“What’s wrong with the door?” he asked, smiling slightly at her look of astonishment.
“Surely it is too obvious?” Isobel couldn’t believe he meant it, surely he didn’t expect to just waltz in without being noticed.
“Not if we are very quiet,” Dominic replied carefully taking note of the upper windows.
“What about the watch?” Isobel asked, with a quirked brow.
“What watch?” Dominic whispered, frowning at her.
Isobel sighed before pointing out the window at the end of the upper floor furthest away from them. Even at this distance, the faint flickering glow of the candle light in the upper window was clear to see.
“It moves across the upper hall, and then presumably down the stairs, and will appear in the lower corner over there.” Isobel pointed to the black windows of the corner room to the left of the front door. “Then it circles around the house this way until it reaches the kitchen. It stays in the kitchen for some time, before leaving going across the ground floor over there.” Carefully pointing toward the far bank of windows facing the gardens, she turned to look at her husband, catching his astonished look with a smirk. “If we time it right we might be able to get in if the watch is on the opposite side of the house. They won’t be able to hear us.”
Dominic nodded, clearly impressed with her cool logic and observance. “We could have done with you in the Army,” he muttered, shaking his head ruefully as he watched the candlelight take the exact route she had pointed out.
As the candle paused in the kitchens, Dominic and Isobel settled back against the large bulk of a tree trunk to wait the next round, quietly planning which rooms to search.
“Promise me one thing,” Dominic turned the determined point of her chin around to face him. Placing a soft kiss upon her lips, he gave himself up to her soft warmth for several moments before releasing her with a sigh. “If anyone does come back, you leave. Run hard and fast, straight for home. Don’t try and hide anywhere, and don’t wait for me to catch you up. I will be right behind you, but whatever you do you must promise me that you won’t take any chances. Your aim is to get back to Havistock Hall and fast. Do you promise?”
Concern was clearly etched in his voice, and Isobel was left in no doubt as to the dangers of what they were about to do. She nodded without hesitation. “I promise; home it is.” Although she agreed, she still needed a few reassurances of her own. “Promise me though, that you won’t play the hero and stay behind to fight. Promise you will leave with me.”
Dominic looked down at her. “Darling, I will be right behind you, btt you must not stop. I can run faster than you, and no doubt am far fitter due to the lifestyle I have led.” She would probably smack him if he said because he was a man.
Isobel looked at him haughtily. “I will out-run you, my dear man,” she argued, with a confidence that was ruined by a cheeky smile that lit her face. “Just make sure you can keep up.” She pointedly ignored his guffaw.
Isobel shook her head astounded at their strange situation. Here they were standing in the middle of woods, in the darkest hour of the night, staring at the home of one of the vilest men in England, teasing each other.
She was about to remark upon the fact, when the candle in the kitchen began to move through the established route. Nudging her husband in the ribs, she nodded quietly to the house and moved away.
“Are you sure we should go through the door?” Isobel still wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but found comfort in Dominic’s confidence.
Nodding quietly, he pointed out the route they would take through the shrubbery, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Within moments, they melted into the shadows of the hedgerow.
Several minutes later, heart thumping, Isobel stood at Dominic’s back trying desperately not to stop and think about what they were doing. Her knees were already trembling, and they weren’t even in the house yet. She listened to a faint squeak as Dominic jiggled the latch, and winced at the loud click that seemed to explode in the night like gunfire. Surely someone would hear that and come running. They paused for a few moments, and waited. Nothing stirred.
Slowly easing the door inwards, they had entered the large cavernous kitchen area. Their eyes had long since grown accustomed to the darkness. It wasn’t any hardship to see the large mass of the kitchen table, and two pot-laden dressers along the far wall. Silently nodding, Dominic moved across the kitchen w
ith cat like grace. Careful to keep her flowing cloak close to her legs, Isobel followed closely, fighting the urge to cling to him like a frightened rabbit. She had, after all, insisted she be included in this, she couldn’t now announce that she had changed her mind and demand to go home.
It felt like it took them a lifetime to get to the upper floors and begin searching for Rupert’s room. Isobel was certain dawn would be approaching at any moment.
Dominic had already found the master suite, and two guest rooms. After several moments of opening doors, luck appeared to be on their side when Isobel spied Rupert’s trunk at the base of the bed in the last room they entered.
After carefully closing the door behind them, they paused and waited while the candle passed by the gap at the bottom of the door. They searched the writing table beside the window, the clothes press and the small table beside the bed but found nothing. Intensifying the search, Isobel was emptying drawers when Dominic appeared behind her, quietly tapping her upon the shoulder.
Turning, she spied the roll of papers in his hand. Raising her brows she unrolled them, squinting through the gloom to read the wording that was visible to her. Relief swept through her as she found herself looking at the two documents that would seal Rupert’s fate. A delighted smile of triumph lit her face and she nodded with satisfaction.
Dominic had never seen such beauty. Even with her hair carefully buried beneath her flat cap, and dressed in manly work trousers, her body shrouded by his voluminous cloak, Dominic had never seen a more alluring feminine sight. He only wished they were at Havistock and they could make good use of the bed there. Unable to resist, he placed a hand on either side of her face and tipped her head upward for a quick, yet very thorough kiss.
Several moments later, her mind turned to mush by Dominic’s thoroughness, Isobel eyed the bed with something akin to regret. It had been ridiculously easy to get into the house and find what they were looking for. So easy in fact that Isobel wondered if there was something they hadn’t picked up on, as they slowly eased the kitchen door closed behind them moments later. Carefully hiding in the shrubbery, they waited long enough to see the candlelight vanish from the upper window, presumably to take the internal staircase down to the ground floor, and swiftly retraced their steps back across the gardens until they were once again in the secluded protection of the trees.
She was about to stop to celebrate, when Dominic prodded her in the back, urging her on. “Don’t stop, remember?” His voice held enough reproach to catapult her into urgency. Without further hesitation, she took off at a fast march through the woods back toward home.
Isobel was aware of Dominic pausing once or twice to take a long look behind them. On the one occasion she did pause to wait for him, he motioned her on with a wave of his hand and a fierce glare that was clearly visible even through the darkness of the night.
It seemed to take a lifetime before the reassuring bulk of Havistock Hall came into sight. The alluring sight of the solid edifice increased Isobel’s pace to a near run, despite the exhaustion that threatened to sap her strength.
Elation swept through her, and they paused only long enough for Dominic to unlock the door near to the terrace. Once inside, with the door carefully locked behind them, Dominic stopped long enough to scan the gardens and outbuildings for signs of activity, chest heaving with exertion before drawing the curtains closed. Slowly, he turned towards his wife.