her nose. “She just poked her head around the door. She’s gone, now.”
“Elizabeth stole enough cocaine to get the academy high for weeks.” I stirred my stew and tried not to think of Mother. “Now her allowance has been stopped, she’s probably desperate for her next fix.”
Gideon tutted. “Normally, I would baulk at such underhanded methods, but it’s a plan that only works if Elizabeth is in possession of a key that undermines the academy’s security.”
“Not to mention how she obtained the money to purchase such a betting ticket,” Kendrick added.
“Quite,” said Gideon.
We ate our stew in tense silence, waiting for an update on Maxwell’s trap. Moments later, my phone buzzed with a text from Orlando.
She’s just left your room with the envelope.
“Did it work?” asked Kendrick.
I nodded. “Someone needs to take those back keys, so she can stop sneaking into everybody’s rooms.”
“Given the last time she vandalized your bedroom, I would say Elizabeth’s continued possession of them is a hazard.”
“I’m at a loss to understand how she’s not in an institution,” Gideon drawled.
We finished our soup, Orlando joined us just in time for the most delicious-looking lattice apple pie and jugs of custard made from real vanilla pods. As I poured a generous serving into my bowl, my phone buzzed again. This time, the message was from Maxwell.
E just entered the mailroom.
“She’s posting it,” I whispered to the boys. “I’m surprised she didn’t give this information to her mother.”
Kendrick shook his head. “She wishes to redeem herself by controlling definitive information over your parentage that will secure her triumph over you.”
Moments later, Elizabeth sauntered into the dining room with a wide smirk. She raised her hand and called over a pair of waiting staff. After seeing no sign of Maxwell for several minutes, I glanced over my shoulder at the double doors. What’s taking him so long?
My phone buzzed once more.
I’ve removed her room number from the return address. Now the results will stay in the mailroom until they work out where to put them.
“He did it,” I whispered.
Orlando rose from his seat and offered me his hand. “This calls for a celebration.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
As Orlando led me out of the dining room, I glanced over my shoulder at Gideon and Kendrick, who both offered me smiles that told me they knew exactly how Orlando wanted to celebrate our little victory. With a little wave, I turned back to Orlando, whose hurried footsteps sent a tingle of excitement between my legs.
Would he take me back to his room and throw me down or would he bend me over the table and pummel me to a mind-blowing climax? Either way worked for me. We stepped out of the double doors and into the hallway, passing Miss Martin and Mr. McGarr’s brother.
Instead of turning toward the stairs that led to the boy’s accommodation, Orlando headed in the other direction, toward the academy’s entrance. My mouth dropped open. Was he taking me back to my room? After everything that happened in there, it no longer felt like mine.
My brows drew together. “Where are we going?”
Orlando squeezed my hand. “Which lessons do you have this afternoon?”
“Tailoring club?” I bit down on my lip, trying to work out what on earth he’d planned. “But that’s not until four. Why?”
“Good, then it means you have the afternoon free.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “I’m going to whisk you away until tomorrow morning.”
I leaned back, placed a hand on his broad chest, and curled my fingers for a quick grope. Orlando stared ahead with a neutral expression, not giving me a single clue on those handsome features. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“How would you like an afternoon drive around the countryside, followed by an evening of sin?”
“Alright,” I said with a laugh. “Especially the part about sinning.”
We continued through the hallway, passing doors of classrooms containing students who’d been forced to remain inside to write lines. The poor buggers.
Orlando gave my waist a firm squeeze. “Last night, when my grandfather called, he was practically in tears. He seems to think all that lecturing on the evils of you-know-what finally sunk into my thick skull and cured me of becoming like that infernal reprobate, Oscar Wilde.”
I pressed my lips together in a tight line to hide a smile. How the old man could be convinced Orlando was gay because of one dumb video was mind boggling. Didn’t Orlando get into trouble loads of time before for lewd conduct with