“I am seeking anything you have on Freemasons and Societas Rosicruciana.”
“Well now, you are the second person today to ask me that. Upstairs, sir, you will find information on the second shelf to your right if there is anything on the matter,” Mrs. Lolly said.
Someone else had come in here, asking after those things.It had to be Tilly.
“Thank you.”
He took the stairs up and arrived in a smaller room crammed with books. A table was at the end under a window, and seated at it was Tilly. A shaft of dull light was settled around her, and he felt it again, that need he always experienced when he was close to this woman. It really had to stop and yet hadn’t and in fact was growing.
“Did you follow me?”
“I was having my eyes tested. How was I supposed to follow you?” Ambrose protested. “Further to that is why would I?”
She harrumphed.
“You sound seventy when you make that noise.”
“My fondest wish,” she muttered, looking back down at the book she was reading, clearly dismissing him.
“You should not be out in London without your maid, Tilly, and definitely not up here alone.”
She waved his words away with a delicate flick of a gloved hand, still reading.
“It is not right,” he snapped, annoyed at her dismissive gesture.
“And I am no concern of yours, and I had plans to bring my maid—not that it is any concern of yours—however she is unwell.”
“Your parents should watch you more carefully,” he muttered.
“My parents are good people, but do not feel the need to bind me tight with society’s rules and expectations.” She was still looking at the book as she spoke.
“Did you show anyone the book?”
She nodded. “The man I took it to was no help at all. The book is now back in the room below the stairs.” She shot him a hard look before she spoke again. “I made Margaret and Barnaby go with me to put it there, and Ruby stayed at the door, waiting for us. But I felt it best to return it so no one came looking for it.”
Which in no way mollified him, but as she was here and unharmed, he added nothing further.
“Mr. Redfern has heard of the Trinitarian Christian Master Masons because he is a Freemason. I’m surprised you didn’t see the framed words on the wall, Tilly, and realize this.” He loved annoying this woman far too much.
“Well, usually I’m too busy conversing with him and not being rude by inspecting his walls.” She was looking at him now. “What else did you learn?”
“Mr. Redfern told me the society focuses on teachings like the inner mysteries of nature and science and combining those with Christian theology withHermeticism.”
“I am reading about that, actually, in this book,” she said, pointing to it.
He moved closer to look over her shoulder. Tilly’s subtle scent settled in his nostrils.
“Mr. Redfern also believes there have been some wrongdoings carried out by some of those who belong to the Societas Rosicruciana. Sacrifices and rituals,” Ambrose said.
He looked down, studying the few wisps of hair that escaped her bonnet, and then his gaze dropped further to the gentle swell of her breasts beneath her long peacock-feather-blue coat, which was unbuttoned. The bonnet matched, and her gloves were stacked neatly beside her on the table.
Sweet, he thought, and those lips looked kissable.
“Oh, now that’s interesting,” she said, waving him back so she could rise.
He obliged by taking two steps and then held out a hand to help her. She ignored him, like he’d known she would. Tilly was fiercely independent.
She removed her glasses and turned to place them beside her gloves before looking at him once more.
