Nicholas leaned forward and flicked the kerchief open. In the center sat five dried peas. He studied their wrinkled forms.
“I don’t follow.”
“You need those.”
Not sure he wanted to know the answer, he still asked, “Why?”
“To hide in your room, of course.”
“Naturally. I should have realized immediately that I was supposed to hide vegetables in my room.”
“It’s the test.”
The more his mother explained, the more confused Nicholas became. “What test?”
“The test for the women. You’ll hide the peas, varying how hard you make each to find, and place a trip-wire ward around each. Then in the morning, you’ll know how much your guest snooped.”
“Mother, you essentially invited them to snoop when you set up this ridiculous thing.”
“Obviously. But it will be interesting to see who will find all the peas, and how carefully they hide their investigations, won’t it?”
Nicholas swiped the handkerchief from the table, peas and all. He still thought the entire scheme was ridiculous, but his mother had a point. He was curious how each woman would go about rummaging through his things. Since he had to let theminto his room now, he might as well hide the peas and ward them first.
“Fine, I’ll play your game, but I need you to do me a favor in return.”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to schedule Jane for tomorrow’s date with a baron and convince her to do something outside of the brewing room.”
“Jane?”
It was rare that Nicholas surprised his mother, and he savored the feeling for a moment before replying. “Jane. No questions, and I’ll even tell you what I find out about the peas each morning.”
“Oh fine, but you’ll have to go back to Lamsdel.” His mother said after giving him a considering look. “Shopping for ingredients that we don’t grow on the estate is the only way we’ll get Jane out of the brewing room.”
“Then you might want to check with Miss Winsel if the herbalist is likely to mention her temporary employment at Marstede—especially if he is likely to use her first name.”
For the second time that afternoon, he surprised his mother. She pursed her lips together. “Oh spirits, I should have considered that. I suppose you would have mentioned it if Abigail had learned of Sadie’s origins?”
“Her secret is safe for now, but visiting Lamsdel is a risk.”
“If you aren’t going to Ferman’s or the tavern, it shouldn’t be too bad, but I will double-check with Sadie about the herbalist.”
He stood, walked around the table, and leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek once more. “Thank you, Mother. I’ll go hide the peas now.”
Twenty-Two
???
Nicholas couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was in a strange room, because he knew Abigail was snooping around his room, though she’d only activated one of the wards around the peas so far, the storm raging outside, or if it was just one of those nights. Whatever the reason for his insomnia, not being in his suite didn’t help. He couldn’t pick up one of the books he kept on hand for when he wasn’t tired. Nor could he tinker with the bowl of stones and handful of engraving tools he kept ready for the moments when a random idea of how certain runes could be combined into a new glyph occurred to him at the oddest hours of the night.
Being in the guest bedroom was stifling.
So he left.
Without really thinking about it, he turned the direction of Sadie’s room when he stepped into the hall. He wasn’t about to knock on her door at midnight, of course, but he had to walk in some direction, why not that one? When he was only a few paces away and her door swung open, his heart beat faster. Instead of just not being able to sleep, he was suddenly wide awake.
But it was only Pippa stepping out into the hallway.
