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Rafael fetched a candle and stepped into the narrow passageway, bowing his head, for the ceiling was low. “All right,” he said over his shoulder to Victoria. She paused just inside the passageway. Quietly she turned a small wooden knob, and a panel slid open. She looked into the Pewter Room. She shuddered, then moved aside for Rafael to look.
He cursed quietly. He felt Victoria’s hand on his arm and turned away toward the dark tunnel. He breathed in deeply, a damp musty smell filling his nostrils. He watched Victoria stop at the next narrow door. She turned a small wooden knob just like the one that gave onto the Pewter Room.
It was Elaine’s bedchamber. And Elaine was dressed only in her underthings. Her belly was huge; she was rubbing the small of her back, her eyes closed.
Victoria quickly closed the panel.
“Elaine?”
“Yes.”
Rafael could now picture the twists and turns of the passageway. He wondered idly if his parents had known about it. But no, had his father known, he would have made a great game of it with his two boys. How had Damien discovered it?
Rafael opened the next panel and saw that it gave onto one of the guest chambers. The room wasn’t empty. Damien and the maid Molly were on the bed, the girl’s skirts about her face, her legs widespread, and Damien pumping into her. Rafael remembered Molly’s crooked mobcap. Had she just come from a tryst with her employer? He drew a deep breath and slid the panel shut.
“What is this room?” Victoria asked from behind him.
“Just a guest chamber,” Rafael said, trying his best to sound nonchalant.
“What did you see, Rafael?”
He turned slowly and said, “I saw Damien and Molly on the bed. Now, let’s keep going.”
They continued their descent. There was an opening into the main drawing room and one into the estate room. Rafael slipped through the opening in the estate room, then gave his hand to Victoria. They were standing just in front of the now closed panel when Ligger entered and gasped.
“Hello, Ligger.”
“But, Master Rafael. I . . . didn’t know . . . Oh, dear, this is most confusing.”
“Let me show you, Ligger.” Rafael opened the panel, the knob behind some carved maple leaves. The butler stared and Rafael saw comprehension come into his eyes. So he’d seen Damien where he hadn’t expected to, and wondered about it. Well, no more. No more secret passageways in Drago Hall. He would ensure that every servant, every guest in the vicinity would know about it. Damien would hold no more power, not this kind, anyway.
“The passage winds upstairs and there are peepholes and entrances into many of the upstairs rooms. The estate room here and the drawing room are the only ones downstairs. The passage stops just a few feet beyond the estate room. If I’ve got my thinking aright, the door leads into the east garden. It is probably well-covered with ivy on the outside.”
Ligger nodded slowly. He looked at Victoria, then at Rafael. He said quietly, “What would you like to do about this, Captain?”
“Why, Ligger, I think you should tell all the servants about this, every one of them. Tell everyone. If you like, feel free to tour the passageway. I will, of course, discuss this with the baron.”
Ligger nodded and Victoria felt herself go warm with embarrassment at the understanding in the old man’s eyes.
“Let’s go back to the Pewter Room now,” Rafael said, and nodding to Ligger, he took Victoria’s hand and together they disappeared into the dim passage. The panel slid shut soundlessly behind them.
Rafael was leading the way. He was holding the candle high, and at a bend in the path its flickering light fell upon something neatly folded on top of a very old trunk. It was black, velvet or satin, he thought. Later, he decided. Later he would come back. He didn’t want Victoria involved in this.
Once back in their bedchamber, Rafael went off in a brown study. He sat in the high-backed wing chair, steepled his fingers, and stared off at nothing in particular.
Victoria watched him for a moment; then her gaze went back to the grape cluster. She shivered. Was Damien planning to come and watch them again? Soon now?
“First of all,” her husband said finally, still not looking at her, “you must have another name. Vic, I think, is charming and will suit our purpose quite nicely. Whenever I come upon you, I will call you Vic.”
“Vic? I have an even better idea. Let us simply leave Drago Hall tomorrow. We can go to Falmouth, then to St. Agnes, to our new home.”
“We don’t as yet know if it is our new home.”
“You know the family will accept. You continue to delay, Rafael. Why do you wish to remain here at Drago Hall? Oh, damn, it’s this Hellfire Club business and you are the one to put a stop to it. Just say yes, and I will say no more.”
“Yes,” he said very quietly.
“Then what are we to do about your brother? I have no wish to provide him with more entertainment.”
