Chapter Twenty #2
“That is a two-part question.” Selena glanced at him.
“You and I have both been extraordinarily fortunate to have had a benefactor who changed our lives. In your case, it was Mr. Brown. For me, it started with Diana’s husband, Captain William Fallbrook.
He acquired Thorndale Manor, a lovely estate less than a mile from here, and put it in Athena’s name, expressly to house our school.
The estate now belongs to Athena and her husband, Ian Vernon—the property had once been in his family for centuries, so when they married, it felt as though the universe had righted itself.
Athena and I ran the school at Thorndale Manor for the first two years.
Mrs. Hillman welcomed us to the neighborhood, became a close friend, and then volunteered to be a patron of the school.
In time, she requested that we move the school here and we decided it was an excellent idea.
Darkmoor Park is equipped to host more students, and the manor house and grounds are such a delightful place for teaching. ”
“I imagine so.” He gave her a smile. “You and Mrs. Hillman seem to be very close. If I were to guess, I would say that she considers you the daughter she never had.”
Selena felt her cheeks grow warm, despite the frosty air. “You aren’t wrong. In fact …” She broke off.
“In fact, what?”
Selena hesitated—but they had been so honest and open with each other, it felt natural to tell him the rest. “Mrs. Hillman has no children or natural heirs. To my great honor, she named me as the successor to Darkmoor Park.”
Dr. Scott halted mid-step and turned to her, his eyes widening. “The successor? But that’s wonderful!”
“I know. It’s not something I could have ever anticipated happening to me, and I don’t like to speak of it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not her blood relative. I worry that it will change people’s perception of me. They might see me as underserving.”
Dr. Scott shook his head. “No one who knows you would ever think that. We only met a few days ago and yet I understand why Mrs. Hillman chose you as her heir. It’s obvious how much you love this place.
You’re putting it to excellent use and I’m sure she knows it will be in good hands after she’s gone. ”
The fondness and admiration in his gaze were so warm, it made Selena’s heart turn over. “Thank you for saying that.”
“It’s true. Mrs. Hillman is as lucky to have found you as you are to have found her.”
“I hope so,” she said softly. They had reached the folly now and stopped. “Here we are.”
They took in the small building before them.
Several wide, snow-covered steps led up to a raised platform that housed the structure, which was fashioned of white stone in the Grecian style.
Four fluted Doric columns at the front held up a roof topped by a triangular pediment decorated with scrollwork.
Pairs of arched casement windows and decorative pilasters designed to resemble columns flanked a double front door.
“An elegant structure,” Dr. Scott pronounced.
“It is.” Selena tilted her head. “But at the same time, it’s a bit useless, isn’t it?”
He studied it. “I don’t know. People built these things to catch the eye and enhance the landscape, didn’t they? And as a display of wealth?”
“I believe so.”
“If that was the intent, it has succeeded. If I owned an estate like Darkmoor Park and had nothing but money, I might build something equally as whimsical.”
“Would you? I don’t know what the family’s ancestors did with the folly. It may have been purely decorative. Mrs. Hillman says she has used it every now and then as a summer house, a place to read and picnic.”
“Looks like a good place for it.” He rested his gloved hands atop his pole. “She said it has a dragon statue?”
“Yes.” Selena chuckled. “This was such a difficult trek, I almost forgot why we came! I don’t remember a dragon, but I’ve only been inside a couple of times. This could be it. The money could be hidden here!”
His eyes glinted. “What are we waiting for?”
They scooped away the soft new snow that covered the steps, clearing a path just wide enough for them to gain access.
After helping each other to unstrap their snowshoes, they climbed up to the platform, where Dr. Scott wielded one of the snowshoes like a shovel to laboriously clear a path to the temple’s front doors.
The doors wouldn’t open.
“Oh, no,” Selena cried, struck by the eerie similarity to the events of the morning before at the icehouse.
He noticed her reaction and paused. “I know what you’re thinking. Here we are with another stuck doorknob, trying to break in instead of out.”
“But we’re not breaking in,” Selena pointed out. “Mrs. Hillman gave us permission to come. She assured me the folly would be unlocked.”
