Love Is a Rogue (Wallflowers vs. Rogues #1) - Lenora Bell Page 0,77
and arranged it in the center of the desk.
“Ford.” Her voice trembled. “I don’t know what to say.”
He hoped she wasn’t going to cry. He felt suspiciously close to tears himself. He never cried. Not even when his friends had died. He wasn’t about to start being sentimental now.
“I thought you could use the desk to work on your dictionary when you visit London. Perhaps other lady authors will use this desk, as well. Is that Daphne Villeneuve still alive?”
“She’s very secretive. No one knows her true identity.”
“I can imagine scintillating, bestselling etymological dictionaries being finished in this room,” he said. “I also boxed up all of the naughty books and placed them in the basement. I may have kept one or two for myself.”
“It’s perfect, Ford.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. “All of it.”
Startled, he stood there like a fool for a few moments, before returning the embrace. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? It’s the most marvelous thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“It was nothing.”
It felt so right to hold her, fold her into his arms. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. He scuffed his boot against the molding. “I had an idea last night, after you left.”
She pulled back a little. “About the manuscript?”
“Yes. But I have to show you, and it’s upstairs in the bedroom.”
The unspoken words hovered there. Could they trust themselves to go into the bedroom together?
“You think you know where to find it?” she asked.
“I think you’ll know, when you see what I show you.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” She grabbed him by the hand and practically dragged him up the stairs. He laughed. When the lady was on the scent of an ancient manuscript, nothing got in her way.
When they arrived in Aunt Matilda’s bedchamber, he brought her to the portrait. “Remember that her letter said ‘let me point the way’ and you took it literally to mean that her body was pointing in that direction?”
“Yes. Go on.”
“Well, I thought, she’s reading a book. Perhaps there are words somewhere on the book that might give us a clue.”
“Of course! Why didn’t I think of it?” She pushed her spectacles up the bridge of her nose and peered at the book in her aunt’s hands. “She’s reading the Revelations. I didn’t notice because it was written in Latin instead of Old English. And the letters look like a recent addition—the paint strokes are fresher. And beneath the title”—she bent forward—“it says in French, une chamber avec vue. A room with a view.”
She grabbed hold of his arm. “Ford. We have to go back to the reading room. The view of the Thames and the steps leading down to the river.”
She raced back down the stairs. He’d known she would cleverly put it all together.
What an intellect. It made him want to kiss her in the worst way.
But they were on the hunt for an ancient manuscript.
When they entered the room, he pushed the desk out from the wall and dropped to his knees in front of the window, searching the floorboards for cracks. Almost immediately, he found what he was looking for. He pulled his trusty versatile tool out of his pocket and opened it to the blade.
He scraped around the edges of the board, working it loose, and then pried it up with the flat of his blade. It lifted easily. He reached his hand inside the exposed cavity and found the wrapped parcel.
He brought it out and handed it to Beatrice.
She accepted it with an expression of awe, holding the bundle as if it were an infant. “My treasured one, you’ve found a good home. I’ll take care of you.”
Ford couldn’t take much more of her sweet words and the joy in her eyes. He made a show of replacing the board and moving the desk back into place.
“I don’t even want to unwrap it yet, Ford. I want to live in this moment of discovery forever.”
He wanted to unwrap her. She was too lovely in the morning sun, holding her precious book.
She set the wrapped parcel carefully onto the shelves he’d built her. “Ford, we’ll find a way to keep this property, I know we will.” She touched his cheek lightly.
“Beatrice, when you say we'll find a way to keep this property, it sounds like you think we could have a future together.” He placed his hand over hers. They stood like that for a few seconds, their hands joined, their gazes locked.