Page 1 of The Scholar's Key
CHAPTER1
Lady Persephone Holloway hated weddings.
This one, however, was an exception.
This was not the finalization of a contract that hardly involved the bride and groom. This was not two people who barely knew one another, who might, in the end, resent one another for tying themselves together in the one life they had to live.
This wedding celebrated the love of two people who were choosing to be together because they couldn’t imagine a life apart.
This was a story that she could support, especially when the bride was one of her closest friends, dressed in a white gown so shimmering it was near to silver, a diamond broach gathered beneath the bodice on the front.
“She is beautiful,” Percy whispered in Faith’s ear. Lady Faith Newfield, sister to the bride and Percy’s closest friend, sat stoically watching the proceedings, and Percy wondered if she was seeing anything, for she was barely blinking. “Faith, are you all right?”
Faith nodded, although her jaw was clenched so tightly that Percy was worried for her teeth.
“She will always be part of your life, you know,” Percy said. “She will never truly leave you.”
Faith nodded again, and Percy leaned over and squeezed her hand. Faith knew that while she only wanted her sister to be happy, Hope’s marriage also meant that there would be a great deal of distance between them. If only Faith would be open to marriage herself. But it seemed that was not to be.
Percy leaned in to say something else to Faith but stopped suddenly when a prickling sensation danced over the back of her neck. She was being watched. She looked up to find Mr. Noah Rowley’s eyes on her, his brow furrowed behind his spectacles, his mouth in a grim line of disapproval. Percy slunk back in her seat, feeling properly chastised, an uneasy swirl in her stomach.
Very well, then. If the scholarly Mr. Rowley, friend of the groom, Lord Whitehall, felt that she should be silent, then silent she would be.
She would never admit that sitting back and observing the rest of the ceremony was lovely. Hope made a lovely bride with her soft features, golden blond hair and perfect curves. She looked like an angel, contrasting rather wonderfully with Lord Whitehall, as dark featured and surly as Hope was radiant.
It was, however, the happiest Percy had ever seen the viscount.
When the wedding was over, they all made the short journey from the church to Newfield Manor, where the wedding breakfast awaited them. It was a loud event, with all of the chattering amongst the guests, none commanding more attention than Hope and Faith’s mother. Percy had always been rather fond of Lady Newfield, even though she never stopped talking. At least there were never awkward silences when she was nearby.
Cassandra, who had recently become Lady Covington upon her marriage to the earl, was sitting to Percy’s right during the breakfast, and when everyone was otherwise engaged listening to a story Lord Ferrington was telling about the last horse race he had attended, Cassandra tugged on Percy’s elbow to gain her attention.
“Percy, you know that we have determined where the next clue is leading us.”
“Of course,” Percy said. Cassandra had stumbled upon a riddle that was tucked inside the pages of a book from her family’s estate. She had shared it with the other four of them — Percy, Faith, Hope, and Lady Madeline Bainbridge — who made up their secretive book club, and they had embarked on solving its secrets.
As it happened, Cassandra’s brother — Lord Ashford, the future Duke of Sheffield — had found a duplicate copy, and he and his four closest friends, which included Lord Whitehall, Lord Covington, Mr. Rowley and his brother Lord Ferrington — had also entered a treasure hunt. Of course, the initial search had ended well for Cassandra as she had fallen in love with her brother’s best friend, Lord Covington, even though the riddle hadn’t led them to a treasure but rather the next clue.
It was Hope and Lord Whitehall, who had learned from his father how to break codes, who had solved the next clue. They had discovered a key that they were sure would fit into a necklace set that belonged to Cassandra’s family.
The necklace, however, was most likely with Cassandra’s aunt in Bath.
“We need to reunite the key and the necklace. I am unsure how, but the necklace is part of this. Since you are going to Bath…”
“You would like me to visit your aunt,” Percy finished for her.
“Yes, if you would?” Cassandra said, her expression so earnest that even if Percy had been inclined to say no – which of course she wasn’t – she never could have.
“I’ll give you the key before we leave Newfield,” Cassandra said.
After they had eaten, Percy wandered away to the drawing-room window, taking her drink with her as she looked out at the sea stretching beyond. Newfield was situated on the coast near Harwich, and she wished she had more time to spend here and appreciate the beautiful landscape.
“Are you not having fun?”
Percy turned to find her mother standing behind her, one brow arched. Her mother was a rather quiet woman, yet not in an introverted manner. Rather, when she spoke it was with care that every word had meaning, and she was as curious as Percy about the world around her, although in a much more observant and unobtrusive way.
“Of course I am,” Percy said with a genuine smile. “I was just taking a moment to myself.”
Her mother turned and surveyed the room behind them. The guests primarily included Hope’s family and their close friends. “There are a few single young men here,” she said, as they both turned back to face the window.