“Maybe it’s just frozen shut.” Dr. Scott jostled the doorhandle again and then threw his full weight against the door. To their mutual relief, it finally burst open.
They entered the temple, which was about the size of a standard bedroom in the manor house.
It was colder inside than out, well-lit by four arched casement windows, and completely empty.
Leaves and dirt were scattered across the stone floor.
The interior walls, made of the same white stone as the exterior, were outfitted with six niches at about waist height, each of which held a carved stone statue.
As they began to make their way around the room, Selena inhaled with surprise. “Look, the statues are all—”
“—from Greek mythology,” Dr. Scott finished with her, his grin reflecting her own delight.
They named the creatures as they moved along. “Cerberus, who guarded the gates of Hades,” he proclaimed, pointing to the statue of a three-headed, giant hound.
“The Sphinx, known for its riddles,” Selena pointed out as they passed a winged lion with a woman’s head.
“A pair of sirens?” he asked, gesturing to a statue of two women with the lower bodies of a bird, who reclined seductively on a rock.
“I think so. They lured sailors to their deaths on rocky shores with their enticing songs.”
They discussed the next statues, the winged horse Pegasus and a Centaur. Selena was enchanted to discover yet another connection that she and Dr. Scott shared: a love of mythology.
Selena became aware of something else: the circumstances in which she had placed herself. They were alone inside a remote building, separated from the manor house by such a vast expanse of snow that there was no possibility of anyone coming upon them.
Dr. Scott was standing oh-so-close. The personal details they had discussed during their walk seemed to have built a bridge of intimacy between them.
And his proximity was doing strange things to her equilibrium.
She wanted, suddenly, more than anything in the world, to reach out and touch him.
To kiss him. But before she could act on that impulse, he called out in triumph.
“There it is! The dragon!”
Selena followed his gaze to the statue in the last niche, and her breath caught in her throat. “It’s Jason, drugging the dragon who’s guarding the golden fleece!” A laugh escaped her chest and once again, their gazes collided. She read her own excitement mirrored in his eyes. “We found it!”
“Well. We found a dragon.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “We don’t know if it’s the dragon.”
“What safer place could Mr. Clarke have found to hide that cash than all the way out here in the folly?”
“He said, ‘Under the dragon.’ How could anything be hidden under this statue?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” She ran her hands over the smooth stone base of the statue and the niche beneath it, searching for a gap of some kind. There was none.
Together, they replicated what they had done in the chapel, pressing on the wall and, on their hands and knees, testing the floor for loose stones. “There’s nothing here,” he said, sighing.
He was right. Dr. Scott rose, took Selena’s hand, and helped her to her feet. The touch of his strong hands through the layers of their gloves sent a tingle racing up her arms. “This,” she said, “was a long way to come for nothing.”
“It wasn’t all for nothing.” There was a rough edge to his voice.
Selena looked up at him. He stood barely a foot away. His gaze glimmered as it caught hers. Despite the cold air, a wave of heat coursed through her.
“Selena.” It was the first time he had called her by her Christian name, and the single word was infused with affection. He hesitated and then added softly, “I was in a dark place when I arrived at Darkmoor Park. I feared I would never have a happy moment again. And then I met you.”
Her heart began to thunder in her chest. She wondered what he meant about being in a dark place—but the thought was overridden by the need to touch him. She raised a hand and gently traced the jagged scar on his forehead. “How did you get this?” she whispered.
“I was two years old. I fell in my father’s blacksmith shop. It’s ugly, I know.”
“It’s beautiful,” she insisted. Every molecule in Selena’s body seemed to be aware of his nearness and a deep and burgeoning want for him to kiss her again. Could he sense her desire?
Perhaps. His lips parted, but there was hesitancy in his eyes.
She didn’t wait for him to make the first move. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against the scar.
He inhaled sharply. All at once, he tossed off his hat, dropped his gloves to the floor, and took her in his arms as his mouth claimed hers.
This time, the kiss didn’t begin slowly or searchingly.
