“I wonder if it’ll be enough to buy a new slingshot….”
“I’m sure he’ll buy you several. Now listen to me, this is very important. You need to hide. Lord Lawson isn’t a very nice man and we can’t let him find you. He wants those letters, you see, and I don’t think he would care if he hurt you.”
Eddie’s eyes widened, but Ellen shook her head and said calmly, “Why would we hide, miss? We can lock the gentleman up in the dark, just like Eddie was locked up.”
Good God, of course! Vivianna’s gaze swung back down the long gallery and found the black space in the floor. Lord Lawson was still down there. But for how long?
She began to run. The children clattered after her. By the time Vivianna reached the entrance to the chamber, she was breathless. She gu
lped in air, peering down to where the steps vanished into nothingness.
“Lord Lawson?”
A scuffling noise. “What is it?” He sounded some way away, his voice hollow.
“Have you found anything?”
Movement, getting closer. “No. I’m coming back up.”
Vivianna’s heart jolted. She spun around to face the children. “The lion,” she whispered fiercely. “Push it back across!”
Definite footsteps now; the scrape of a shoe on stone. The children began to tug and pull the lion. It barely moved. Vivianna pushed against its cold flank, and felt the slab begin to roll back into position. But slowly, so slowly.
“Where are those children?” Lawson’s voice echoed beneath their feet.
He knew!
He was getting closer, and now they could hear him on the stairs. The lion upon its slab was halfway across. And then Lawson seemed to realize what was happening. He shouted out. He began to run…and stumbled.
The lion gained momentum. It trundled across the diminishing gap. Just as Lawson’s face appeared, white and streaked with dust, his eyes blazing with fury, the door closed with a soft whoosh.
“That was close,” Eddie muttered, his freckles even more prominent.
Vivianna leaned against the statue. Her heart was jumping in her chest. “Can he open it from inside?” she asked.
“I don’t know, miss,” Ellen whispered, and looked frightened.
“It’s dark down there anyway,” Eddie said grimly. “He won’t be able to see much once the candle goes out.”
That was true. Vivianna waited a moment more, but apart from some angry shouting and thumping at the slab beneath them, there was no sign of Lawson escaping. She held out her hands and tried not to shake.
“Come on, children. There are things to be done.”
Oliver spurred his horse down the long driveway. Ahead of him Candlewood awaited in the afternoon sun. He had come as soon as he could and Sergeant Ackroyd was not far behind. Vivianna’s message, via her coach driver, had been blunt and to the point.
I have the letters and Lawson. Come at once.
He still found it difficult to believe. Vivianna had accomplished in one afternoon what Oliver had been trying to accomplish for a year. He should be thrilled, but he wasn’t. He felt sick with anxiety and all he could think was: How dare she endanger herself in this way!
The whole point of driving her away after their night at the Anchor had been to keep her from danger. Why the hell couldn’t she ever do what she was supposed to? Damn the woman….
The door to the house was flung open as he dismounted and two small faces peered out at him. Then they began to shout. Almost immediately Vivianna appeared behind them.
He noticed she was wearing one of her woolen dresses, and her hair was pulled back tightly at her nape. She looked as severe and plain as she had the first time he met her. A reformer. A woman who attended meetings and lectured him. A do-gooder who would never be satisfied until he gave her Candlewood in perpetuity.
And he realized he didn’t care. It didn’t matter. He still wanted her. He always would.
The knowledge gave him a warm sensation, just above his heart. As if he had come home.