Page 14 of Once Upon a Winter's Tale
Brianna smiled up at him before picking up her fork. Truthfully, she was famished and could hardly wait for dessert.
Chapter Six
The next day
“Your Grace, youmay need to alter your plans,” Wilson said, laying out the day’s clothing. “We had a huge snowfall last night. I am unfamiliar with the weather in Devon, but the butler said this type of winter surprise is commonplace. There’s a lot of snow, and it’s still snowing.”
“Ask West to prepare the sleigh. I noticed it covered behind the stable. The stable hand, Roy, can determine which horses are best suited,” Albert replied. He wouldn’t let a winter storm destroy his anticipation for the day. He wanted to know Brianna better, and this was his ticket.
“I’ll see to it, Your Grace,” Wilson said.
Albert had awakened early and looked forward to the day. Dinner had been pleasant, and, considering his arrival behind a mad dog fight, he couldn’t recall the last time he had enjoyed a woman’s company as much. Usually, the simpering young ladies of thetonbored him senseless, and he seized any excuse to leave their company as quickly as possible.
Miss Brianna Thomas had proven a delightful conversationalist, completely without pretense. She had regaled him with amusing stories about animals she had treated, besides the horses, cats, and dogs. Her love for animals was heartwarming and forced him to see the animals differently; she had convinced him they felt pain and heartache. The doe’s behavior toward her fawn was a perfect example. She had risked death from a pack of predators and crashed through a gate to find her baby.
After dinner, Brianna had shown him some of her favorite books in the study. His father had permitted her unfettered use of the study, and she was well acquainted with what it contained. He found her bookish inclinations equal to her desire to help others. He had known no one as selfless as this exquisitely beautiful woman. If she had been a boy, she could have pursued a career in medicine, but Society denied women that option. Perhaps that would change one day, but not soon enough to make a difference for Miss Thomas.
“Your Grace. I found a rough sketch of the study, as you requested yesterday,” his valet said as he straightened the room.
“Thank you, Wilson,” Albert said, tucking the rolled drawing beneath his arm before heading to the study. He planned to take another look at the study before he left. “This will help me tremendously,” he said, leaving the room.
The morning was young. He planned to pick up Brianna and her maid at the dowager house, but that wasn’t for a few hours. He wanted to check out the study while he had time.
Taking the sketch, he compared it with the room, looking for places his father might have inserted space for a secret safe.
A couple of ideas struck him. His father loved horses and read insatiably on the subject. Albert tried to recall his favorite book.
“Oh, yes! It wasHorsemanship with Horses of Distinction.” Albert recalled it as an enormous book with illustrations, and evaluated the large books at eye level or lower. His father would not have placed it higher than his reach.
When he found the book, he pulled it out, but nothing happened.No spinning shelf—nothing!“Dash it all!” he groaned. “I thought that idea had merit.”
Frustrated, he eyed the room while another idea took root. The last time he was in here, he had found himself drawn to the fireplace, particularly the intricate decorations. An elegant scroll design ran along each side of the fireplace and beneath the mantel, and a small, buttonlike decoration filled the inside of the ends of the scroll. Running his fingers over the design on the right side, he used slight pressure on all parts of the scroll.Nothing.
Moving to the left side, Albert repeated his actions. When he pressed the raised portion of the scroll on the left side, he heard a click, and a mid-shelf panel in the bookcase to the left of the fireplace opened, exposing a safe requiring a combination. He felt like he had just found a treasure! Now he needed to open it.
It must be something familiar—but not something readily thought of, as a birthday might be. Father would have written it down… somewhere.
Sitting, he thought about his mother’s desk at home and smiled. After pulling the center drawer out as far as it would reach, he felt around for any movement, pushing right and then left on the back end of the drawer until the back panel slid slightly left and a small scroll of vellum fell out. He unfurled it and saw pairs of letters, separated by commas.
LA, AH, HR, RL
A niggling of recognition stirred. Could it be possible the four letters are the same as the first names of my siblings and me?Pulling out a pencil, he played with the letters using a coding game he and his brothers had created when they were younger. Adding the various letter codes together within the commas, he tried it, turning the lock appropriately and landing on each in the order presented. The safe opened.
It was mostly empty except for a small stack of money, various signed documents he would read later, and a small black box containing an elegant gold band and an amethyst and diamond ring—obviously wedding rings. He didn’t recognize it as his mother’s and wondered to whom it had belonged.
Glancing at the mantel clock, he moved the small piece of scrolled vellum back into the desk compartment. It was time to pick up Brianna.There will be time for this later.
Fifteen minutes later, his driver pulled the sleigh into the circular drive of the dowager house. “I expect to be a few minutes,” Albert told West. “I have not met her mother yet.”
The footman nodded. “Yes, Your Grace.”
The heavy snowfall had slowed to a gentle dusting.I hope it stays light while we are in the village,he thought, walking to the door.
Albert knocked once before an older man opened the door. The man looked familiar, but from where?
“Welcome, Your Grace. Miss Brianna will be down in a few minutes. She asked that you await her in the parlor.”
Albert followed the man into the parlor, and by the time he turned to speak to him, the butler had left.
