The simple translation chilled her.
She shivered and attempted to keep her voice light. “Why a rabbit?”
“In Christian art, I believe they are a symbol of the resurrection.”
“Really? I did not know that.”
“And in secular art, a symbol of fertility.”
She felt her neck grow foolishly warm at the word.Silly creature! You are a grown woman, not a schoolgirl.
“Or so they taught us at university,” he said dryly. “Come. Let’s go up.”
When they returned to room three, Sir Frederick lingered in the closet, eyeing the repositioned shelves. Rebecca looked as well. Had someone let themselves into Mr. Oliver’s room and pushed the thing aside to get in?
Or had someone moved it for them?
Mary flashed through her mind. Mary going daily into Mr. Oliver’s room. Mary with her head near John’s, the two whispering together. But Rebecca kept those thoughts to herself.
Frederick said, “This opens possibilities, does it not? No key needed to sneak into or back out of this room.”
Rebecca nodded, wondering dully if she had just made things worse for her brother, if indeedJohn did this.
“I think I will talk to Mr. Mayhew again,” Sir Frederick said. “Ask if he knows of any builders still in the area. But ... let’s keep this discovery to ourselves for now, all right? I am not sure why, but I think it might be a wise precaution.”
“I agree.” In the meantime, Rebecca longed to ask some questions of her own.
She noticed a chalky-white smear on Frederick’s shoulder, and automatically reached up to wipe at it, saying, “You must have brushed against something.”
Her fingers lingered. Rubbing again, she felt the firm, rounded muscle beneath his sleeve.
Frederick had turned his head to try to see the offending mark, but now his focus returned to her.
He placed his hand over hers, and for a moment they stood that way in utter stillness. Rebecca felt the warmth of his gaze on her face and the warmth of his hand on hers. Pulse racing, she looked up at him, tall and darkly handsome, his deep brown eyes fixed on her so intently that she struggled to breathe.
Suddenly recalling her brother’s possible crime, icy reality cascaded over her and she snatched her hand away.
“There. Good as new.”
“Thank you,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
She nodded and thought,If only the rest of this calamity could be remedied as easily as a chalksmear.
18
So much for my resolve to remain aloof and objective in Miss Lane’s company, Frederick thought as he walked away from her. He could still feel her hand on his shoulder, touching him, almost ... caressing him. He squeezed his eyes shut as though to blot out the memory.Imbecile.She had merely wiped dirt from his sleeve like any friend would.
And yet he could not forget the look on her face when she’d gazed up at him, eyes wide, lips softly parted. He’d been tempted to kiss her then and there, despite her lies or at least her evasion. What a fool he was. When she’d pulled her hand away, he immediately wanted it back.
“Good as new?”Hardly.
With a concerted effort, Frederick returned his focus to the present task. He went to speak to Mr. Mayhew again and found him in his office.
“What can you tell me about the workmen who renovated this building into a hotel?”
“Precious little!” Mayhew sat back and pursed his lips. “By the time I bought the place, the builders and stonemasons had moved on to other jobs. I had to hire new men for the finishingwork—joiners mostly, and a few plumbers—to complete what the others had started.”
“And what about servants from the building’s days as a private house—any of them employed here now?”
