AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not.”
“There’s something you don’t want me to see in this room.”
“Oh look,” he said. “It’s a perfectly mundane clock on a completely normal chimneypiece. It says a half hour has passed since I joined you. Should we be getting back to the other house?”
He should have known that wasn’t the right tack to take. But if he let her explore, she’d notice the unusual features of the room that he’d discovered during his search this morning.
The reason he’d locked the door. He hadn’t wanted her stumbling upon the evidence of Rafe’s depravity. Even Drew had been shocked by the contents of the room, and he wasn’t easily shocked.
“Beatrice won’t come to fetch me for another fifteen minutes. She thinks I want to become better acquainted with you.”
“I’d like to become better acquainted with a plate of ham. I’m famished. Aren’t you? Let’s raid the larder.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re hiding something.” She walked around the room. “There’s not another secret chamber because there wouldn’t be anywhere to put it. And it’s sparsely furnished. Red silk on the walls is a bit much. Rather garish, actually.”
She dropped her reticule on a low, velvet-cushioned chair.
He cast about for a topic to distract her from opening any of the cabinets. “Speaking of red silk, when I entered her apartments, MissFlynn was posed like one of the famous portraits of Nell Gwyn, the infamous mistress to Charlesthe Second, in a red silk negligee. Have you seen the portrait?”
“I should like to visit museums and view scandalous artworks but, as I mentioned, my great-aunt kept me under lock and key while she attempted to drum decorum into my head.”
“How did that work for you?” he asked, keeping his expression bland, though he wanted to laugh.
“It didn’t. As evidenced by the fact that I’d very much like to share a meal with MissFlynn.”
“Young ladies of good family don’t dine with courtesans.”
“Why not? It seems to me they might have a lot to teach us about men. About how to control them.”
“I don’t think you require lessons in controlling men. You seem to know exactly how to wrap everyone you meet around your finger. Take me, for example, I’m not the sort of gentleman to hunt for secret rooms. I prefer hunting hare and pheasants. I have my daily routine, which I never deviate from, and it doesn’t include cracking codes or stealing kisses from troublesome young ladies...” As he talked, he led her out of the room, relieved that she appeared willing to leave.
She paused in the doorway. “I left my reticule.”
“Allow me to fetch—”
“I’ll get it.” She darted back inside the room and bent over the elongated velvet chair. “How very odd. This chair has mechanical gears along this side. Why would a chair have gears?”
“I’ve no idea.” And that was the truth. He’d noticed the modifications to the furniture but hadn’t investigated. As soon as he’d seen the contents of the cabinet, he’d known precisely what this room was used for—and it wasn’t used for anything that should be viewed by young ladies.
“I think I hear Beatrice coming,” he said.
She ignored him, intent on studying the levers on the side of the chair. “I’m quite adept with mechanisms of all kinds. This appears to be a gear that might raise or lower the chair. An ingenious idea, if one thinks about it. A chair that could work equally well for both tall and short people.”
That wasn’t exactly the use Lord Rafe put the chair to. “You have your reticule, shall we go?”
“I wonder what happens when I pull on one of these?” she mused.
Drew held his breath, hoping nothing depraved happened. He exhaled. Nothing had happened.
“How odd.” She sat down on the chair. “A gear must have a purpose.”
“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you, MissPenny. We really should be going.”
“It’s remarkably comfortable.” She leaned her head back against the cushions and laid her arms against the rests. The chair began to move, as if the pressure of her wrists had activated a spring.
Metal bands emerged from underneath the chair arms and legs and closed over her wrists and ankles before she had a chance to move. She stared up at him. “Your Grace. This chair just trapped me.”
Drew groaned. “I was afraid something like that might happen.”
