AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was like setting a spark to tinder, or plying the bellows to make a fire flare. She could rouse him with a gesture, she thought, and she gloried in that power. Penelope slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
His arms and lips received her with only an instant’s hesitation. Then he was holding her, and their kiss went from gentle to probing to urgent.
A great wave of certainty rose in Penelope, riding the sweet sensations that shook her whole body. She wanted this. She would have what she wanted. She pressed against him. His hands slid over her, promising delights.
“My lord Whitfield?” Tom’s voice floated up the stairwell. “Miss Pendleton?”
Whitfield pulled away as if he’d been stung. Though he looked dazed, he took two quick steps back. His boot heel caught on an uneven floorboard, and he stumbled briefly.
Tom’s homely figure appeared at the head of the stairs. “They said you was up here. Mr. Carson needs you to approve the size of the new doorway before they frame it in.”
Whitfield muttered something—possibly a curse. Penelope was pleased to think it was, at any rate.
Thirteen
Something had teetered in the balance before that intoxicating kiss, Daniel thought, grasping the tatters of his dignity as Tom came over to them. Not the nonsense about the necklace—something more. “Mydesiresare not your responsibility,” she’d said. He could still hear the conviction that had vibrated in her voice. He could feel her hand on his heart. She’dcommandedhim in that moment, and it was beyond any thrill he’d experienced before.
“Just a moment,” Miss Pendleton said. Daniel was pleased to hear the tremor in her tone. She was as shaken as he was, and he was fiercely glad of it. She picked up an elaborate hat to place it in its box.
“Watch out for that one,” Tom said. “It’s got some wicked pins in it. Sharp as a knife.”
She turned back, holding the wide brim of a confection adorned with ribbons, feathers, artificial flowers, and improbably, an entire stuffed bird. “I saw them. But how do you know?”
“Ah, well.” Tom shifted from foot to foot. “We were larking about when everyone was hauling papers down from here, and Kitty put it on, meaning no harm, miss. She tried to take it right off again, but them pins stuck in her hair.”
Miss Pendleton nodded. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Or it might have caught on the paper that was inside,” Tom added.
“Paper?”
“It fell out when we pulled the hat off Kitty.”
Her face lit with excitement. She leaned forward. “What sort of paper?”
“We didn’t look, miss. It was folded up in the hat.”
“Where is it now?”
Tom took a step backward, clearly intimidated by the intensity of her question. “Ned put it into a box. Following orders. All papers to go downstairs.” He looked worried. “That’s what we was supposed to be doing.”
“Yes, of course you were. Tell me about the box.”
“The box, miss?”
“The one Ned put it in.”
She was worrying the boy. “It’s all right,” Daniel told him. “There’s nothing wrong. Just tell us whatever you remember.”
“Yes, my lord.” Tom frowned. “I wasn’t paying any particular attention to Ned. I believe the box was wooden, sitting right about there.” He indicated a spot next to the trunk. “Mebbe so big?” He held his hands shoulder width apart. “I’m not sure.”
“Did it have any special markings?” Miss Pendleton asked.
“I didn’t notice any, miss. Was it somethin’ important? Nobody told us.”
“That box must have held the contents of my mother’s desk,” Daniel said to her. “Papers. That’s why it’s not here.”
“And that’s the one we have to find,” she replied. As one, they turned to the stairs.
