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Chapter 30
“It just does not make any sense.” Ames dropped the last of the notes into the rectangular wooden box and leaned back against the wall. The bedchamber Wells had designated to him in the east wing was near Nick’s room. Tilly sat in the corner with a basket of mending—bless her soul, the maid had been willing to sew the lining back into Giulia’s pelisse—and the door was propped open.
Giulia and Ames sat on the floor, defeated. They had checked every last thing that had once belonged to Patrick, Giulia, and even some of Ames’s own belongings. They searched linings and potential hiding places, they checked the more obvious places like pockets or boxes, they even went through every last note or drawing in the box where Patrick Pepper compiled the documents he’d used in research for writing his periodical, but nothing pointed them in even remotely the right direction.
“Perhaps we are missing something,” Giulia said as she stood, wiping her hands along her skirt and moving to sit in the chair beside the fire.
“Your father was not a materialistic man, despite his adoration for treasure hunts. There was not much left by way of possessions when he died.”
“I know,” she said in agreement. “That is partially why I am sure he would have left this key for us. He would have delighted in the mystery he left behind.”
“Unless,” Ames said, “it was too dangerous. Perhaps he rid himself of it to protect you.”
Giulia shook her head. “Not Father.” She lowered her voice. “The danger is simply—”
“Part of the fun,” they finished in unison. They shared a smile at the memory of a constant phrase uttered by her father. A deep voice cleared in the doorway and Giulia snapped her head up to find a scowling Nick perched against the door frame, his arms crossed against his chest.
“Am I interrupting?” Nick asked dryly, his mouth lifting in a sardonic smile.
“No.” Giulia sighed, doing her best to appear unaffected. The man was too handsome for his own good. And she had foolishly fallen for his charms. “We have found nothing.”
“But it still doesn’t make any sense,” Ames said. “Patrick would have hidden it, if it was as valuable and important to him as your mother is leading us to believe. Why else would she come back for it after his death? She must believe that he would have held onto it.”
“She does not merely ‘believe’ anything. She is utterly convinced,” Giulia said with conviction of her own. She had seen it in Lily’s eyes on the porch the evening before. Lily knew the key was hidden somewhere. Giulia was worried about what her mother would do if it was not found soon.
“I have come to see if you would like to eat,” Nick asked, regarding her closely.
“I, for one, am starving,” Ames offered.
Nick’s smile was forced. He indicated the corridor with a sweep of his arm. “There is a luncheon served in the breakfast room.” He shot Giulia a questioning glance, but she turned away, watching the floor until Nick’s footsteps could be heard retreating down the hall. He muttered something incoherent as he walked away. Was he bothered she hadn’t jumped up to greet him? That she hadn’t thrown her arms around him and expounded on her gratitude that he had deemed her worthy of a late-night dalliance? Her skin prickled with shame. She’d been warned of his reputation. If only she had listened.
Ames threw Giulia a questioning glance. “That was odd. Did he not seem a bit agitated to you?”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug, reminding herself that it was better this way. She could not forever fall at Nick’s feet. It was time she started guarding her heart better.
Ames moved to clean up the rest of his things. “Well, whether you’re willing or not, I won’t say no to a nice meal.” He reached for her hand and helped Giulia to her feet before guiding her from the room. She chuckled, noting his lost expression as he glanced down the corridor in both directions.
“The castle takes a while to learn,” she said, patting his arm.
“So I see.” Ames laughed and followed Giulia to the dining room where a nice spread was set up on the sideboard much like breakfast had been. The earl was already seated and his plate half empty, but Nick was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, Giulia,” Lord Hart started when she entered the room. Food clung to his beard and jiggled as he finished chewing his mouthful. “Tell me you’ve had some luck?”
She waved off Ames’s offer of a plate and moved to sit beside the earl, her stomach not quite in the mood for sustenance at the moment. She could not get Nick’s irritated face from her mind. Where was he, anyway?
“Giulia?” the earl prompted.
“Luck? I am afraid not,” she reported sadly.
“Do not give up yet,” the earl said with a serious eye and a fork poised midair. Where had this man come from? He was a far cry from the grumpy ogre who had nearly booted her out on her first night at Halstead. He was beginning to remind her more and more of…of her father.
“Perhaps you have some insight, my lord?” she asked hopefully. When he did not immediately grunt his disapproval, she took it as a sign to proceed. “It had to be in my father’s possession nearly twenty years ago, at least, if Lily knows of it.” Lord Hart’s shoulders tensed at the mention of Patrick, and Giulia waited for his anger to lash out. She had broken their unofficial agreement and broached the subject of the metaphorical elephant that stood between them. Nothing happened, however. She could feel the unease slip from her spine as smooth as a rejuvenating breath.
“I have no insight,” Lord Hart said. “No keys. We only had the trip to India alone before we met your mother, and after that…we did everything together, the three of us.” The earl’s voice dipped quieter and Giulia found herself straining to hear. She faintly noticed Nick hovering in the doorway again as Ames sat beside her, his plate overflowing. “There were no secrets between us until then. Until Lily, I mean.” Lord Hart’s gaze took on a glassy quality. “I wouldn’t know about the key if he picked it up after he and Lily…” He shook his head. “That was when he stopped telling me things.”
The earl stood quickly, surprising everyone in the room. He glanced around but his gaze didn’t settle on anything in particular. Instead, he nodded distractedly before fleeing the room, swiping past Nick so quickly the younger man had to jump out of the way to avoid being pummeled. Everyone seemed frozen in place, the earl’s vulnerability so bizarre it left a trail of unease in his wake.
Or was the unease caused by Nick and his perpetual hovering in the doorway?
