Chapter 23 #2
But she imagined they would bother her plenty if her road lay alongside Stephen’s.
He took her hand and led her into his library. Humphreys rose from tending the fire and brushed off his hands. He made Stephen a bow, then nodded to her.
“My lord,” he said, “Miss Alexander. Can I bring you anything?”
Stephen shrugged out of his coat and tossed it over a chair. “I’m fine. Peaches?”
She shook her head, then allowed Stephen to take her wrap and hand it to Humphreys.
“I think we’re well off for the moment,” Stephen said. “We’ll raid the kitchen later if we need something.”
“Then I’ll be on my way, my lord. I’ll return first thing.”
Peaches watched him leave, watched the library door close, then found herself turned around and drawn into Stephen’s arms. She looked up at him and smiled.
“What is it?”
He put his hand along her cheek. “I missed the activity I’d planned to engage in at midnight. I thought I’d make up for it now.”
She laughed a little in spite of herself. “After all that’s gone on tonight, you’re thinking about kissing me?”
“Thinking about it, dreaming about it, planning on doing a thorough job of it,” he said, bending his head toward hers.
She put her arms around his neck and enjoyed his very thorough job of what he was doing. He finally lifted his head and looked at her.
“Well, at least that won’t change if we’re both broke.”
She laughed and pulled his head back to hers.
She woke up, disoriented, then realized she had fallen asleep on the couch in Stephen’s library and that out of self-defense while he was trolling through books she’d been too sleepy to ask the names of.
Stephen was gone, though the fire was still burning in a useful fashion.
She sat up, pulled the blanket that had been draped over her around her shoulders, then went to look for the master of the house.
She only found Humphreys, but she supposed he was a good second best.
“Where is Viscount Haulton?” she asked, smothering a yawn behind her hand.
“He went out, miss.”
“To school?”
Humphreys hesitated. “A bit farther than that, I suspect.”
Peaches froze, then felt her way down into a chair at the kitchen table. “In what farther direction did he go, do you suppose?”
“North, miss.”
She was somehow not at all surprised, though she was surprisingly panicked. “Which car did he take?”
“The Range Rover, miss.”
She felt something slither down her spine. It was dread, pure and simple. “Did he say what he was planning to do?”
“If I remember correctly, miss, he said he had some investigating to do at the family seat. He left you a note, if you care to read it over breakfast.”
She wasn’t sure she could stomach any breakfast, but Humphreys was already pulling green things out of the fridge and firing up a juicer she hadn’t noticed before. She might have smiled over that, but she was too busy opening the card and reading what was scrawled in Stephen’s bold hand.
Don’t follow me, and I mean that. I’ll be back before Kenneworth’s deadline, solution in hand. Be a good girl, sit in front of the fire, and let Humphreys feed you.
I love you,
Stephen
Well, obviously he was off to do something ill-advised. It occurred to her, with that same feeling of dread, that she knew just what that something was going to be. He was going to use that great big X near Artane to get back to the past and do … what? Wander around and look for buried treasure?
Unless he’d found something during the night that he hadn’t shared with her.
She looked at Humphreys, who was concentrating on his mixture.
“Humphreys, do you have any idea what Lord Haulton was reading last night?”
“He came out of the library very early this morning, miss, but without any books. I daresay he left them in the library.”
She considered. “Do we have any costumes?”
“What sort of costumes are we looking for?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“Oh, you know,” she said, waving her hand negligently, “Renaissance-faire-type things. Medieval gowns. Shoes. A dagger to slip into a belt.” She looked at him innocently. “That sort of thing.”
“In the wardrobe, in the spare room, miss.”
“Would you drive me to the station in a bit?”
He looked faintly horrified. “The station? Why would you take the train, Miss Alexander, when you could travel in comfort and style?”
“Do you have the keys to the Mercedes?” she asked in surprise.
He patted the pocket of his suit coat. “I like to keep them close, on the off chance they’re needed in a hurry.”
Of course. She considered, then looked at Stephen’s valet. “He wants me to stay here.”
“No doubt, miss.” Humphreys turned back to pouring her juice. “I’ll have the car ready for travel whenever it suits you.”
Peaches smiled to herself as she thanked him for the juice he handed her, then walked back into the library. She considered the books she hadn’t noticed before lying on a table in front of the fire and decided that before she rushed off, she might as well know what Stephen was thinking.
She could only hope she wouldn’t miss anything.