Page 65 of The Earl's Secret
“Ah, I recognize this story,” he said. “An interesting one.”
“You recognize it?” Gideon asked.
“Of course,” the duke frowned. “It looks just like Newfeld’s book.”
“Our father’s?” Faith said, exchanging a look with Hope. “I’ve never seen one like it before. Is it the same book?”
The duke took the book from his wife and turned it over. “It could be, or at least his is similar but does not appear to be the same. His mother held it in such high regard and kept it hidden. Which, naturally, caused us to want to see it all the more.” He chuckled. “We looked that book over from cover to back and never could find anything special about it.”
“I see,” Gideon murmured, even though the explanation only made it all the more confusing.
“Wait,” Cassandra said, and they all turned to her, finding her hand deep inside the bag. “There’s something else within.”
She pulled out an old, delicate, folded paper.
“It was within the lining of the bag,” she said reverently, as she broke the seal and opened the page as they all waited, with nary a sound filling the room. “It appears to be a letter,” she said. “A very short one with no apparent meaning.”
“‘Greetings,my dearfriend!Itwassucha pleasureto see you again.Thereis nothingnewto report.Ilook forwardtospendingsometime with you when Icometo townthis summer.Until then,cordially yours,friend.’
She looked up at them all. “There is a date at the bottom. I don’t understand.”
“I do,” Whitehall said, surprising them all. “But this is not something we can solve today.”
CHAPTER26
“As thrilled as I am about our engagement, I would really like to solve this mystery before we celebrate,” Cassandra said, tapping her hand against her drink.
After Whitehall’s revelation, they had prepared for the dinner that the duchess had arranged. While there was still an edge to the atmosphere, especially from Gideon who had finally accepted that there was no treasure immediately awaiting him to set his finances to rights, it had been an entertaining dinner with all ten of them plus their chaperones present.
Now that the men had joined them in the drawing room, Cassandra couldn’t help but be drawn to Devon’s side. It was hard to believe that, against all odds, they had found one another and overcome their past to plan a future together – one that Cassandra hoped would begin sooner rather than later.
As tired as she was – and as hopeful that she could perhaps find some time alone with Devon – they waited long enough that their parents and chaperones finally retired, leaving the rest of them the time they needed to discuss what their next steps might be.
“Well, Whitehall?” Devon said as they all stared at the surly viscount who did not seem to particularly welcome all of the attention suddenly directed his way. “Do you have a plan?”
Whitehall sighed in seeming resignation of his current position as he leaned forward and placed his drink on the table, interlacing his fingers together.
“I cannot say anything for certain until I see the other book in the set, but I am assuming, along with the note that was found with your book, that there will be a code present between the two. A book cipher. We will know when we compare one book to the other in order to determine if they would result in the same message and therefore break the code on the page. What appears to be an innocuous couple of lines could be something of much more importance.”
Cassandra blinked in surprise as she realized that was likely the most she had ever heard the viscount speak at one time. His words had been clipped and short, but each one obviously carefully used to describe exactly what he meant to say.
“And this clue could lead us to the treasure?”
He lifted a brow as he stared at her with a look that made it clear he was not impressed by her question.
“I proposed a problem to solve the code, not to tell you what is in it.”
“Now see here—” Devon began, but Cassandra placed a hand on his arm and a smile on her face.
“Thank you, Lord Whitehall,” she said, for it would do no good to raise the man’s ire. She looked around at the rest of them. “What do you say now?” she asked. “Should we move this party to Newfield Manor?”
Faith snorted. “I hardly think my mother would welcome a sudden influx of house guests with no warning.”
“Are you certain?” Hope asked, her voice soft. “Do you not think she would be thrilled by the fact we would prefer to retire there than remain at Castleton?”
“Oh dear,” Cassandra said. “I never thought of that. My mother would likely find it quite the insult, particularly because she already feels Castleton to be inferior to what it should be.”
“I am loathe to suggest this, as I am as invested in this outcome as any other,” Devon said, his voice low and warm at her shoulder, sending a most welcome trickle down her spine, “but I have been away from my own estate for far too long, especially now that I will be returning to share the news that a bride will accompany me.”
