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“It’s a rundown of the history of the dukedom in the last two hundred years. My great-grandfather started making copies of the original diaries when one of them was loaned to The National History Museum for a display,” he explained. “He didn’t want it to let it go, but my great-grandmother convinced him to. He decided then to start having the copies professionally done to ensure they’d always be around.”
“So why can’t I read those?”
“Because we don’t have them.” He chuckled. “Well, not here. There’s a copy at our house in Oxleigh, and a few in some university libraries. I’m surprised you haven’t come across them in yours, especially with your field of study.”
I pursed my lips. “I’ll have to make a note to check and see if they’re available.”
“You can, or I can just ask Grandpa to show you the real versions before you go.”
“Do you think he would?”
“I don’t see—” His words were cut off as the room plunged into darkness.
The only light was the orangey glow of the fireplaces, but we were tucked into a back corner where it couldn’t really reach us. It was nothing but a peripheral haze, and certainly nothing to see by when you were standing right next to a shelf of priceless diaries.
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, no, indeed,” William agreed, producing his phone. He turned on the flashlight and swapped it for the book he’d just given me. “I was hoping it would hold on a little longer.”
“Speak for yourself. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.” I reluctantly let him have the book back and flashed the light around quickly, choosing to rest against an empty side table against the wall. “Can you see if I sit here?”
“Yes, don’t worry.” He replaced the book and locked the cabinet, then turned to face me. “Come on. Let’s go back upstairs.”
I looked at his phone. “Didn’t you say this was charged?”
“Yes, it’s been plugged in this afternoon. Why?”
“Because it has three percent battery.”
He took it from me with a frown. “Oh, fuck. It can’t have been plugged in at the wall.”
“Why wouldn’t it be plugged in?”
“The house staff cleaned our rooms today. This place seriously lacks plugs, so I’m guessing one of them unplugged my charger for the vacuum and didn’t plug it back in, and I just didn’t notice.” He grimaced at his phone. “What about yours?”
I put my hand into my dressing gown pocket and froze. “Um.”
“I know I gave it to you, and I remember yours saying one hundred percent.”
“Well, then it’s happily on one hundred percent on the coffee table in our room,” I said slowly. “You gave it to me at the same time as my dressing gown, and I put it on the table while I put this on, and…”
He sighed. “And didn’t pick up your phone.”
“Looks like the murderous snowman is going to get me after all.”
“Jesus Christ. Come on, let’s get out before we get stuck among the books.”
“I wouldn’t be mad about that,” I replied, pushing away from the side table. “Although I suppose it’s a rather useless place to be without any light to read the books by.”
“Indeed.”
We took no more than three steps before the bright light of his phone disappeared and plunged us back into darkness. All we had was the gentle glow of the fireplace, but even that wasn’t bright enough to fully light our way.
I sighed. “Great.”
“Here.” He reached out and brushed his fingertips against my hand then grabbed it, using it to tug me closer. I almost tripped into his side, and I swatted his chest with my free hand.
I was more focused on him than the table that was right in front of me—small, dark, and possessing an extremely solid set of legs.
