“Hardly surprising,” Vane said. “The place is immense.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Honoria looked at Devil. “Ring for Webster. We’ll need to confer.”
Devil nodded. Richard, the closest, rose and tugged the bellpull.
Demon had returned to the sofa beside Flick. “It’s still blowing a gale outside, but there’s no snow falling, and the clouds aren’t promising more. However, the wind is scouring what’s already fallen and blowing it about like the worst sort of sleet. Not even a desperate boy would try to leave just yet. It might be possible by tomorrow, depending on his level of desperation and if it ices over, but today not even Goliath would get twenty yards.”
“That’s something,” Devil said. “So we’ll have at least all day to find him and the scroll-holder.”
“And we’ll most likely need every minute.” Gabriel looked cynically resigned. Alathea poked him. He looked at her. “Just being realistic.”
“Try being encouraging instead.”
Webster arrived, and the talk turned to how best to quarter such a very large house. All the ladies joined in, which drew their menfolk to offer helpful, and in some cases less helpful, suggestions.
At an early point in the proceedings, Devil sent Sligo up to the nursery. He returned to report that all was quiet up there. “The footmen and nursemaids haven’t seen or heard anything-most haven’t sighted Sangay at all-but now they know, they’ll keep their eyes open, and their ears, too, in case he tries to hide somewhere up there.”
Still seated behind his desk, Devil nodded, continuing to jot notes on a piece of paper as, with Webster standing behind him, Gyles perched on the desk to his left, Del in similar position on his right, and Sligo and Cobby hovering near, they thrashed out the basic skeleton of an effective search.
Eventually, Devil reached for a heavy paperweight and banged it on his blotter. “Quiet!”
Everyone fell silent. All heads turned his way.
“Thank you.” He inclined his head to Honoria, then went on, “We’ve come up with a reasonable plan of campaign. Webster and Sligo will coordinate a search of the lower levels, and all the servants’ domains belowstairs. They’ll do that now, first. Once those areas are known to be clear, we’ll seal them off by placing footmen or stable lads at all the relevant doors and on all the stairs. There’s only so many routes that connect abovestairs with below. By blocking those, we can ensure Sangay can’t slip past and get behind the searchers.”
Devil glanced around at the attentive faces. “There’s no sense in being anything but methodical. Once belowstairs is cleared and sealed off, then all those who normally have business abovestairs and so know the basic layout of the house will start searching, working from the ground floor up. We’ll go floor by floor, all the way to the third floor-the attics-if need be. As each floor is cleared, we’ll put watchers on the stairs so Sangay can’t slip through our net.” Devil laid down his notes, looked at the others. “That seems the only way to efficiently and effectively search this place, and we’ll need all hands on deck to help.”
“Well, of course,” Honoria said.
No one disagreed.
“However,” Honoria continued, “I suggest that when it comes to us”-a wave of her hand indicated them all-“we should search in pairs. A lady will think to look in places a gentleman won’t, and vice versa.”
“So we search as couples?” When Honoria nodded, and the other ladies mirrored the gesture, Devil glanced at the males scattered about the room, then smiled in mild acceptance. “That sounds like an eminently…sensible idea.”
Honoria narrowed her eyes at him.
Devil pretended not to notice.
They decided to have an early lunch while the areas beyond the green baize doors were searched. Cobby and Sligo took charge, leaving Webster to supervise the serving of the meal.
The seating was impromptu, resulting in the ladies congregating at one end, flanking Honoria, with the men at the other, on either side of Devil. There was much discussion in both groups. The ladies’ attention centered on the life Sangay must have led to that point, which resulted in a discussion of conditions in India and elsewhere in the colonies. Deliah found herself peppered with questions, most of which she could answer, either from her own experience, or her uncle’s, or Del’s. Over the past days, she’d picked up quite a lot about the Black Cobra and his nefarious ways.
The ladies’ sympathies were all for Sangay. Other than Deliah, all were mothers, and all had baby boys.
They were just finishing the fruit course, a degree of mild excitement burgeoning, when Cobby and Sligo presented themselves. In keeping with the campaignlike atmosphere, they both stood to attention.
“He’s not anywhere belowstairs.” Sligo sounded unshakably confident.
“We’ve cleared the attics, as well, Your Graces.” Cobby nodded respectfully to the table at large. “It was easy enough to open the doors and see the dust hadn’t been disturbed. We left some stable lads to guard the attic doors, just in case, once he hears us searching, Sangay thinks to slip up there.”
“Excellent.” Devil sat back. “You’ve done your bit-you can stand down and hold your lines while we do ours.” He looked around the table. “So here’s what we’ll do.”
It was a massive house, and they would have only so long before the gray light faded. Searching by candelight would be that much harder; with that prospect hovering, they were committed to searching thoroughly, yet as quickly as they could.
They’d agreed each floor had to be declared clear before any of them moved on to the next. On the ground floor, Del walked beside Deliah as she bustled down the corridor into the middle section of the wing to which they’d been assigned. Following them, Richard and Catriona were to search the rooms further along, to the wing’s end, while Vane and Patience had already disappeared into the room nearest the front hall.
The other couples were likewise spread throughout the house, down each of the main wings, and through the central section around the massive stairs.
Many footmen, all the parlor maids and housemaids, all the ladies’ maids and gentleman’s gentlemen-anyone familiar with the rooms abovestairs-were assisting, searching the smaller rooms, the service rooms, storage areas and cupboards hidden behind paneling or tucked between the main rooms. Grooms and stable lads, meanwhile, were positioned on all the stairs.
Reaching their appointed position along the wing, Del saluted Richard and Catriona, then followed Deliah into the billiard room.
She’d halted beside the massive table that dominated the room, looking around, taking stock. “There doesn’t seem all that many places to hide in here.”
“There’s cupboards along the side walls.” Del pointed out the doors cunningly set into the paneling. “They’re deep enough to hide a scrawny boy.”
Deliah nodded. “I’ll take this side.”
Del headed for the other side of the room. Although the billiard table currently held pride of place, this room had originally been a general indoor games room. The cupboards held boards, stacks of cards and assorted paraphernalia associated with various games popular with the aristocracy over the last…Del thought it must be something like a century. Some of the cupboards certainly held enough dust.
Across the room, Deliah sneezed, then muttered, “Ugh-there are spiders.”
A moment later, she reached the end of her wall of cupboards. Straightening, she noticed the heavy velvet curtains looped back with cords framing each of the wide windows. Each swag of gathered curtain was wide enough to hide a boy.
Walking to the windows, she patted and poked the first curtain, then continued along, subjecting the other curtains to the same treatment.
“No boy.” Turning, she arched a brow at Del. “Shall we move on?”
Before he rose, Del looked under the billiard table itself, then he nodded and straightened. “He’s definitely not in here.”
They only had two rooms to search on this level. The next proved to be a minor sitting room adjacent to the conservatory. The room was relatively small and contained no concealed cupboards. The two sideboards it did contain were easy to search, the few pieces of furniture easy to check beneath or behind.
“He’s not here either.” Through the window, Deliah could see Vane and Patience going down the avenues between the plants in the well-stocked conservatory. Every so often, one would duck to look under this palm, or
