Page 54 of The Viscount's Code
“So,” Ashford said impatiently, “did you find anything?”
“I did,” Anthony said, carefully avoiding Hope’s eyes. For he should be saying ‘we’, but he couldn’t very well admit Hope’s involvement to the rest of the group, even though her sister knew the truth. “It took some time, and I had to consult with another codebreaker, the man who taught my father, but I did.”
“You showed the books to someone else?” Ashford said, frowning.
Anthony straightened. “You all wanted the code broken. It is broken. And, as it happens, I trust this man with my life.”
“My father also saw the books,” Hope interjected. “We had to tell him, since he had one of them and was not willing to share it. He said that it was given to his ancestors by Cassandra’s grandmother years ago.”
“I see,” Lord Ashford said, obviously still suspicious, while Lady Cassandra leaned forward eagerly.
“What did you find?” she asked.
“A song,” Hope said, clasping her hands together in obvious excitement. Anthony shot her a look of warning and she stilled. “Er, a song is what Lord Whitehall discovered,” she finished, sinking back into her chair.
“A song?” Cassandra said with a frown of confusion. “What kind of song?”
“A Spanish one,” Anthony said. “Lady Hope seemed to recognize it.”
“Can you sing it for us?” Cassandra asked, and Hope colored slightly, but nodded. Anthony knew that as shy as she could be, she was used to playing music for a crowd.
She began the lines, her voice warming him through, as he wished he could walk over to her and kiss her thoroughly. He loved the sound of her voice, the way she took a breath of encouragement before beginning anything. He loved how she would send him these small smiles that told him she was thinking about him, that she saw beyond his gruff exterior to the man he was inside.
Hell, he— he lovedher. As he watched her standing there at the front of the room, listened to the song flowing through her lips, she seemed to be touching every part of him, and he had to fight the instinct to walk over to her and tell her exactly what he was feeling.
But then he heard Lord Embury’s voice in his head, and he knew that not only could he not show his desire for her now, but to continue to do so even when they were alone would only bring censure upon his head. He was going to be broken by having to leave her. All he could do now was ensure that he didn’t make this any harder for her than it already would be.
He had thought that if he could prove his father’s innocence, he could approach Lord Embury to discuss a potential future with Hope. It was hard to imagine, after all of these years, that he would consider marriage, but he had also come to realize that the thought of Hope with anyone else was nearly more than he could bear.
But it didn’t appear that he had any choice in the matter.
“What do you think it means?” Cassandra asked once Hope had finished, and Anthony was drawn out of his stupor to respond when he realized that she was addressing him.
“I have no idea,” he said with a shrug. “I may have some experience with codes, but as for the song… it could be another riddle, I suppose.”
“Does anyone speak Spanish?” Hope asked, seeming to shrink back when all eyes of the nine other people in the room turned toward her. “Does it make any sense?”
“Both Cassandra and I do, being that it is a language of our ancestors,” Ashford said, his brows drawing upward as he considered the words. “But nothing comes to mind.”
“Perhaps we could play it in front of my parents as well as your own?” Lady Cassandra asked. “We do not have to tell them the reason for it, but it might resonate with one of them.”
“We should have a chance tomorrow,” her brother said, and Cassandra sat back down, deflated.
“That seems so long away. But very well.”
“Hope, will you be the one to play it?” Lady Cassandra asked. “You are by far the most proficient musician out of all of us.”
“Of course,” Hope murmured, dipping her head. “I believe Lord Whitehall is also rather talented.”
Now it was Anthony’s turn to receive the scrutiny, which he understood. He hadn’t shared with any of them his own ability to play. It had been another skill taught by his father, and one that always saddened him, for it made him think of him and all that he had lost in his death.
“I am nothing compared to Lady Hope,” he said, staring at her as he said it, needing her to understand the truth to his words – which he meant in far more than simply music. “We shall listen to her.”
* * *
Hope pausedwith her hand on the door handle. She knew that she should stay in her room, that she was risking everything by tiptoeing down the hallway in the middle of the night.
But she couldn’t help herself. With so many people in residence at Castleton, it was unlikely that she was going to find any other opportunity to speak with Anthony alone. He had all but ignored her for the entirety of the day, refusing to even look at her or give her the chance to catch his eye. She had seen him walk into his bedroom earlier, which was in a separate corridor from hers but close to the top of the stairs.
