to regain? Or as a reminder that his treachery had cost him everything?
She frowned. She struggled with the last thought. There was nothing about the man that seemed treacherous. And yet, she knew what the history books said. What was taught. He was a terrible man. An enemy to his kingdom.
But if that’s what he truly was, why make something like this? This display felt like a loving memorial to what had been lost. Not a remembrance of a kingdom and a throne he’d purposefully betrayed.
She shook her head, trying to clear the conflicting thoughts and emotions. It didn’t matter. None of it did. One year, and she was done. One year, and all of this would be behind her.
But…if he was innocent, it did matter, didn’t it? The answer to that was a resounding yes. Because his innocence would mean Queen Vesta was the traitor. But how was she, Theo, supposed to change anything? She was a peasant. A commoner. The daughter of a man who owed more than he owned.
She was powerless. She always had been. Her fingers wrapped a little tighter around the feather duster. There was no point in even thinking about such things. She took a step back from the display.
And ran into a hard wall of warm body.
She gasped and spun around, thinking she’d been caught by Elswood. “I’m sorry, I—”
His Lordship stood behind her. He was in black track pants and a T-shirt, looking very casual. Still very handsome, unfortunately. And he smelled even better than the library, which was quite a feat.
He smiled at her. “Good morning, Theodora.”
She curtsied and kept her head down. He was so near. Inches away. It seemed improper to be that close to him, and yet there wasn’t a fiber of her being that wanted to move. After all, she’d already been on his lap. “Your Lordship.”
Had he already been in the library when she’d arrived? Or was he just that quiet that she hadn’t heard him walk up behind her? “I was cleaning. I’m sorry to bother you. I should get back to—”
“You’re not bothering me. I was looking for you, actually.”
She lifted her head. “You were?”
He nodded. “First of all, I signed the indenture.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Secondly, I was wondering if you could help me search for a little black cat that came to visit me last night?”
She blinked at him. At his strong jaw and eyes that were so very blue. Like the water at the center of a deep lake. “A cat came to visit you last night?”
“Mm-hmm. On my balcony.”
“There must be a lot of stray cats around here, don’t you think?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen any before. Certainly not him.”
“Him?”
“I’m not sure about that either.”
“I’d be happy to help you look. Mrs. Baton expects me to be cleaning in here, though. I should probably tell her where I’ll be in case she comes to check on me.”
“Don’t worry about Hyacinth.”
Theo snorted before she could stop herself. “Her first name is Hyacinth?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “I know, right?”
She covered her hand with her mouth and made herself breathe before she burst out laughing. She regained her control, then dropped her hand and nodded. “Okay, then, let’s go look for your new cat friend.”
“Great.” He glanced down at her outfit. “But first, you’d better change if we’re going to be traipsing around in the woods.”
When she was in jeans and a T-shirt with a shirt over top as a light jacket, they set out to look. Thankfully, she hadn’t run into Hyacinth. She smiled to herself. She had to stop thinking of Mrs. Baton by that name, or she was going to lose it the next time she saw the housekeeper.
They left the house a different way than when they’d gone to the mines. This time, they went through a set of French doors that led onto an enormous back patio. Beyond that was the garden she’d seen from the library windows.
Most of it was an enormous pavilion covered in creeping, flowering vines. The pavilion spanned almost the entire width of the garden area and was at least two-thirds of the length. At the very center sat a beautiful tiled three-tier fountain. Its basin was large enough to have fish in it. The burbling made a lovely sound.
All around the pavilion were more plants, many of which Theo recognized from Limbo. One in particular really caught her eye, however.
“You have nightberries.” She looked from plant to plant. They stretched down the entire side