Page 65 of The Viscount's Code
“You can send him the key itself,” Lord Ashford said, surprising them all. “Not only do I trust him with it, but it seems that Castleton is not the safest place for anything regarding this riddle.”
Hope sat back on the bench, pondering that. It was true, for it was here where Cassandra and Devon had been shot at, here where the books had been stolen.
“You think someone else at Castleton is after the riddle?” Cassandra asked, looking up at him in surprise. “How is that possible? We know and trust everyone here.”
“I know,” Lord Ashford said with a sigh of exasperation. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Very well. We’ll take the key,” Mr. Rowley said. “We best get going so that we can reach him before dark. Then we can stay the night there.”
They were all leaving the room, walking toward the front of the house when Hope had an idea. She chased after Mr. Rowley, tugging on his arm to stop him, drawing him into the shadows and speaking before she lost her nerve.
“I must ask a favor, if you don’t mind,” she said shyly. She hadn’t spent a great deal of time with him before.
“Of course,” he said with a nod. He had always been quite kind, and a studious man. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with a man like him instead? But no, it had to be Anthony.
“Would you… would you take a note to Lord Whitehall for me?” she asked. “It should take me but a moment to write it.”
“We will be next after Lady Persephone and her family depart, so there is time,” he said, and Hope hurried away, writing her note as quickly as she could while still ensuring it was legible before returning and passing it to Mr. Rowley, who folded it and tucked it into his pocket along with the key.
Then she took a breath, hoping that she had written the right words. The words that would make Anthony come back to her.
* * *
Anthony had been livingin near darkness in his manor. His servants seemed to have been too nervous to come near unless it was necessary. Anthony had ridden his horse home and knew at some point he would have to make travel arrangements for his mother to return from Newfield Manor, but he would deal with that at a later time.
Which was why he was surprised when his butler announced that he had visitors that evening.
“Who?” he demanded.
“Lord Ferrington and Mr. Rowley, my lord,” the butler said, before the two men appeared behind him, apparently not in the mood to wait for Anthony to be prepared to receive them.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, motioning for them to take a seat on the library furniture. He had a book open in front of him, although he had not actually been reading, but staring into the fire, wondering when it had all gone wrong.
“We come with a message,” Lord Fitzgerald said before turning to his brother and sharing a grin. “Three in fact.”
“Three messages,” Anthony said, frowning at them, not in the mood for their games.
“Yes,” said Mr. Rowley, reaching into his pocket. “First, the most intriguing.”
He passed him a small object, which Anthony took with interest.
“A key,” he mused.
“Yes, and not just any key,” Mr. Rowley said. “It emerged from a piano at Castleton after Lady Hope played the song you deciphered.”
Anthony’s head snapped up at Hope’s name, but he was also captivated by the context in which it was used.
“She played the song?”
“Yes. Apparently, she had the idea that perhaps the piano would work as a puzzle box, much like her father’s desk.”
“I should have thought of that,” Anthony muttered, but Lord Ferrington shrugged.
“You’re a codebreaker, not a clue master, are you not?”
“That’s true,” he said, still berating himself as he turned the key over in his hand, the gold smooth against his skin. He rubbed his thumb over the ruby. “Why did you bring this to me?”
“Ashford was hoping that you’d have an inkling of what the inscription meant. He thought perhaps the books might have held an idea. Since he no longer has the books, he figured your memory was the next best thing.”
