Beresford brings me into his study and takes a ring of keys from a drawer in his desk. Then shows me a recess hidden behind a painting, which he unlocks with a bronze key.
“I keep coins and bank notes here for easy, habitual access,” he informs me. “Not too much at once, mind you, since this is the most obvious place for a thief to look.”
“An expert on thieving, are you?” I nudge his arm with a smirk.
He laughs a little. “You might say that I understand the mind of a thief. As I was saying, this compartment has money for daily expenses, entertaining and such. I have other hiding places for more significant savings, and for the jewels.”
Our next stop is a simple broom closet with a false wall at the back. Once Beresford inserts a silver key into the tiny lock, the panel opens into a vault big enough for one person to stand inside. The space contains shallow, built-in cabinets with glass fronts. Each compartment is lined with velvet and contains a piece of fine jewelry or a single gemstone.
The final hiding spot is at the end of the north hall. A rug conceals a sliding floor panel, which hides a reinforced metal door. Beresford has to use three keys for that compartment. Inside are several bags and chests full of coins and more bank notes.
“That’s the extent of my fortune.” He relocks the vault door, slides the floor panel back into place, and kicks the rug over it all. “Except this magnificent treasure, of course.” He smacks my rear playfully and I squeal.
Beresford pulls me close, aligning the front of his body with mine and cupping my chin with his large hand. “I want you to enjoy yourself in my absence, in whatever way you like. There are only two rules.”
“Oh, really?” I turn my face to kiss his palm. “And what are they?”
“One—if you host a sex party, you may pleasure yourself to the sight of others, but no one else may touch you. You’re mine.”
“I crave no touch but yours,” I assure him.
Beresford smiles briefly, but the expression fades as he holds up the ring of keys. “I’m giving you this. You may use it to open anything in the house, except for one door.”
A slow chill of understanding rolls through my body. I already know which door he means.
“There’s a blue door in the south wing which is private. Not something I wish to share.” He separates a small gold key from the other keys on the ring. “This is the key to the blue door. Do not use it.”
“As you wish,” I say.
Perhaps something in my manner reveals my heightened interest in that key and the door to which it belongs. He’s about to place the entire ring of keys in my palm, but at the last second he pulls them back.
His voice takes on a deeper, more daunting timbre than ever before. “Sybil, if you open the blue door, we are done.”
Surprised, I peer into his eyes. He’s serious. Lethally so.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Exactly what I said. If you open that door, dreadful things will happen. Don’t force my hand, Sybil. Don’t ruin this. Promise me.”
My mind is racing, my emotions churning. How can he demand this of me? What could possibly be in there? “Have you killed someone, Beresford?”
“I will not answer your questions. I am simply asking you to leave that one door locked, out of all the other doors in this fucking house, Sybil. Just that one. Please.”
“Please,or else, you mean.”
He groans in frustration and turns away, the keys jangling in his hand. “You said we could keep secrets.”
“Yes, but I only have a few, and you seem to have so many.”
Beresford whirls, glaring. “Are you prepared to disclose yours? Do you believe that our relationship would remain the same if you did?”
I open my mouth, but it’s dry, and the words won’t leave my tongue.
There’s a weary satisfaction on his face. “That’s what I thought. Please do this for me. I have given you everything else—my love, my house, my fortune, my body… my very fucking soul. Leave this one door unopened, I beg.”
It’s theI begthat does it, because when he speaks those words, his voice breaks. My transgression of this rule would shatter him and destroy us. It’s a risk I can’t take.
“I won’t touch the blue door,” I tell him.
