direction then and spoke in a tone so low it was almost inaudible. “In just a moment, go out into the hall, and wait for me in the alcove by the stairs.”
I nodded.
As the lecture continued, I rose and slipped past the major, moving unhurriedly out of the ballroom and into the foyer. It was cool here, away from all the closely seated bodies, and Mr. Turner-Hill’s voice had faded to a murmur. I took a deep breath, readying myself for the next stage of the operation.
Then I walked toward the large marble staircase. It was across the foyer from the front door and stopped at a wide landing before branching off into two separate staircases that circled upward. Beneath the ground floor staircase there was a little alcove with a velvet settee. I sat on it, waiting for the major to come out.
Was this going to work? I certainly hoped so, though I wasn’t entirely optimistic. Sir Nigel seemed to me to be a very wily sort of person, and I wasn’t sure that he would keep the papers in a safe. Surely there must be hundreds of hiding places in a house this size.
“Elizabeth.” I looked up to see the major standing there. I hadn’t even heard him approaching.
He held out a hand, and, without thinking, I rose and went to him, sliding my hand into his.
Without a word, he turned and led me out of the alcove and down a long corridor. “Do you think we’ll be missed?” I asked, when I was certain we were out of earshot of the ballroom.
“I doubt it. This crowd seems very absorbed in the lecture. But if we are, they’ll assume we’ve snuck off to be alone for a while.” I supposed his leading me away by the hand had been intentional. If anyone had happened to observe us, it might have looked very much as though we were sneaking off for an illicit rendezvous.
I glanced at him. “Are they likely to believe such a thing of you, Major Ramsey?” I wasn’t teasing him, not entirely. There was something so very staid about him at all times that I found it difficult to imagine anyone might think we had snuck away for a tryst during the middle of a lecture on Chinese porcelain. Then again, what better time?
“I take it you haven’t noticed the way the men here have been watching you tonight,” he said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t blame me for being tempted.”
For a moment I wasn’t sure I had heard him right. He wasn’t flirting with me, surely. He didn’t even glance in my direction. He sounded as though he was serious, and I didn’t know whether to be flattered or amused.
This less public part of the house was in keeping with all the other finery on display: all thick carpets and dark walls and gold-framed paintings. I assumed that the major would know the layout of the house, so I followed him without question.
The corridor was dimly lit here, with only select sconces along the hallway alight. Things were much quieter, too, the only sound the very faint swishing of my velvet dress as we walked. I realized the fabric was much better for housebreaking than satin or silk might have been. I would have to keep that in mind for future endeavors.
We reached a door toward the end of the corridor, and the major glanced behind us before opening it and ushering me inside, closing the door. It was almost completely dark until he switched on a lamp near the door he must have seen from the dim light in the hallway.
Even in the soft glow from the lamp, I could see it was a beautiful room, a cross between an office and a library. Three of the walls were covered with bookshelves. The far wall was all made up of high windows, which were currently covered with long, black shades.
The furniture was heavy and beautifully made. A big desk sat in the middle of the room. There were also a set of chairs and a leather sofa that sat to one side. It looked the ideal place to spend an afternoon reading or writing correspondence. Or even hatching plots against one’s own government, I supposed.
“The safe is here,” Major Ramsey said, moving without hesitation toward a painting on the wall between two rows of shelves. I was no art expert, but I didn’t like the picture, and I could see how it might have been