Zara glanced over and Hux and he saw the little flicker of her anxiety. She had noted the strangeness, as well, felt the same concerns that now flooded him. “Then the others must be already in their quarters.”
Fitzroy shrugged. “Yes, the quarters. After our drinks, I’ll have you taken to yours. But I suppose we must discuss a…delicatesubject.”
Hux tensed further. “And what is that, Mr. Fitzroy?”
“Should I have one room or two prepared?” he asked softly, his gaze moving to Zara. Perhaps he was looking for embarrassment.
Of course, she revealed none. She arched a brow like she owned this man and this room. “One. I think you already guessed that Mr. Huxley and I share a veryspecialfriendship.”
The corners of Fitzroy’s mouth tilted and Hux saw no judgment. “Of course.” He got to his feet. “Let me tell my people so they may take your things to the right place.”
He stepped out, and Zara immediately turned to Hux. “You notice he didn’t really answer the question about others coming to join us?”
“Of course,” Hux said softly. “He is cagey. Not nervous, though, but clearly hiding something.” He stared toward the door. “I don’t like it.”
“You think he’s dangerous?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Every man can be dangerous, as you well know.”
“Hmmm.” She sipped her drink. “Then I suppose we’ll have to suss it out. We’re clever.”
Hux leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to her lips, hoping to calm her fears a little, even if he still clung to his own discomfort. “It will be a challenge.”
As he straightened, Fitzroy re-entered the room, and for a moment his pupils dilated as he looked at them. “Your chamber is ready. I’ll allow my butler, Peyton, to take you up, as I have bit of business to attend to in my study for the next hour or so. We’ll have tea at three, so you’ll have time to rest yourselves before that.”
Hux wrinkled his brow. Fitzroy had been all intense interest and flirtation a moment before, but now he was acting just like any normal host. A little detached, friendly but ultimately disinterested. Still, Zara pushed to her feet and set her empty glass aside. She slid her hand into the crook of Hux’s arm, her fingers tightening, sending a message to remain collected so they could regroup.
He let out a long breath and then led her from the room. “Of course. We will see you then, Mr. Fitzroy.”
Fitzroy inclined his head and Hux felt him watching as they walked down the hall toward the staircase. The butler took them to the chamber, and after a few moments of polite exchange, he left. Hux leaned on the door and stared at Zara once they were alone.
“Something is definitely amiss.”
She nodded. “Then perhaps we should do a little snooping. See if we can determine a little more about the handsome Mr. Fitzroy and if he is a threat to us.”
He agreed, and they exited the room and moved up the hall. Zara checked doors on one side of the hallway, Hux the other. Most were guest chambers, plain and not telling of anything about the man who owned the estate except that he had no other guests here but them.
But at last they reached a large double door and Hux looked down at her. “The chamber of the man himself, I think.”
She nodded. “If he’s hiding something, it might be here. And he did say he was going to be in his study for an hour. This is as safe a time as ever.”
Hux nodded and checked the door. It was locked, but that was nothing. Zara pulled a slender lock pick from within the pile of curls styled carefully atop her lovely head, and as she stood by, watching for anyone who might interrupt them, Hux worked on granting them entry. When there was the slight sound of the catch giving, he almost let out a moan of pleasure. God, but that was one of the best feelings in the world.
Notthebest, of course.
He opened the door and peeked inside. When he found it empty, he pushed it wider so that Zara could go first. “My lady,” he said, his voice low as she passed with a soft laugh.
They separated instantly. She moved up one side of the room, he the other. It seemed to be a perfectly normal chamber. Fine, yes, oh very fine with its flawlessly pressed linens on the big bed and its tasteful furniture. But Hux had been to dozens of rooms like these in the past, for mischief…and a few times for fun, long before he’d met Zara.
There was nothing special here, nothing that would show why both he and Zara felt such a sense of unease about their host. Hux was about to rejoin Zara across the room, when a small wooden box on top of the dressing table caught his eye. It was beautifully carved, probably worth a fortune by itself. The kind of compartment that usually held very special, very expensive things. He glanced over his shoulder. Zara was at the fireplace, fiddling with the miniatures on its mantel, as if she might reveal a secret chamber.
Of course, once at a house party in Sharpsworth, that had been exactly what they’d found. Crowning moment for them both.
He returned his attention to the box. Carefully he lifted its top and caught his breath. The compartment was lined with dark green velvet and in its folds laid a huge emerald brooch. Hux’s mouth watered as he stared at it, drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
It likely wasn’t Fitzroy’s. Not that Hux hadn’t known plenty of men who liked to wear ladies’ things. Nothing wrong with it. But Fitzroy didn’t seem the type. Did he have a wife? Wasthatthe cause for his strange behavior this afternoon?
He wrinkled his brow. Why was he wasting so much time trying to determine the habits of his prey? That wasn’t like him. He reached out and caught the brooch, reveling in its weight for a moment. He was about to place the item in his pocket when a door to a side chamber opened and into the room stepped Richard Fitzroy.
