He grinned. “A subaltern.”
She gave a mock salute. “I thank you for my inferior rank.”
He laughed. “You can come as far as the house.”
“Very well.” She walked to the edge of the stream and hitched up her skirts, showing a beguiling flash of shapely leg and garter.
“No need for that.” Flynn strode over to her and hefted her over his shoulder.
She slapped him on the back. “Put me down! I don’t mind a bit of damp.”
He patted her derriere as he waded across the stream. “You’ll be grateful for it.”
When he reached the opposite bank, he set her on her feet.
Althea blew a wisp of blonde hair out of her eyes and glared at him. “Kindly tell me before you do that next time.”
“Then be advised I shall do it again on the way back.” He held a finger to his lips and waved a hand. Althea followed him into the copse of trees. Beyond it was a wide area of meadow grass which was fenced off. And beyond that a brick wall.
“This is as far as you go,” he said in a quiet voice. “I have to scale that wall.”
She opened her mouth.
“I’m sure wall climbing is another of your skills, but this time, my lady, I am asking you nicely to wait here.”
She nodded and her eyes darkened. “Do please be careful.”
Flynn vaulted the wooden fence, ran toward the house, crisscrossing between trees and bushes. He scaled a high brick wall and found the garden deserted. Dropping down onto flagstones, he darted over the paved area, skirted an ornamental pond, and approached the house. He flattened himself against the whitewashed wall and edged around the corner. French windows opened onto the drawing room, which was empty. Flynn tried the latch and found the door unlocked. He cautiously opened it and entered the room, crossing the carpet to the door. He walked soft-footed along the corridor, his footsteps muffled by a Persian carpet runner covering the floorboards. The murmur of voices floated out of an open door at the far end.
“I searched the rooms, but her damn cat kept attacking me. When I tried to shove it out the window, it dug its dashed claws into my neck.”
Flynn assumed the voice belonged to Hazelton.
“Are you sure it wasn’t a tiger?” Crowthorne scoffed. “You let a domestic cat get the better of you?”
“I could hardly strangle the animal, now could I?” Hazelton said. “A sure sign I’d been there.”
“Were you able to look around at all?” Crowthorne continued to needle him.
Flynn wondered why Hazelton didn’t explode and hit him.
“Bloody difficult without disturbing the servants.” Hazelton’s whining tone confirmed Flynn’s opinion of the man’s weak character. “It’s a small house. I was concerned about the noise. The servants’ quarters are below. I couldn’t risk being found there. I’m on the village council for hell’s sake. I inspected the bedchambers, thoroughly. I’ll swear Brookwood hasn’t secreted it there. Anyway, when he came to see me, he said it was in London in a safe place.”
“He lied. He planned to abscond with it to escape his debts. It is not in London. We ripped both London houses apart.”
“What about Brookwood Park? Might it be there?”
“No chance. He hadn’t been near his countryseat for over a year. He detested the country. And he wasn’t about to leave the gaming tables to visit it.”
“Maybe Lady Brookwood has hidden it somewhere,” Hazelton suggested.
“We’ll examine that possibility next. If we come away with nothing from Owltree Cottage.”
Flynn leaned back against the wall, his hands tightening into fists. He had to fight not to race in and deal with them.
“And how do we pull the cottage apart, as you suggest, with servants there?” Hazelton asked.
“The household will need to be restrained.”
