Wooden floorboards thumped underneath their feet, followed by the click of a doorknob turning then the muted whoosh of a door opening.
And then…silence.
But not the usual sort of silence. It was the silence of a held breath, that moment of fleeting stillness just before the breath was released in a deafening sneeze or a raucous laugh.
There were people inside. All of them were doing their utmost to keep quiet, but the air around her was positively throbbing with anticipation.
“Can’t I look now? Please, Armitage? I’ve been ever so patient.”
There was a muffled snort from somewhere to her left, then Armitage’s voice in her ear, warm with laughter. “My dearest girl, you haven’t been patient in the least. On the contrary, you’ve been teasing me for months now. You’ve been a perfect menace.”
“A menace! I have no idea what you mean. I never teased?—”
“Did you, or did you not try and follow me here on at least six different occasions?”
He’d caught her every time anyway, so it really didn’t count, did it? “Those were coincidences!”
“Six coincidences?”
“I just happened to be in the same place at the same time as you, that’s all.”
There was a second snort, and she turned on the offender with a huff. “If you think I don’t know that’s you, Percy, you’re sadly mistaken. I’d know your snort anywhere.”
“Never mind.” Armitage smothered another chuckle. “Another three steps, and all shall be revealed.”
Three steps later the floorboards gave way to a carpet so lush and thick the heels of her shoes sank an inch into it, and there was a flicker behind her eyes that hinted a lamp was burning nearby.
“There, here we are. Now you may open your eyes.”
At last! Her eyelids sprang open, and the first thing she saw was Percy, Jenny, and Duncan standing before her, their faces wreathed with beaming smiles.
“Welcome to Hart’s Lodging House!” Jenny cried, unable to hold her tongue a minute longer.
Hart’s Lodging House? What in the world? “We have a lodging house?”
“We do now!” Jenny waved her hand around the room, her face alight with excitement. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“I… Yes, indeed! It’s lovely.”
And it was lovely. The sun was on the verge of sinking beneath the horizon, but a half-dozen lamps were lit, casting a warm glow around the room, and the pleasing scent of beeswax permeated the room.
They were standing in what appeared to be an entry hall, but it was an unusually spacious one with large windows that looked out onto St. James’s Street. They weren’t right on the channel, but from one corner of the left window she caught a glimpse of the sunset playing on the waves. The walls had been freshly painted in a soothing sage green, and the trim a soft white.
“You must come and see the drawing room, Lottie.” Percy grabbed her hand and led her into the adjacent room, the others following them. “Just look at the fireplace! Isn’t it magnificent?”
She gasped. “Oh, my goodness.”
It was a massive, floor-to-ceiling affair that might have been out of place in a smaller room, but this room ran the entire length of the house. Why, it must have been three times the size of the entryway.
And the stone… She smoothed her palm over the carved mantelpiece. It was all one piece, done in the same pale gold stone as Hart’s Ace. Goodness, it must have cost a fortune, but it would certainly keep the lodging house guests warm on the cool fall evenings.
“It was the boss’s idea.” Duncan cast an admiring glance at Armitage. “It looks just right, eh?”
Lottie glanced at him, dazed. “I—yes, indeed. It’s beautiful.”
“There are eight bedchambers.” Percy ran to the back of the house, pausing at the bottom of a grand staircase led to the second and third floors. “I’ve tested the beds in every one of them. You won’t believe how comfortable they are. Come and see, Lottie.”
“Perhaps in a moment, Percy.” Armitage was watching her, reading every shift of her emotions as easily as words on a page. It was staggering how well he knew her after only a year.
