Page 36 of The Earl's Secret
But of course, that was not his purpose today, nor something he would do within Cassandra’s presence, as forward as she may be.
“I often forget how beautiful it is out here,” she said, echoing his thoughts, and he nodded, his eyes coming to rest on the structures on the other side of the lake.
“Those are the cottages?”
“They are,” she said as they began to walk the old, yet still worn, path around the water. “I imagine they are checked on from time to time to ensure that no one has taken up residence within them, but I cannot foresee that they have been kept in much order with no groundskeeper or gamekeeper in residence.”
“We shall soon find out,” he said, although he was already on his guard at the thought there might be someone within – someone he would have to be sure to protect Cassandra from. He wished he had known of their destination, for he could have brought a weapon of some sort.
They reached the small cottages, and Devon made sure to take a quick look within each first, not telling Cassandra why for he was certain she would fight him on it. Satisfied that all three were empty, they decided they would begin looking on the outside before making their way within. Cassandra suggested they split up once more, but Devon again refused, and they carefully, silently, looked over the exterior of each cottage. They were built of wood with some stone, but they seemed to be quite sound, no cracks appearing, no crevices that could hold anything within nor hide any treasure.
“Do you think the treasure could be buried underground?” Cassandra asked, but Devon shook his head.
“That would require reference in the clue, would it not? How else would you be aware of where it was? No, I think not.”
“Let’s go inside, then,” Cassandra said. “Perhaps there is something hidden underneath the floorboards.”
“Perhaps,” Devon said, as a tingle tickled his shoulders and he turned quickly to look back behind him. “Do you feel…”
“Do I feel what?” she asked, her expression unreadable.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. He had thought, for a moment, that they were being watched, but that was ridiculous. No one had any reason to be out here at Castleton, tracking their movements as they searched around a lake in the middle of nowhere.
He was being far too cautious – which was not at all like him.
But when it came to Cassandra, it seemed that nothing was as it usually was. He was another man altogether.
For she meant something – something that no one else ever had before. He just wasn’t sure whether that would lead to his own happiness or heartbreak.
CHAPTER15
The mustiness of the small cottage crept over Cassandra like a light dusting of snow when she crossed the threshold. Devon was at her back, and she wondered as to the feeling he had asked her about. Did he mean a sentiment between the two of them or a clue regarding the search?
She longed to know, and yet was too afraid to ask.
For the more time she spent with him, the more she was realizing that the Devon she had thought she had known was not the man he truly was. He wore a front that he presented to the world, one he likely didn’t even realize he had placed upon himself.
It wasn’t that his charming air was falsified, nor was the smile he wore when he glanced her way or greeted anyone else. It was that, deep within, there was a protector, a man who cared, who had profound thoughts, who had, she knew now, been as swept up in the moment as she had been that day, who perhaps didn’t always have the easy, right words that she always assumed he did.
Spending time alone with him had made her see him in a different light, and it was a light that was shining brilliantly upon him, one she wanted to enter along with him.
The one-room cottage held just a few pieces of furniture, rather dilapidated ones at that. There was a desk and chair in one corner, a bed in the other, a fireplace against the wall with a small galley next to it for cooking.
“What do you think?” Cassandra murmured as she ran her hand along the blanket covering the bed, surprised to find that it wasn’t as dirty or as dusty as she would have guessed. “Would you live somewhere like this, if it meant you had the lake next to you, nature around you?”
She heard the thud of the door closing behind them, and the thought of the two of them captured alone in here together made her heart race.
“I suppose it might be nice to live such a simple existence, although it would be rather lonely,” he mused.
“But what if it wasn’t?” she asked, turning around to capture his gaze. “What if you were not alone but lived here with someone else?”
“It would be rather cramped quarters.”
“True,” she said, swallowing hard at the heated expression that overcame his eyes. “It would require sharing a bed.”
“It would, wouldn’t it?” he said, although in more of a statement than a question.
“How… different it would be from what we are used to,” she finished, dipping her head so that she wouldn’t be staring at him anymore, for she was uncertain how to continue on with this topic of conversation.
