Page 82 of The Gift of Patience
Of course, the men would leave to scout the tavern, and she was left behind again.
She found her sisters in Faith’s sitting room admiring the two babies.
“There you are, Patience! I have hardly seen you these past few days,” Faith remarked.
“I have been trying not to bother you,” she muttered as she accepted baby Benjamin from his loving mother.
“And you have also been assisting Ashley, I hear.”
She could feel her cheeks warm, curse them. “A little. There is not much I can do, unfortunately. He has asked me to call upon Sir Horace and Lady Fagge to see if they know what a key might belong to. Can I ask one of you to accompany me?”
All of the sisters exchanged looks. Hope was the only one with little awareness of what a visit to that household might mean. “I suppose I could go. Faith certainly should rest.”
“You are the best of sisters, Hope. I would have pulled Grace along, but I need her to do me a favour.”
Grace looked up from where she was playing peekaboo with Sylvester. “What can I do?”
“I need your drawing skills. I want someone to describe an image to you and see if you can draw it.”
“That sounds intriguing,” Joy said.
“I have never attempted such a thing,” Grace said with obvious hesitation.
“It is worth a try. If you do not succeed, then we are no worse off.”
“I suppose.” It was clear she did not agree. “Who is it?”
That was a whole other explanation Patience had to describe.
“Now I am doubly intrigued,” Joy said, rising to her feet from the floor, where she’d also been entertaining Sylvester. “I will accompany you, Grace. I want to see this gang member.”
“Hisfatheris the gang member we’ve been holding prisoner. Billy is actually quite sweet,” she told them as they left to fetch Grace’s drawing pad.
“I suppose we might as well get the call over with,” Patience said with a long-suffering sigh.
Hope left instructions for returning Sylvester to the nursemaid for his nap, then agreed to meet Patience downstairs in a quarter of an hour.
Patience returned to her own room to make sure she was presentable for a call, then saw the small music box Rupert had given her. She might as well return it to perhaps reduce the amount of calls she’d have to make there.
The carriage was called, and when they were on their way, Patience pulled out the box.
“What is that?” Hope asked.
“A music box that Rupert gave me. I was going to return it.”
“May I see it?”
Patience handed it to Hope, who began to examine it. “The craftsmanship on this is exquisite.” She turned the lever to start the music, but it fell out.
“That is odd. I thought those were part of the mechanism and could not be removed. I do hope I didn’t break it.”
Patience knew nothing of music boxes whatsoever.
Hope attempted to replace the lever. “It is like trying to fit a key into a difficult lock.”
“What did you say?” Patience asked as an idea took hold. “May I try?” She pulled out the key and compared it to the lever. They looked identical. She slid it inside the hole and turned. A click popped a small drawer underneath open.
They both gasped with excitement. A slender book was inside, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of the writing.
