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“How do you know that?”
“Collingwood’s butler is in rather deep at Hell. Dismissing the servants early and unlocking a window will greatly reduce what he owes me. And not force me to speak to his employer,” he added with a wink.
Harry thought over Simon’s plan and finally nodded his agreement. Once they reached the mews behind Collingwood’s house, they stopped speaking and cautiously made their way down the alley. Harry counted the houses until he came to the fifth, which he was sure was Collingwood’s home. They ducked into the shadows as a stableboy walked back from the house to the stables.
“Are you certain the window will be unlocked?”
“Yes,” Simon whispered back.
Simon waved Harry closer as they crossed the small terrace to the back windows. He tried the first window to no avail.
Harry lifted the next window, and it slid upward with only a slight stickiness. Relief that at least one part of their plan had been successful. “Come along.”
“Where is his study?” Simon asked.
Harry stopped in the middle of the receiving salon and glanced over at his brother in the dim light of a half moon. “I thought you knew!”
His brother leveled him a quick grin. “Not one clue. Do you think he might keep any papers in here?”
“Not likely. We must find Collingwood’s desk.”
“Your study is the front of the house,” Simon commented, peering into the corridor.
“I thought you said the servants were in bed early.”
Simon grinned back at him. “The butler is a gambler. Never trust a gambler.”
Harry shook his head but followed his brother into a small room with books and a large cherry desk. The only light in the room was from the embers glowing in the fireplace. He lit one candle on the desk to help him read a note if he found one. Large bookshelves lined one wall. Simon went to the shelves and searched while Harry checked the top of the desk.
Finding nothing but some correspondence from his estate steward, he reached for a drawer pull. The middle drawer of the desk opened but yielded nothing that would help. The side drawers were locked.
“Please tell me you know how to pick a lock,” Harry whispered.
“Let me,” Simon said quietly. He expertly picked the lock and opened the top drawer. Shuffling through papers, he shook his head. “Nothing here.”
“Try the other drawer.”
Simon worked his magic on the drawer and opened it slowly. After scanning one letter, he exhaled slowly.
“What?” Harry asked as apprehension trickled down his back. Seeing two letters in Simon’s hand, he grabbed them. Harry felt frozen in place, unable to believe what he read.
“Is it as I fear?” Simon asked.
“No. Far worse.”
Chapter 25
IT WAS NEARLY MIDNIGHT, and Harry hadn’t returned to the ball. Louisa tried to focus on finding Collingwood, but her mind returned to Harry. Where had he been going with his brother? It made no sense. They both had dressed for the masked ball. Unless Mr. Kingsley had received word that Charlotte had taken ill. It seemed the only logical conclusion.
“Over there, talking with Cinderella,” Emma said. “I think Cinderella is Mary Gardiner. Collingwood must be the man dressed as King Henry.”
“You’d best watch yourself. He might try to lop off your head, Anne.”
“Ha, ha,” Emma replied.
“They are about to dance,” Louisa said, frustrated by the entire night. “I do believe Bolton is looking for you. He does know it’s supposed to be a masked ball, does he not?”
Emma sighed and gave him a little wave. “He refuses to come to a ball in disguise.”
