And then caught himself.
“Speaking of comfortable…” Much as the feel of her body against his was setting off all sorts of exquisitely delightful sensations, Alec forced his thoughts back to practicalities. His sister and Andover would soon be growing tired of reading.
“The shards sticking in my spine are awfully sharp, and besides, we ought to finish with our mission before the others get too curious as to what we are doing and come looking for us.”
Caro scrambled to her feet and hastily tugged open her reticule. “Right,” she mumbled as she fished out the canvas-wrapped antiquity and held it out to him.
“You’re more experienced in this sort of adventure than I am,” said Alec. “I leave it to you to choose where to hide it.”
“We’ll do it together.” Edging closer to the wall, she began poking around in the gaps between the stones.
Moving over to join her, Alec helped push aside the thick stalks of prickly thistles growing up from the weeds. “There looks to be a deep crevice here,” he pointed out, after gingerly feeling around inside a slivered space half hidden by the greenery near the base of the stones.
“Yes, that should do.” Kneeling down beside him, she handed over the antiquity and watched as he carefully pushed it into the hole and let the thistles spring back into place. “Once we smooth the ground a bit, it will look as if it hasn’t been disturbed for centuries.”
“Perhaps we had better draw a treasure map, so we can be sure to find it again,” he jested, seeing she was clearly undaunted by the dangers. “Isn’t that how it’s done in the horrid novels?”
Caro grinned as she dusted her hands. “Come to think of it, Anna did have a map in one of her books.”
“And?” he prompted.
“It was stolen by the evil pasha’s monkey. Emmalina had to chase it through the souk, where it led her on a merry dance through the silk bazaar and the tents full of Bedouin weaponry…” She started to giggle. “It was actually very well written and madly exotic. I’m sure you can use your imagination to picture the scene.”
“I’m not sure my imagination can rival that of the Sloane sisters, but yes, I can see where it would be highly diverting.” He cleared his throat. “What happened?”
A teasing twinkle lit for a moment in her eyes. “Oh, you’ll have to read the book.”
She had the most mischievous sparkle to her eyes. He couldn’t imagine ever growing tired of seeing it spark.
Forcing his gaze away, Alec rose an
d offered her a hand up. “I shall—once the chapters of this little adventure of ours are finished.”
Caro’s expression immediately turned deadly serious. “I was just going to ask you about Thayer, and what plans you have to bring an end to his evil scheming.”
He frowned, but she ignored it.
“You’ve taken pains to keep your suspicions to yourself,” she continued. “But after all that has taken place—the attempted abduction of Isobel, the plan to have you arrested for theft—I would guess that this all has something to do with your involvement in the clandestine group that is seeking independence for Scotland.”
“Yes,” he admitted grudgingly.
“Thayer is the leader of the more violent faction, I assume, and seeks to take control of the group by discrediting you?”
“It is not that simple,” replied Alec. “But it’s not necessary for you to know the sordid details.” Hearing her inhale sharply, he held up a hand. “Don’t fly up in the boughs. They involve secrets I am not at liberty to share. Suffice it to say, there are those in our group who believe Thayer has betrayed all of our goals and principles.”
He paused, debating how much more to say, then decided she deserved as much of the truth as he could reveal. “The reason I journeyed to England was because I was asked to look into certain rumors about his activities. And it seems he has gotten wind of my purpose in being here.”
“Which explains the acts against you and your family,” she mused. “Have you found proof of his perfidy?”
“As to that, I received some interesting information this morning, but I need to make one more visit tomorrow before I am certain of the facts. If my surmise is correct, then I do have an idea on how to trap him.”
“How?” she demanded.
“I know that you are slated to accompany Isobel and Andover to the fireworks display in Sydney Gardens tomorrow evening. I shall explain it to you then.”
“But it’s a masked fête, it will be dark, and there will be a large crowd. You’ll never find me.”
He let his gaze slowly sweep from the tips of her half boots to the errant curls tumbling over her brow. “I would know you anywhere, in any disguise, Caro.”