“This will sound wholly blasphemous, but I don’t care a whiff about any of the wedding stuff. At least not the parts Mother is so fixated on. I want us to get Arina’s blessing. I want to see you come down the aisle to me. And I want to say our vows. That’s it. That’s all that matters.”
I wanted to believe him. Every bit of me wanted that.
The lift rattled to a stop.
I started the process with the latch and the gate again. Alex rolled free and I closed the door, flipping the lever. The routine had become second nature to me, movements I could do without stopping to ponder them.
Alex pushed his way down the corridor, turning to escort me to my rooms.
The pink candles were back, filling the hallway with their perfumed persistence and making my head spin. We passed the door to Gerard’s study and I paused before it, taking in the carved clusters of Euphorbia marginatas gracing its front.
“Verity?” Alex called, turning his chair around as he realized I wasn’t at his side.
“I was just…” I trailed off, unsure. “I was thinking about my sisters’ letters. In there.” I glanced back to the door again. “Gerard has probably already forgotten about them.”
Alex offered a sympathetic smile. “I wouldn’t worry on it. Now that Mother knows, I’m sure she won’t let him rest until he brings them to her.”
A half-formed idea crossed my mind and before I could fully think it through, I plunged headfirst into it. “But what if he doesn’t? He can be so forgetful at times.”
Alex nodded.
“What…what would happen if he was to misplace his keys?”
“To the study?” Alex asked, and I felt a warning bell set off in my chest. He didn’t look suspicious, not quite, but there was a touch of bemusement, as though he couldn’t understand what I was getting at.
“Or the greenhouses or work sheds,” I said hastily. “The silver cabinets or vaults. He could lock everyone out of half of Chauntilalie with one errant mistake.”
“I’m certain his valet has a skeleton key for most of those things,” he said reassuringly.
“The study too?” I persisted, then cringed, wondering if I’d overplayed my hand.
Alex shrugged. “Probably not there but you know how Father is. Always has three sets of everything.”
I stilled, feeling like a lock myself as internal tumblers twisted and turned, falling into the proper combination. Once everything had clicked in place, the answer was revealed. “Sets of three.”
He pushed himself farther down the hall, ready to continue on. “You’ve noticed, haven’t you?”
I followed after him. “With the plants, of course.”
Alex laughed. “With everything. Always. Three fountain pens, lined up at the ready. Three pocket watches in case the first two fail. Three bouquets for Mother when one would do.”
“He has three sets of keys,” I murmured, wanting to hear him say it out loud.
“I’ve not seen them myself but I’m sure he does.” He smiled wistfully. “If I knew where he kept them, I’d let you in the study myself.”
“You would?”
He nodded. “I know how much your sisters mean to you. You must be missing them dreadfully. If Father hasn’t brought their missives by breakfast, I shall herd him up here myself and make certain he does.”
I sucked in my lower lip, my heart swelling.
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell Alex everything, right here and now and be done with it.
I’d promised Viktor and Julien I’d give them a day and it was nearly midnight. I could confess everything with only a tremor of a guilty conscience.
Alex deserved to know.
Where should I start?
The ghosts?
Constance?
His mother?
His brothers?
“Alex?”
“Hmm?” He yawned loudly as we stopped outside my chamber door, then looked sheepish. “I’m so sorry. It’s not the company, I promise.”
I stopped short. He looked completely wrung out, drained of all energy.
“I…”
I couldn’t do it. Not yet. Not tonight. I needed him to be rested, ready to hear everything I had to say with a clear mind, an open mind, and then we could attempt to fix it all. Together.
Tomorrow, I promised myself.
Tomorrow, I would tell Alex everything.
“Let’s take the day off from the portrait,” I decided. “You’re exhausted. Sleep in tomorrow, get some rest.”
“That sounds wonderful.” He laced his fingers through mine and pulled me close for a soft kiss good night.
Curiously, I kissed him back, moving my lips over his as I had when I’d thought Viktor him. A soft ember flickered to life but before I could explore it, letting it kindle into something larger, Alex pulled away, running his palm over my cheek with a tired smile.
“A late breakfast on the terrace?” he asked, making it clear the night was over.
I pushed back my disappointment and nodded. “I hope you have sweet dreams.”
“They’ll all be of you,” he promised sleepily, then wheeled away. I watched him roll down the hall and disappear around the foyer’s turn.
There were two other keys out there, hidden somewhere within Chauntilalie.
I was going to find them.
Tonight.
With a nod of determination, I slipped inside my suite. I’d change into something more practical than this beaded gown, wait till the house had gone to sleep, then start my search.
“Thank Arina,” a voice called out in the dark, immediately squashing all of my plans.
Startled, I flipped on the gas lamps and spotted Viktor sprawled across the room’s little green settee. Julien perched on the edge of a wide, blush-colored bergère.
“We thought he’d never leave.”
“What are you doing in here?” I muttered, pushing the door closed behind me.
Viktor’s legs dangled off the end of the velvet sofa, kicking back and forth listlessly. “We’ve been waiting for ages. Are all meals here so infernally long?”
“Viktor,” I prompted.
His head lolled round. “I’m bored, Ver. You’ve no idea how exhausting it is to spend every waking hour with this one, on one fruitless search after another,” he said, gesturing to Julien, who bit back a sigh. “But waiting about your parlor is even worse. Who eats seven courses for family dinner?”
“It was for the wedding,” I began, feeling oddly defensive.
He raised his eyebrows with a suggestive look. “And how are the wedding preparations going? Have you told your fiancé about your little dalliance with his long-lost frère?”
“There’s nothing to tell. Unless, you want me to tell,” I said, layering my words with extra meaning.
“I was only toying with you,” Viktor said, sitting up with alarm. “Both now and then.”
His cavalier admission stung more than I wanted it to.
Julien tilted his head, adjusting his neck with a crack. “We were thinking, with Alexander gone to an early bed, and Papa doubtlessly in his greenhouse tonight—”
“We should play a game,” Viktor said, talking over his brother.
“A game.”
The boys nodded and Viktor leapt up from the settee. “Let’s see who can find the secret passage to Father’s study first.”