His eyes widened. “I—I don’t know, my lord. We’re only hired for the day and night.”
Finch and I exchanged a glance.
Then we climbed the back stairs.
The stairwell was narrow and unlit, the air close and sour, as though it had not been disturbed in years. Each step creaked softly beneath our weight, and with every footfall, the noise from below diminished, replaced by something far worse.
Silence.
After we passed what must have been the first floor, we reached the top of the stairs. So far, things had gone according to plan. But we had yet to reach the critical point. I eased the door open a fraction. A single corridor stretched before us, dimly lit. In front of one door, a guard stood.
One man against eight. Ordinarily, it would have been child’s play—were it not for the pistol resting easy in his hand.
I drew back and turned to Finch’s associates. “One guard,” I said quietly. “Armed.”
“We’ll need a diversion,” Finch murmured.
“Suggestions?” I asked.
“Shoot him in the leg,” one of his men offered.
I gave him a look. “Any other ideas?”
Before anyone else could speak, Finch’s sole female associate stepped forward. “Food and drink,” she said. “I’ll take them to him.”
“And where would you—” I began.
She reached into her pocket and produced a sausage roll wrapped neatly in a napkin, followed by a bottle of wine. “I thought ahead.”
Finch let out a quiet laugh. “I did say she was intelligent.”
But his amusement faded as a sound reached us from the stairwell below.
Footsteps. Fast. Uneven.
I turned just as a breathless figure appeared, his composure gone.
“Nicky,” I said sharply. “What in God’s name?—”
“Lady Rosalynd didn’t come back down,” he said, cutting me off. “I waited. She was meant to come straight back.”
Cold spread through me, swift and absolute.
“What the hell happened?” I demanded.
“She went up the main stairs,” he said, dragging in air. “If anybody challenged her, she would say she was looking for the lavatory. I stayed where we agreed. I counted the minutes.” His gaze met mine, raw now. “When she didn’t come back down, I went looking for her.”
My chest tightened.
“And?” I said.
“I couldn’t find her.”
The words struck like a blow. The noise of the house seemed to fall away, replaced by the rush of blood in my ears.
“She was meant to signal you,” Nicky said, his voice tight with dread. “That’s all. That was all she was meant to do.”
Fury and fear collided hard enough to steal my breath. “She did,” I said. “And now she’s paying the price.”
