“I realize you could find it insulting--”
“No, I mean if I was a German agent, I would just say no, and you’d be none the wiser. And why on earth would you want to know such a thing, anyway? I thought you were an uneducated widow just coming into her own?”
“That’s sort of how I’m doing it,” Adele said apologetically. “Daniel, there’s a conspiracy afoot in this house. The Germans are planning to kill the King, and I’m supposed to figure out who is going to do it.”
“You?” Daniel drew in a breath and let it out. “I feel like the top of my head just came off and my brains have been given a good stir.”
“Yes, me,” Adele said, with a touch of impatience. “You just told me your lady friend stood you up, an event so unlikely that in fifteen years of courting women, it’s only happened with two others. It makes me wonder if Ginny didn’t answer the door for another reason.”
“Ginny is no more likely to be a German spy than you. Even if she were, the last thing she would do is arrange an assignation at a time and place that would interefere with her plans.”
“Where is her room, Daniel?” Adele pointed. “In that corner of this wing?”
Daniel grew still. “Lucky guess?”
Adele lowered her arm. “The north west corner of this wing,” she said. “Right beneath the King’s bedroom.”
“With a stout floor, no staircase, two dozen guests and a dozen staff between her and the King.”
“It seems outlandish, but…it is an odd note. Would you mind if we called upon Ginny again? This time, to insist upon answers? Even just check on her? Then I can dismiss the itch between my shoulder blades.”
Daniel considered her, his clear eyes shadowed by the low light. “Now my damned shoulder blades are itching,” he muttered and put down the glass. “This way.”
THE NARROW PASSAGE WAS NOT quite without light, for a window at the far end shed a little moonlight, enough for them to make their way without tripping. Adele was glad of her bare feet, which allowed her to move quietly along the runner. Daniel moved silently, too.
He stopped at the very last white door along the outside of the corridor. On the other side of the passage, the wall was common to the grand drawing room on the other side, but there were no openings anywhere along it.
“Ginny was hired just for this evening,” Daniel said in an undertone. “Wages, a room for the night, and the pleasure of serving the King, which she valued more than the wages.” He tapped softly on the door, leaned closer and called Ginny’s name.
“Louder,” Adele said.
“It might wake people.”
“You need to wake Ginny. We must speak to her, Daniel. It’s the only way to be sure.”
He cleared his throat, glanced along the passageway, then pummelled the door with the side of his fist. It still wasn’t very loud. “Ginny!” he demanded. “Open the door! Now!” He was speaking louder than before, but not by very much.
“Try the handle.”
He rattled the handle. “Locked.” He stepped back and examined the door from a distance, running his gaze up, over and down the frame.
“What are you doing?” Adele asked, puzzled.
“That itching is a burning sensation, now. Stand back.”
She stepped out of the way. Daniel threw his shoulder against the door. The lock didn’t give way, but the frame did, with a soft cracking of wood. The door shuddered aside and the other half of the lock dropped to the floor with a soft thud.
Daniel gripped the handle to halt the door’s swing. “Me, first,” he said firmly. “Etiquette can go hang.”
She nodded.
Daniel pushed the door open, took a step in and held still, forcing Adele to remain in the corridor.
Her heart picked up its pace.
She could see the end of a narrow bed, the covers still smooth, a tall, battered wardrobe, and the edge of a window. A lamp burned from somewhere beyond the door, shedding warm orange light upon the old coverlet and the scratched wood frame of the bed.
Daniel pushed the door fully open and beckoned. Adele stepped in and around him.
A bureau against the wall held the burning lamp. A lady’s silver hairbrush and comb, both old and tarnished, sat on the top. A washstand stood before the window. The window was covered with simple lace curtains.
Adele closed the door, which failed to remain closed as there was no lock. She pulled the pillow off the bed and stuffed it against the bottom of the door to hold it closed.
“That will slow our departure,” Daniel murmured.
“It is better to have no one see us going through a maid’s room,” Adele returned, keeping her voice as low as his. “She clearly isn’t here, Daniel. The bed is untouched.”
“There could be a number of reasons why that is so,” Daniel said, looking about the room.
“Still, let’s check the room before we leave, hmm?”
“That’s why you closed the door…”
She moved around him once more and rattled the handle on the door of the wardrobe. The door swung open to reveal an empty hanger, the rod and nothing else. Someone had placed waxed paper at the bottom of the cupboard, a long time ago. The scent of stale mothballs tickled her nose.
“Empty,” she declared. To the left of the wardrobe was a second door. “Where do you suppose that leads?”
Daniel leaned to peer around the edge of the wardrobe door. “Clearly, into the next room.”
“Yes, clearly. I meant, what is
