“Also, we haven’t had any dinner,” Caleb added. “We should pack some food to take with us.”
Another worthwhile point, reinforced by the fact that they were approaching the parlor, from wherein came delicious aromas—although also the sound of conversation, which was almost enough to spoil her appetite. Apparently, Dummersby and Throckmorton had taken the news of Vanity’s thievery with a grain of salt—and a dollop of gravy on their roast chicken, from the smell of it. Amelia considered entering the room, did a rapid cost-benefit analysis of the kind her parents taught her when she was still in the nursery, then pivoted so sharply that Caleb almost collided with her.
“We shall go back to the kitchen for supplies,” she said, taking his arm to turn him. “And then we shall start walking to the village. We can eat as we go.”
“Amelia, wait,” Caleb urged as she towed him along with her. When she ignored this, he stopped, requiring her to either stop also or else release him. He knew her too well, damn the man. She was constitutionally incapable of letting him go.
With a little flash of impatience, she halted. “What?”
Caleb stepped forward until he was at her side, sliding his arm around her back and drawing her closer to him. “Meely, sweetheart, take a breath. Let’s go upstairs and pack our suitcases. We can call a servant to bring us what we need.”
“Suitcases? You’re willing to carry your luggage all the way down to Staveley?” She gave him a wry look.
“And yours also,” he said, smiling with a sweetness she knew perfectly well was in fact him being cheeky. “And I’ll carry you on my back too,” he added winningly. “Might as well make use of this magnificent physique. I’ll be your hero, Professor Amelia Tarrant.”
She huffed. “You’ll grizzle the whole way.”
“Of course. I have a soulful nature. How can I not, when I am met with beauty in the mirror every day?”
Amelia couldn’t help herself; she laughed. “You are ridiculous.”
“And you love me for it,” he replied, grinning.
“I—” she began automatically, and closed her mouth before she exposed too much truth. She did love him,ridiculousman that he was. Lovely, kind, generous man. But kisses in Cumbria did not equate to anything real in Oxford, and should Throckmorton appear in the corridor at that moment, they’d need to step apart and snarl at each other. Amelia knew herself to be brave, but not even she possessed enough courage to place her truth in such a position.
“I agree that your plan is a good one,” she said instead, and allowed him to turn her to again face the entrance hall and its stairs leading upward.
Abruptly, they stopped, eyes widening at the sight that met them.
“Uh…” was all Amelia could manage to say.
“What the…” Caleb said, equally dumbstruck.
They stared in utter bemusement at a dark, narrow passageway leading to the mudroom.
“I must be more tired than I realized,” Caleb said eventually. “I could have sworn we were heading for the entrance hall.”
“We were.” Taking a step forward, Amelia set her hands on her hips and turned in a slow circle to comprehensively frown at the passageway. Had it been an undergraduate student rather than a piece of architecture, it would have transformed immediately, with apologies, into the entrance hall. But noteven Amelia’s strictest look could perform such magic.Something had, though.
“We must have gone past an active thaumaturgic antique,” she said.
“The hallway was empty,” Caleb argued.
“Then something under the floorboards.”
Caleb shook his head. “We’d have experienced effects before, were that the case.”
“Then it must be this,” Amelia said, taking the locket out from where she’d stashed it in her skirt pocket. “It created a temporal bubble to prevent us from leaving the property. Perhaps it’s doing something similar now.”
“A binding magic?” Caleb said. “Well, opening it broke the enchantment before. Let’s try that.”
Amelia unlatched the case and opened it to reveal the tooth within. Caleb grimaced. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s just a tooth, Caleb. You have several of your own in your mouth.”
“Yes, but that looks ancient, and not in an exciting, I-want-to-study-it way.”
“Let’s try again for the exit,” Amelia said.
