and with his recent shave, a dimple that had never been apparent before made a dent near one side of his mouth.

I snapped my attention back to the bookcase, shaking my head. “I haven’t made any progress.”

“I’m beginning to think that Lady Tottenham might have sent you on a hopeless quest.” He drew my gaze back to his. “Either that, or she hasn’t revealed the next piece of the puzzle yet. She could be…testing your patience?”

I sighed. “I feel like I don’t know what I’m looking for. Surely it’s right in front of my nose, but I’m somehow missing it. Where am I to find the letters of her late husband’s name scattered around the house? And what do they mean if I do find them? We’re still not even certain Walter is the correct name at all. It could be anything, really.”

Alexander wandered toward the tea table as I rambled on about my frustrations. He bent down to examine something on the surface. His nose wrinkled with disgust. “Come and look at this.”

I stopped talking, hurrying over to his side. A footed glass bowl rested at the center of the tea table. Inside, slimy black creatures writhed back and forth in an inch of water, as if trying to escape the bowl. “Leeches?” I jerked back.

Alexander grimaced. “Would you eat twenty-three of those for another clue?”

“At the moment, I might consider it.”

His eyes rounded before a laugh burst out of him. “You might very well have the opportunity. They could be part of a game planned for today.”

My stomach twisted with dread. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

He reached toward the bowl, two fingers outstretched.

“What on earth are you doing?” I backed up two steps.

He glanced over his shoulder with a wicked smile. “I thought you might like to greet one of them.”

“Don’t you dare touch—” I gasped.

He lifted the entire bowl off the tea table, taking a large stride in my direction. His teasing had gone too far on more than one occasion, but this was the worst yet. I ran toward the pianoforte, but he caught up to me in seconds. His arm hooked around my waist, stopping me in my tracks. My terror turned to uncontrolled laughter. I squeezed my eyes shut as I envisioned the entire bowl of leeches capsizing over my head. His laughter rumbled against my back. I wiggled free of his grasp and whirled to face him. “Put that down at once!”

His eyes gleamed with mischief.

If not for the footsteps in the corridor, I doubted he would have put it down.

We exchanged a glance. Was it Lady Tottenham and the man with the spectacles? Alexander and I had been found lurking nearby during one of their meetings before. It would be mortifying to be found alone there again. He rushed back to the tea table to replace the bowl. Without consulting me, my legs carried me behind the pianoforte in the corner. I crouched down, tucking my body against the wall.

Alexander appeared beside me.

“What are you doing?” I whispered in a panic.

“We’re hiding partners.” He sat on the floor, tucking his knees to his chest.

His body pressed against me. I was stuck between the bench of the pianoforte and the tight corner of the two walls.

“I don’t recall agreeing to that,” I whispered.

“Well, you’re trapped with me now.” His breath rustled against my neck. A shiver raced over my shoulders. “Whether you like it or not,” he added. I could hear the smile in his voice.

Whether I liked it or not was a very good question.

I held a finger to my lips as the drawing room door opened.

“I’ve looked in all the other rooms,” a female voice said. “It has to be this one.” I recognized the whining tone as Octavia’s.

“Did you remember to look in the exercise hall?” The second voice was similar to the first, but less grating. It had to Victoria’s.

“I’m not daft! Of course I did,” Octavia snapped.

I kept my gaze focused on the legs of the pianoforte. I could see the hem of Octavia’s skirt as she passed the center of the room, pausing near the tea table. If she glanced downward in our direction, she would definitely see us. I kept my breathing quiet, though my heart pounded fast and hard against my ribs.

Octavia gasped, and for a moment I thought she had discovered us. “Leeches!” The glee in her voice was concerning. “This must be the clue.”

Victoria rustled toward her sister. “They are monstrous.”

“How many are there?” Octavia asked eagerly.

“Ten.”

“Does that mean ten o’ clock?”

“What else could it mean? ‘My blood-thirsty friends shall tell you the time at which the key to my heart you might find.’” A squeal of delight followed the words. “We must keep our eyes open at ten o’ clock this evening.”

They lingered for a moment longer before the rustling of their skirts carried them back to the door. I held my breath until it clicked shut behind them.

“It would seem you have a bit of competition,” Alexander said. His voice was close to my ear.

I met his gaze. His face was only inches away. My heart picked up speed. The defenses I had been building over the past week leaped into action. I wriggled away from him, crawling out from behind the pianoforte. I had never felt less graceful in my entire life. I jumped to my feet, brushing off my skirts. “I suspected that others might have received clues as well.” I sighed with frustration. “But it would seem the Colborne sisters are closer than I am to finding the key.” I scowled at the floor. “Their riddle sounded far less complicated than mine.”

Alexander stood, brushing off the back of his trousers. “It must mean Lady Tottenham has more confidence in your intellect. She gave you a riddle she believes you’re capable of solving.”

I glanced at the bowl of leeches again. “Ten o’clock. Is she going to present them with a key at that time? Could it truly be that easy?”

“I doubt it.” Alexander followed me to the tea table. The ten black leeches squirmed in the water.

“Shall we pirate their clue?” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“This is your game.” Alexander laughed. “I will do as you wish, captain.”

I paced along one edge of the table. “Well I can’t possibly ignore what I just heard.”

He nodded. “If there’s something to be discovered at ten this evening, then you ought to pay attention.”

I froze. “What if it isn’t this evening? It’s only eight-thirty right now.” I gestured toward the longcase clock. “It could be ten this morning?”

Alexander’s eyes narrowed in thought. “That i s possible, and less obvious.”

A smile tugged on my lips. “Lady Tottenham is never obvious.”