He might have to wait until morning. His shoulders sagged. What was one more sleepless night?
Just as he turned to go, a pink-cheeked woman with a brisk step turned onto the front walk.
His heart thumped. “Miss Parker, my apologies for calling so late and unannounced.”
“I am never too busy for a social call,” she said cheerfully. “And the sun has not fully set. May I invite you in for a cup of tea, Your Grace?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid this is not a social call.”
She tossed a merry look over her shoulder as she unlocked the door. “Is Your Grace in the market for a tiara?”
“Tiaras tend to clash with my hats,” he said solemnly. “Else I would be your best customer.”
“I shall design one to fit your top hat,” she replied with a glint in her eyes so wicked he feared her words were true.
“I’ve come about my mother’s locket,” he said quickly. “The heirloom mentioned in my grandfather’s will. I have been told you are the keeper of all named jewelry.”
“Indeed.” She beckoned him inside and into an impressive workman’s chamber, with all manner of tools hanging from the walls and behind the counters.
“Do you mind showing me the locket?” he asked, hoping years of rage and hope and grief didn’t appear on his face.
She hesitated. “I cannot let you take it.”
“I won’t,” he promised. “I am a man of my word and I will fulfill my grandfather’s wishes, no matter what I think of them. I want to confirm that his word is just as trustworthy. I have not seen the locket in five years. I need to ensure it is indeed the one I am after.”
“Very well.” From about her neck, she lifted a long chain bearing an intricate key. “If Your Grace would give me a moment?”
He nodded jerkily. He was so close now. Another moment was nothing. Soon he would know the truth.
She stepped into an adjoining room and out of sight. “Will you be in town long?”
“I’m not here on holiday,” he said, his voice as light as he could muster. “I will stay only as long as it takes to retrieve that locket.”
Muffled sounds came from the other room. His heart pounded. She must be opening the safe.
“Are you looking forward to the christening party for the aviary?”
“I won’t be attending.” He tried not to grit his teeth. Being forced to make small talk was excruciating. He just needed to see his mother’s face. “Cressmouth will have to celebrate without me.”
She emerged from the adjoining room with an expression of surprise. “You’re leaving immediately after tomorrow’s ceremony?”
“I shall pick up the locket, jump into my carriage, and never look back.” The words were brutally honest.
Retrieving the locket and escaping Cressmouth, Christmas, and his grandfather’s clutches for good had always been the plan. That single-minded goal had consumed him since the day his grandfather had first stolen the locket.
Yet the idea of never seeing Noelle again suddenly made his chest feel hollow.
Without further questions, the jeweler held out her palm. “Is this the one?”
Heat stung the back of Benjamin’s eyes. Itwasthe locket. Exactly as he remembered it. A perfect oval, trimmed in gold lace and embossed on the front with the silhouette of an angel.
He reached for it with trembling fingers.
“May I?” The words came out too scratchy to be understood, but the jeweler nodded anyway.
He lifted the small oval in his hands. It felt weightless. Empty. As if it no longer contained his mother’s soul. The gold chain dangled through his fingers, brushing between them like a strand of hair. Not that he remembered what his mother’s hair had been like. All he had was the image on the inside of this locket.
If it was still there.
