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He patted his pocket for a tinderbox in thought. Behind the secret passage, he hoped nobody would notice the little speck of light. Taking out the box, he ignited a piece of tinder and squinted at the narrow walls.

The tinder went out quickly, but the brief moments in the light made it obvious that he was on a narrow staircase, similar to the passage leading to his secret study in his conservatory.

What had he stumbled onto? Was it also a secret place where St. John kept his documents regarding The Shadows? Or was it more nefarious? Could it be a place to keep his prisoners?

He made his way down, careful not to make any noise. There was a cracked open window one story below, explaining the draft it created. But there was nothing else there, so Ian moved farther down.

When he finally hit the ground floor he was trapped between four walls. There was nothing there either.

It couldn’t be. Nobody went to the trouble of creating a secret door only for it to lead nowhere. Ian used the tinderbox again, holding a piece of ignited wooden split close to the walls, then moving it lower.

He looked down and noticed a handle on the floor.

A trap door!

Ian opened it and jumped down, disturbing the dust that immediately surrounded him. The dull sound that echoed against the walls quickly made Ian realize that he was not in another musty little room. Wherever he was, the place was vast and if the echo of his footfalls was anything to judge by, it was also completely empty.

Ian waited in silence for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He stretched out his hands and carefully made his way toward a bare wall. He ran his finger against it while walking along the wall, feeling for any clues.

He didn’t have to wait long. His hands felt the metal rim of a lantern!

He took it off the wall and lit the candle inside. Finally, he could study this place in more detail.

Ian made his way around the room and couldn’t believe his eyes.

The room might have been empty, but two out of four walls were decorated with all kinds of weapons starting with swords and daggers and finishing with axes and arrows while supplying everything in between.

Bars were hanging from the ceiling, and leather mats were stacked against the wall.

This was an exercise room, Ian realized quickly. And if St. John used all these weapons to exercise then he was definitely one dangerous individual.

* * *

Helen accompanied Victoria to the women’s shelter for the second time, this time without an escort from a gentleman.

But everything in this place now reminded her of Ian.

It was uncanny, how she remembered their last outing through the lens of being with him.

There was the wall he leaned against while she sat in the corner with a headache coming on. There was the place he had watched her from. And there was the corridor where he made her laugh with a joke.

Helen couldn’t keep her mind from drifting to the enigmatic lord. And she was certain the last night was the biggest reason for it.

She had woken up this morning with the biggest smile on her face, and she couldn’t get rid of it no matter how hard she tried. Her lips just refused to listen to her.

Victoria had even pointed that out when she had joined Helen’s carriage. The angel that she was, she had assumed Helen was just as happy as she to be visiting the shelter. And Helen was happy about that, too. But her wide smile had other reasons.

Now Victoria had left with the housekeeper Maggie, to discuss grand plans about the place. She had plenty of ideas about how to make the house cozier for women, how to spread the word so more women would use it, and even how to attract more sponsors to this place.

She was taken by the idea of helping. For the first time in months, her eyes were glowing, her cheeks were rosy, and a genuine smile adorned her lips.

Helen could easily see that Victoria was made for this. She was a princess. She had been taught from a young age about hosting events while looking out for people was in her blood.

In contrast to Victoria, Helen’s favorite part was speaking to the women residing there. She enjoyed their poignant if brief conversations. With every woman she spoke to, it was like opening a new world unknown to her until that moment.

She also found that she had so many things in common with those women, even though their circumstances were so different.

But most of her time was spent with Abbey and her baby Gavin. Perhaps holding the babe close to her heart and helping him calm down the first time she came to the shelter bonded him to her. Or perhaps Abbey just reminded Helen of herself when she’d just received Laney.