“Good God.” He gave an exaggerated shiver. “I shudder to imagine the carnage.”
“Stay in my good graces,” she advised. “You’ll lose fewer appendages that way.”
“So noted. Might I inquire which finishing school you attended, that instructed docile misses in the fine art of violent combat?”
“The school of Bean. Not him directly; there was a tutor. A series of tutors. I was precocious.”
“Does that mean you kept stabbing them?”
“It doesn’tnotmean that.”
A throat cleared in the corridor. “Er… Forgive me, my lord.”
Stephen glanced up to see one of the footmen. “Yes, Forester?”
“Your delivery is in progress.”
“Marvelous.” Stephen rose to his feet. “Elizabeth, do come with me, if you like. Or please forgive my momentary absence if you prefer to stay behind.”
She tossed what was left of her bread onto the plate and snatched up her sword stick. “Ineverprefer to be left behind.”
15
Deliveries are made through the hidden trapdoor in the rear of the castle,” Stephen explained as he and his beautiful houseguest followed the footman down a series of corridors to a winding stone staircase.
“Deliveries of what, exactly?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of whatever I need for my inventions. Or whatever I think I might need. Or whatever I want, because it caught my fancy.”
“That sounds like… quite an eclectic list.”
He rubbed his hands in anticipation. “The only way to construct eclectic machines.”
“I presume you have even more contraptions at home?”
“My homeisan eclectic contraption. Filled with other eclectic contraptions. It is truly the most splendid place on earth.”
She considered this. “You must miss it terribly.”
“Every minute of every day. I do what I can to re-create the convenience of my usual laboratory here in the castle, but these small, intermittent deliveries cannot rival London’s easy accessibility to shipping and suppliers. As soon as my cousin comes home…” His voice trailed off.
“You’ll be able to go home, too,” she finished with obvious sympathy. “Do you still believe your cousin intends to return?”
“Don’t say that. Densmore may be a self-indulgent wastrel, but he’sfond of me. And is a lord with numerous responsibilities. He wouldn’t abdicate an earldom.”
“Not to poke holes in your logic, but… Isn’t abdicating an earldom exactly what Densmore did?”
He glared at her. “I saidnotto say it.”
“His defection won’t last much longer,” she assured him as they descended the stone steps. “My brother Graham could find a specific grain of sand in the desert. He’ll find your cousin, too.”
“And use his powers of persuasion to talk Densmore into returning?”
“Pah,” said Elizabeth. “Who needs to waste words, when my sister-in-law Kuni will be there to throw knives?”
“Not to poke holes in your logic,” said Stephen. “But if anyone murders the earl…”
“I promised we’d leave him a little bit alive, and I meant it. A few daggers to the chest never hurt anyone.”
