Page 73 of Kiss Me Lady One More Time
They rushed to the door, but it had closed again, with the servant inside.
“Try the latch—quietly,” Sterne said. “I’ll block you from view.”
“Locked.”
“Then we wait.”
They stood, facing outward, trying to look as if they were observing the spectacle. Sterne was vibrating, with tension, and with reaction to everything Tensford had said.
Behind them, the rattle of keys sounded.
“Ready . . .” Tensford said under his breath.
The door opened, just a crack. Sterne stepped back and forced his way in. Sliding inside, he pushed the footman back and grabbed the key from the door. He forced the man back further, to make room for Tensford.
“Here, now! What’s this?” the servant objected. “You’re not meant to—”
Tensford came in and pushed the man out into the ballroom. Sterne closed the door and locked it again. They stared at each other, both breathing quickly, and they turned together to face the room.
The servant must have entered to light the place. It looked much like one of the fossil rooms in the British Museum. There were fewer specimens, but there were all sorts, small and large, plant and animal. The difference was—at least some of these would be for sale, Sterne supposed.
But the centerpiece was well lit and had been designed to draw every eye. It was large, by far the largest piece in the room. Taller than it was wide, it stood on an easel that must have been specially constructed. It was covered.
Together, they stepped toward it.
They looked at each other, solemn, even as the footman knocked continuously, but discreetly, on the door, trying to get back in before he was found out, perhaps.
Tensford nodded.
Sterne reached out and yanked the covering away.
He froze.
The earl breathed out.
It wasn’t Tensford’s great fish.
It looked like . . .
“Footprints,” Tensford breathed. “Preserved in rock. Think of it, all of these years. They must have lasted centuries.”
“What made them?” Sterne asked. “They look almost like the prints of a salamander, the sort you’d find in the river mud.”
“Bigger than a salamander,” Tensford said in awe. “They’ll go wild. That lot out there. They’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Tensford,” Sterne said low. “Where thehellis your fish?”
“I don’t know.” The earl sighed. “I’m beginning not to care.”
Sterne still stared up at the thing. “She was right. Damn it all. She was right about everything.” Turning, he unlocked the door and rushed past the sputtering footman into the ballroom. Tensford followed on his heels.
“We have to find her,” he growled.
“We will.”
They pushed through the throng. People grumbled, but gave way. Suddenly, Sterne realized they’d picked up a follower.
“What are you doing?” Lady Lowell demanded as she trailed in their wake. “Tensford, is that you? Tensford?”
