Page 12 of The Thief
He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down, signing it and sealing it with wax, putting it back in the box and locking it.
Pulling the key out, he went to hand it to Ronald but he refused.
“That is yours to keep. Each box has two keys, one with our employer and one with the contact. To ensure that the box can’t be opened in travel. It was moved only this one time to bring it to you and now the key will stay here.”
“I see. Thank you for that information. I’ll make sure it stays secure,” Alastair said, putting the key in the secret compartment he had in the top drawer of his desk.
A few minutes later, Bard and Ragan appeared at the door, Ragan leading the way.
“That young lady who answered the door was very nice,” Ragan said, making Bard smile.
“Miss Melody is a very lovely young woman and has been with Ms. Scarlett as long as she has needed a lady’s maid. Melody is Elinor’s daughter. Elinor is Lady Babette Kensington’s lady maid. Lady Babette is Scarlett’s mother who is married to Lord Graham, Scarlett’s father.”
Ragan nodded as Bard spoke, his eyes rolling as Bard started to tell him a story he’d heard about Melody from Scarlett.
“Bard, was the note delivered?” Alastair asked, interrupting him.
Bard looked at him as if he was just noticing they had returned from their errand.
“Yes, Your Grace, I delivered it to Ms. Melody so that she can give it to the queen.”
“Wonderful. Would you like to wait for the queen to read it? I’m sure our cook has some lunch left over,” Alastair offered to Ragan and Ronald.
Ronald looked at Ragan and Ragan laughed.
“We sure could use a good bite. Travel food is not as filling as one would like.” He watched Ronald bound out of the study towards the kitchen.
The other three men headed to the dining room after him, laughing along the way.
Scarlett read the letter and looked up at Melody in confusion.
“Is something wrong?” Melody asked.
“I am not sure. I received a letter from a man named Everett Dormhnall. He said that he is looking into Catriona’s disappearance and he wanted to let me know what he had so far. It wasn’t much but he said he had a few leads he was working on.”
Melody’s frown broke into a smile. “That means he has information about the abduction!” she said, standing and going over to where Scarlett sat. She grabbed Scarlett’s hands in hers and said, “You’ll be able to see Catriona again.”
Scarlett only half-heartedly smiled. “He said he had leads, no more. It is not a definite that he can find her.”
Melody squeezed her hands once more before letting go. “Have faith, friend. I do,” she said, giving Scarlett a hug.
She turned to leave but was halted when Scarlett called her name.
“Melody, please excuse me from lunch and dinner. I’m not quite ready to face him just yet.”
Melody smiled knowingly and said, “I will.”
“Thank you, Melody.”
Alastair looked at Melody with shock on his face. She had just announced that Scarlett would not be coming down for dinner or lunch because she was feeling unwell. Alastair scoffed into his napkin when Bard told Melody that he hoped she would feel better soon.
Scarlett felt as sick as he did and he was perfectly fine.
Coward. Can’t even come and face me.
“My Lord, did you need anything more to drink?” the cook’s aide Alyssa asked, drawing his attention to her.
He saw Alyssa holding a tray with Scarlett’s lunch on it and smiled.
