“They’ll leave you alone if you leave them alone.”
“But…” They were destroying the spiders’ webs. By the feel of it, dozens of them.
She shivered, then heard a faint sound. A scratching…her fingers spasmed on his chest. “Rats! I can hear them.”
“Nonsense.” He descended another step, drawing her on. “There’s no food here.”
She stared at where she knew his head must be. Were rats that logical?
“We’re nearly there,” he murmured.
“There where?”
“I’m not sure, but keep your voice down.”
They reached the bottom of the stairs. He took a longer step. Reluctantly, she let her hands slide from him. It was unquestionably safer to have greater space between them, yet…
Dragging in a breath, she reached out, and found more stone walls. They were in a tiny chamber, barely wider than the stairway. She couldn’t tell how much farther it went, but she sensed the answer was not far. The atmosphere was different, the air cool, damp rather than dusty; although she still stood on stone, the smell of earth and leaf mold was strong.
“There’s another door here.”
She could sense Charles reaching about, examining the walls.
“The lock’s an old one, but our luck’s held—the key’s in it.”
She heard him working it. After a moment, he muttered, “This isn’t going to be easy.”
A good many minutes and a number of muffled curses later, the lock finally groaned and surrendered.
Charles lifted the latch, set his shoulder to the door’s edge, and eased it open. In the end, he had to exert considerable force to push it open enough to see out. He looked, tried to place the spot.
Penny stepped nearer. He gave ground so she could look out. “It’s the side courtyard, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Her voice was full of wonder. She reached through the narrow gap, caught and turned a leaf dangling beside the door. “This is the ivy covering the west wall.”
She tried to push the door farther open. It didn’t budge. She looked down as did he; the door was blocked across its base by earth and leaves piled outside. He sighed. “Step back.”
Ten minutes and considerable effort later, she slipped past him and escaped into the bright sunshine. “Stay close,” he hissed as she pushed past.
>
Eventually, he widened the gap enough to follow her.
Gratefully inhaling fresh air, he walked the few paces to where she waited and turned; side by side, they studied the wall and the door. Even ajar and with the accumulated detritus of decades banked before it, the door was difficult to see, screened by the thick curtain of broad-leafed ivy.
“It’s built into the outer wall, isn’t it? I never knew it was there.”
“If we smooth out the leaves and earth, then rearrange the ivy, there’s no reason anyone would guess.”
Returning to the door, he retrieved the key, pushed the door closed, locked it, and pocketed the key, then kicked back the disturbed earth and leaves enough to disguise their passage. Stepping back, he studied the ivy; a touch here, a trailing branch untangled there, and the door had disappeared.
He walked back to where Penny stood, still staring.
“Amazing. I wonder if Granville ever knew of it.”
He glanced back at the now innocent wall. “I doubt it. Those locks hadn’t been used in years.”
She looked up at the corner of the building. The master bedchamber didn’t have a window facing the courtyard; only lesser bedchambers overlooked it. “I wonder if Nicholas is still up there?”