He embraced her with a fevered passion, as if it had been pent up inside him for days.
Selena had felt the same longing and wanting and matched him kiss for kiss.
Their mouths possessed each other with an almost hungry desperation, unleashing a surge of heat throughout her body that threatened to consume her.
Despite the layers of their clothing, his hands roved up and down her back as she pressed herself against him, one hand tangling in his hair.
Selena reveled in the scent of him, the familiar blend of his shaving soap and sandalwood cologne, and the taste of him, a pleasing essence that could only be described as him.
She had never been kissed like this before, by a man who was so obviously thrillingly engaged by the touch of her, who was breathing her in as if she were some intoxicating being, in the exact same way that she was breathing him in.
A hoarse sound filled her ears, and she realized it was a moan of pleasure coming from his throat, mingling with a similar moan of her own.
The feel of his tongue as it wrapped around hers blotted out all other thoughts and memories.
There was only the here and now and the feeling of being in his arms, alone together in this temple filled with tributes to the gods, far away from the eyes and ears of the world.
All too soon, he was ending the kiss. “Selena.” He was breathing fast and raw against her ear, and his voice was gruff. “Selena.”
She wanted to say his given name in return, but her mind was spinning, and she could barely remember it. Then it came to her. “Adrian,” she murmured breathlessly. “Adrian.”
He froze in her arms. Then he took a step back. The color had drained from his face, the fiery expression in his eyes had vanished, and he stared at the floor.
Selena’s insides clenched with bewilderment. “What’s wrong?”
It was a moment before he answered. He was still avoiding her gaze. “If I could have conjured the perfect woman for me,” he said quietly, “it would be you. Just knowing that you exist in the world, it has given me hope.”
Her mind reeled with confusion. Had he just called her the perfect woman? “Hope for what?”
“Hope that things might be better in the future. That you and I …” His expression grew deeply troubled. “Even though I know it’s impossible.”
After that incredible kiss, why did he look so forlorn? “Nothing’s impossible,” she said breathlessly. “We get to choose our own paths in life.”
“Do we?” He heaved a breath that seemed to be filled with bitterness.
Why was he suddenly so dejected? “What did you mean before, about being in a dark place?”
“I was … It was …” He swallowed hard. “It’s hard to explain.
I need some time to …” He gripped her hands in his and stood gazing at her, his features contorted by what looked like affection mingled with burning frustration.
“Selena. Everything we’re hunting for together—Mr. Clarke’s hidden money, the truth about what happened to him and to Mrs. Whitlock—they’re vitally important.
I want to return that money to the hospital.
I want to know who sent those threatening notes and why.
And if one or both of the Websters is here, I want to prove it and turn them in.
The weather has changed and I’m guessing that in a few days, if there is a villain in our midst, they’ll be able to leave.
We need to solve these riddles as quickly as possible.
” He raised one hand and cupped her cheek tenderly.
“Can you trust me while we figure all this out? Together?”
The expression in his blue eyes was so appealing that Selena’s stomach did a little flip. “Yes. Of course I can. I do.”
“Thank you.” He heaved a sigh of relief. “And now I think we’d better get back, before the others start worrying about us.”
They exited the folly. During the long hike back to the manor house, they were both quiet, concentrating on the effort it took to walk in the snowshoes. No sooner had they reached the house and propped up the snowshoes in the mudroom to dry than the announcement came that luncheon was being served.
Selena and Dr. Scott hurried up to their respective rooms to change.
She was hungry, thirsty, bathed in perspiration, and completely drained.
She took a long drink of water followed by a quick sponge bath at her pitcher and basin.
As she donned fresh clothes, Selena thought back to that delectable kiss, and what Dr. Scott had said before and after.
“If I could have conjured the perfect woman for me, it would be you.” Her mind reeled with pleasure at the thought. Was Dr. Scott the perfect man for her? She was beginning to think so. Even though it might be difficult for them to be together.
What had he meant, though, about being in a dark place?
There was clearly something he wasn’t telling her. But, Selena reassured herself, whatever it was, there must have been a good reason behind it. Because he was a good man, and she did trust him.