Page 20 of Lady in Ruby
And the dinner gong was rung.
“What did I tell you, girl?” Aunt Juniper whispered as Caroline helped her to her feet. “Those squirrels! Stealing anything they like.”
“I don’t think the squirrels are to blame, Auntie,” Caroline said, pressing her forehead with the back of her hand. Lord, what a mess.
* * * *
All through dinner, her thoughts ran around and around in her head. She scarcely responded to Francis’s many little jokes—how could he joke at a time like this? All she could think about was the fact that she had seen Snowdon leave her parents’ room with something under his jacket. What if her father had left his notes in the bedchamber? It had happened before—he tended to carry around papers in case he wanted to jot down a thought. Snowdon might easily have slipped the notes into his jacket. But why? Why, why, why…
“Don’t worry overmuch, Caro,” Francis said, leaning closer to her. “Those notes will turn up. Or they won’t! Nothing you can do about it. Unless you’ve got more notes on the formula your father is working on?”
“No,” she said dully. “Papa’s the genius. I’m still learning. My notes would be worthless.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” he said cheerfully.
Caroline turned to look at him. “Why?”
“Because no one will try to steal them from you, sweetheart!” He chuckled, biting into another forkful of roast beef. He seemed to not have a care in the world.
The dessert course was a flaming pudding. The blue light of the brandy-fueled fire cast strange shadows on the diners’ faces, and Caroline thought again of the formula—would drinking it be like drinking fire? Would they ever be truly sure it was ready for human use if no human could safely try it?
She normally loved Christmas pudding, but she ate her portion mechanically, hardly tasting the cinnamon, nutmeg, and rich treacle in each bite. She also couldn’t even look over at Lord Snowdon without feeling the simultaneous hits of remembered passion (which made her flush) and resentment at his high-handed manner about the missing notes (which made her want to scream).
It was a relief to rise from the table and retreat to the drawing room with the other ladies. Caroline procured a cup of mulled wine and moved to the fireplace to stare sulkily into the flames.
Estelle joined her, not speaking for a while, clearly lost in her own thoughts. At last she said, “Will Mr Stockan get into trouble, do you think?”
“Papa won’t let him get blamed for anything, unless it could be proved he did something wrong.”
“I can’t imagine him doing such a thing,” Estelle said, the defense arising from a newfound partisanship rather than any facts. “Why would he? He had access for months. He could just as easily copied them out and left the originals.”
Caroline turned to look at her friend, impressed by her reasoning. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. It’s a point in Mr Stockan’s favor.”
“Are the notes very important, Caro?” Estelle’s brow was wrinkled. “You know so much more about chemistry and your father’s experiments.”
“Yes, I think they could be very important. Don’t tell anyone else this, Estelle, but he’s been in communication with the War Department. The formula might someday be used by the army.”
Estelle’s eyes went wide. “Would Mr Stockan be aware of that?”
“Maybe. But maybe not. Papa has been quite circumspect throughout the whole process.”
“I’m going to find out.” Estelle put aside her cup, and prepared to stand.
“How?”
“I’ll ask Mr Stockan some questions.”
“You must be subtle!” Caroline warned.
Estelle nodded and got up, making her way toward Timothy Stockan, who stood by the windows. From his expression as she approached, he’d tell her anything she asked. Caroline sighed. If Estelle and Timothy did have feelings for each other, she’d hate for it to be revealed that he was involved in the theft.
Then Snowdon approached her, putting one hand on the fireplace mantel as if he just intended to get warm. Without looking at her, he said, “May I speak with you, Miss Caroline?”
“You already are,” she pointed out.
A wry smile flashed across his face. “I owe you an apology. My behavior earlier…upstairs. It was inexcusable.”
Caroline swallowed hard at the memory of what came over them both. “I was told to forget anything happened,” she said softly, so as not to be overheard by anyone nearby.
