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“Do you have matches or flint?” She peered into the hearth as well and then manipulated a catch that opened the flue, and afterward, she arranged the handful of straw beneath the logs that rested on the metal grate.
“I have learned over the years a man should always be prepared for any type of emergency.” He explored the mantel and with a grunt drew a rather battered wooden box toward him. Long and slim, it had easily been overlooked when the last tenants moved. “However, providence is on our side and has given us some matches.” In short order, he set flame to the tinder and once the flames had caught onto the logs, he replaced the box on the mantel. “We shall be warm soon enough.”
“Good. Just listen to that rain!”
It was indeed heavy as it battered the window glass and pummeled the roof. “We would have been a sorry pair indeed if we’d had no recourse except to walk back to the manor.” Gently, he tugged the cloak from her hand and then spread it out over his greatcoat. “Come. There is nothing to do now but rest.” He settled onto the makeshift pallet with his back against the wall. Already the flames were licking over the logs. As Belle settled in next to him, he counted himself fortunate to spend this enforced detour with her. “At times, adventuring is much delay.”
“I am rather enjoying myself.” With a sigh, she drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop them while wrapped her arms about her legs. The bottom foot of her skirting was damp from the rain, which no doubt contributed to her chill. “I never realized how dull my life had become until you arrived.”
“Well, they do say life is for the living, and from what I’ve understood, you have been merely existing here.”
“Perhaps.” She fell into silence as she watched the growing flames in the fireplace. “It is frightening to otherwise after losing so many people I have loved over the years.”
“It’s a shame, really, for you are vital yet.”
Belle uttered an unladylike snort. “Thank you for that. The ‘still’ somehow discounts that statement.”
“I meant nothing by it. You have a heart that continues to beat, which indicates that you are, indeed, alive. Don’t discount that.” How had the conversation moved into serious territory so quickly? It was easy with Belle; in her he’d unexpectedly found understanding and perhaps acceptance. “But I understand the ennui or maudlin notions you labor beneath. Thinking brings on an emotional quagmire, and then we are stuck.”
The snap and crackle of the fire intruded on the comfortable silence that descended upon the room while outside the rain continued its unrelenting drum.
“I don’t wish to discuss sad things right now.” When she nudged his shoulder with hers, a jolt of awareness surged through his arm. “Where do you believe the treasure is? Obviously, the clue was misleading, for a person can contemplate prose anywhere if they have the imagination.”
“Very true.” Hawk glanced at her as she relaxed her legs but didn’t bother to arrange her navy skirting over her limbs. That tantalizing glimpse of her ankles and stocking-covered calves went a long way toward distracting him. “Yet if Applewaite wrote the clue, and he was rumored to be a highly intelligent man, we surely must be missing the point.”
“How clever can a man be who came to this estate to hide ill-gotten valuables and then went and died before he could retrieve them?” Speculation filled her eyes. “Secondly, how can you be certain that Lord Applewaite wrote the clue?”
Damn.Why hadn’t that occurred to him? He’d been so focused on hunting for the treasure itself as well as protecting Belle that he didn’t think bigger. “You make an interesting point. I don’t know if Applewaite wrote the clue.”
Her eyes rounded. “If he didn’t, who did? Is there someone else hunting the same thing we are?”
Excitement buzzed at the base of his spine while his shaft tightened, clearly all too interested in his companion. “My superiors did warn me another party had been inquiring around London. We can assume this person—if he knew of the clue—might head this way.”
She frowned. “I understand the Home Office became aware of the clue due to finding it on Lord Applewaite’s corpse. So how would anyone else know?”
“I am not certain… unless someone out there already knew of the treasure’s existence. Either they helped Applewaite spirit it away or—”
“—or they inadvertently located it here,” she interrupted with shock in the whisper.
Bloody hell but she was magnificent! The logic in his brain argued with the desire in his member. He had to finish this mission. It was imperative he locate those valuables before other parties, else the treasures were lost again. To take his mind from the immediate temptation of her, Hawk stared into the flames of the fire. “There are times when I miss the military. Every moment of my life had been planned out for me. Then, when I was promoted to a spy, my time was constantly spoken for. More dangerous than it was on battlefields, but more rewarding.” An unexpected sigh escaped him. “In many ways, I miss being needed.”
The realization made his eyebrows soar, for that truth tumbled from him by accident.
“A man of your character and determination will always be needed, Hawk.” She patted his hand. “Never think otherwise.”
“Yes, but will that need be for me alone, or merely for what I can do for someone?” Would that make him seem vulnerable in her estimation?
“I truly hope for your sake it is the first one.”
“So do I.” He shoved a hand through his hair, and it must have looked ridiculous, for her lips twitched and she giggled, but then promptly soothed his wayward locks. The fact she wished to take care of him in that moment humbled him more than he’d anticipated. And it was all too addicting. “I, uh…” He cleared his throat. “There is one part of my service to the Crown I adore, though.”
“Oh?” When she turned her head and met his gaze, the anticipation once more fired his excitement.
“Chasing treasure is something I excel at.” It wasn’t a brag if it was true, right?
She briefly pointed her gaze to the ceiling. “That very well may be so—I don’t know you that well to testify to it—but you are making a difference in people’s lives, and that is something I find interesting.”
