attend a ball with me this evening? From a distance, that is?”
Her smile was gorgeous, and when she reached out and placed her hand on his sleeve, a tingle shot up Beau’s arm. He’d always thought she was lovely, but he’d never seen her like this before. Wearing a pretty gown, fresh-faced and smiling, as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
Most of the other servants were down in the servants’ hall, either preparing food and drink to take up to the ballroom, or—if they had no duties for the ball—talking and laughing with each other. Beau was able to escort Marianne down the staircase to the second floor at least without running into any other servants.
The moment they arrived at the door to the second-floor corridor where the families’ bedchambers were, Marianne pulled her arm from his sleeve and nudged open the door a few inches. She peeked out.
Apparently, the corridor was empty, because she quickly said, “Follow me.”
She led him about a quarter of the way down the hall until they came to a small door that didn’t look like the others. It appeared to be a utility door.
“What is this?” Beau whispered as Marianne wrenched the door handle to open the obviously stuck door.
“Not many people know about this place,” she whispered back.
“How did you find it?” he asked.
Her tinkling laughter followed. “I’m a spy, remember? I’ve scoured every conceivable part of this house.”
Beau smiled and shook his head. He had to stoop down to follow her through the short doorway. When the door closed behind them, they were enveloped in darkness. The strains of music from the ballroom met his ears.
“Marianne?” Beau whispered.
“Just a moment,” she whispered back.
He heard the scratchy sound of a flint being struck beside him before a blaze of light brightened the space. Marianne had lit a candle in a holder on a small table near the door.
The candle illuminated a portion of the musty, cramped space. There was some old furniture against the walls, but otherwise, the small room was empty. Marianne lifted the candle and Beau had to continue to duck as she led him through the tiny room, and into an even more narrow, dark passageway. The music grew louder as they moved through the small corridor.
When they emerged at the other end, they were in a room that wasn’t much larger than the one they’d left. A rickety wooden chair sat at the far end of the space and the strains of a quadrille were even clearer than before.
“Over here.” Marianne made her way to the questionable-looking chair.
Beau followed her again and once he was standing next to the chair, he could clearly see that there was a small window-like space cut into the paneling, covered with wooden slats, which afforded a view of the entire ballroom. Looking directly down, he saw that the musicians were beneath them.
“From the ballroom side, this is covered with wallpaper, you don’t even notice it,” Marianne explained, pointing to the slats. “But you can see nearly everything from here.”
Beau nodded. “Indeed. Good work, Agent M.” He turned in a circle looking for a place to sit.
“There’s only one chair,” Marianne said apologetically.
“One moment. I’ll go back and get another one.”
Taking the candle, Beau quickly made his way back through the small corridor into the bigger space, where he found an equally rickety chair that he carried back through the corridor with him.
By the time he returned, Marianne had already taken her seat and was staring out across the ballroom below. “I love this melody,” she breathed, tapping her foot along with the quadrille.
Setting the candle on the ledge in front of them, Beau pulled up his chair directly next to hers and they watched as the party unfolded beneath them. Groups of four couples had taken to the dance floor, and were engaged in the boisterous dance.
Beau scanned the ballroom’s occupants for a few minutes. “There is Lord Cunningham,” he finally said.
Marianne leaned forward. “Where?”
“At the far end of the room on the right. He’s wearing a dark-green coat. He’s speaking with a woman in a pink gown.”
Marianne studied the scene for a few minutes before nodding. “I see him.”
“Good. Keep an eye on him.” Beau paused for a few more moments, continuing his search of the crowd, before saying, “Lord Hightower is on the opposite side of the room near the refreshment table. He’s wearing dark blue and speaking to two ladies who are both wearing yellow.”
“Must be the color