Page 76 of Kiss Me Lady One More Time
She hesitated. She was closer to the door . . .
“You are welcome to try it,” he said roughly. “It won’t get you anywhere, but I shall enjoy the excuse to take out a bit of frustration.”
She considered bolting anyway, if only to cause a commotion, but he had the key to the door. No use getting beaten for such a small effect. She stood instead, and took her time, straightening her skirts and her cloak and moving slowly across the room. Surely Ruby had gone for help. If she could stall until someone arrived . . .
“Come on, come on,” he said, exasperated. He waited and gave her a little push when she drew near enough. She stumbled into the room.
He stayed where he was. “There is a candle and striker on the table.” He nodded toward the center of the room. “Light it now or I’ll close you in and leave you in the dark.”
Her fingers fumbled, but she got the candle lit. Without another word, he shut the door.
She stood alone, trembling a little. How had this all gone so spectacularly wrong? Hope was going to kill her. And Sterne—
She pushed all such thoughts out of her mind. She could not break down now and she would if she thought of him. She had tothink.
The door seemed a good place to start, but there was no latch on it at all. For a while, she searched the frame and the area around it for something—a switch or a knob to trigger it—but found nothing.
Her hands started to shake. She set the candle down and pressed them against the door, breathing deeply and reaching for calm.
After several moments, she untied her cloak and set it aside. Picking up her light again, she turned to face the room.
Some sort of countertop or long table sat off to her left. She caught the shine of another candlestick and lit that one, as well. Further on was another, and she went around the room, lighting every candle and oil lamp she found, until she could finally see the whole room.
It looked remarkably like the rooms she’d seen in the British Museum. Her gaze was drawn immediately to the wall where Tensford’s great fish hung. Three more candles perched beneath it and she lit them, too. “If only I’d known what trouble you’d cause, I would have fallen, that day, without reaching for the boulder to steady myself.”
Looking around, she saw the objects the Curtis brothers had mentioned, noting also that the ‘fancy book’ was actually a priceless, illuminated manuscript, hundreds of years old. There were numerous other items, including a jar of teeth that made her shudder and a gorgeous tiara studded with amethysts. She was just reaching for it when she heard a noise at the door.
“Miss? Miss Munroe? Are you all right in there, Miss?”
“Ruby?” Her heart leapt in gladness, then fell to her feet. “Get out of here, Ruby! I can’t find a way to open the door! You must get away and bring help.”
“I sent those cursed Curtis men after help. I told them Tensford would have their guts for garters if they didn’t get right back here with Whiddon, Mrs. Caradec and whoever else they could rustle up.”
Penelope pressed her forehead against the door. “Will they go? Will they do it?”
“Aye. They seemed convinced Tensford could ruin them at home.”
She sucked in a breath. “Thank God. Can you see a way to open the door from your side? That wretch didn’t let me see how he triggered it.”
“I’m trying.”
She heard the sound of tapping and books moving about, but suddenly it stopped. “Someone’s coming,” Ruby hissed.
“Hide!” she ordered.
Soon enough, she heard the voices approaching, as well. And she knew who it was, too.
She scrambled back to the center of the room and was waiting calmly when Lady Lowell entered.
Chapter 19
“Well, this is adisaster,” the woman moaned. She glared at Penelope. “And I suppose it is all your fault.”
Penelope blinked in surprise.
The woman turned on the man behind her—Samseh. “And you! You had to put her inhere?”
“She already knew about it,” he said flatly. “And I did not want the servants finding her. I didn’t expect you to return so soon.”
