“Is it his business?” Lance jerked his thumb at Gareth. “I didn’t think so. It isyourbusiness.”
“Correct. So I get to make all the decisions, such as the one that says you are not joining us.”
“Yes, I am. An adventure is afoot, I can tell.”
“A very small one,” Gareth soothed. “So small it is almost as boring as those documents.”
Lance frowned peevishly. Then his expression cleared. “It has to do with that Belvoir case, doesn’t it?”
Ives often regretted forgetting that Lance, for all his self-absorption and distraction, had a mind as sharp as a sword when he chose to use it. That he so chose at the most inconvenient moments was a source of unending annoyance.
“I am right. You are investigating something, and I’ll wager it is not for the Crown’s interests. You will only make a mess of it without me, whatever it is.” He snapped his fingers at a footman. “My horse.”
Gareth sighed, defeated. Ives wondered if they could lose Lance between this house and the one they would visit.
“Do not follow your own nose in this,” he said to Lance. “If you insist on coming, at least do not get in the way or cause more trouble than we need.”
“I am insulted and wounded. I do not cause trouble.” He strode to the door, paused, and turned to them. “Say, do we need our pistols?”
“It is not that kind of adventure.”
“If you say so. Pity.”
***
Lance stood in the alley, gazing up at the house.
“Are you coming?” Ives whispered.
Lance joined him. “The house appeared familiar to me. Have I been here before?”
“I am sure you have never stood in this spot before.”
They crowded Gareth, who bent over the lock on the carriage house, working a pick.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Lance asked.
“Here and there. It mostly requires concentration, and silence.”
“You will have to teach me. It might be a handy skill to have. Don’t you agree, Ives? We will have Gareth give us lessons on lock picking some rainy day.”
“Concentration andsilence,” Gareth repeated tightly.
Lance folded his arms and waited.
Thus far bringing him had not created any particular problems. By arriving by the mews behind the house, and entering along the alley on which the carriage house stretched, Lance had not even realized just where they were. They would be done here and he would be back in Langley House with him none the wiser.
The lock clicked. Gareth straightened, removed it,and swung open one half of the carriage house door. They all slipped in.
Windows allowed moonlight at least. The bulk of a carriage filled most of the space. “A groom has his chamber above,” Ives whispered. “He may be there, so move quietly.”
“Move where? And why?” Lance asked.
“We are looking for evidence of a cellar, and access to it,” Gareth said.
They walked the perimeter of the room, then went through the door to the stables. The horses had been noisy and nervous, and became more so on their arrival. Lance walked to the stalls and calmed them. Ives paced the plank floor, evidence that this building once had had a different purpose.
Suddenly his boots made different sounds. Hollow ones. He crouched and felt the floor. His hand found a ring. He gestured for his brothers, and pulled.
