Page 70

Beatrice got to her feet, shaking out her skirts. “Yes, that’s the general idea of it. So, until you go back to your London townhouse—which I assume you’ll do, sooner or later—you can pick a guest room.”

CHAPTER 20

Stephen watched his wife walk away and tried to put a name to the ache hollowing out his chest.

Tonight had been a mistake, that was for sure. He had no idea what had possessed him to kiss her the way he had, to touch her, to lethertouchhim. That was a mistake, an even greater one than he could have imagined. It was a loss of control, to allow her to make him feel, to?—

Stephen cut off that thought neatly. It horrified him how easily the wretched woman could inspire lust in him. Even now, he imagined running after her, turning her around to face him and pushing her firmly against a wall, kissing her, tearing that delightful velvet gown off her, baring her in a way they simply hadn’t had time for in the carriage.

Groaning aloud, he dropped his face into his hands.

“You are a fool, Stephen,” he said, his voice muffled.

And then, the woman had the audacity to take his room from him?

“Reduced to a guest room in my own house,” he muttered.

He was too high-strung to sleep, his head buzzing with thoughts and feelings. Rather than debase himself by asking Mouse to find him a guest room, or chasing down his wretched wife and challenging her further, Stephen bounced to his feet and strode out of the conservatory.

He knew where he was going even before his feet hit the ground. Passageways curved around the huge house, forming a maze of corridors and large, empty rooms, but Stephen could find his way to the observatory with his eyes closed.

The narrow, spiral staircase could easily have been missed. A thin, nondescript door hid the stairs and was always kept locked. The servants did not venture upwards, except on occasion.

Stephen felt in his pocket for the key, reaching for the doorknob. Before he could withdraw the brass key and insert it into the lock, the door clicked open.

With a start, he realized that the door was unlocked. Unlocked!

The wretched woman.So much for her promises. She hasbeen nosing around in my business.

He climbed the stairs, forced to slow his two-steps-at-a-time pace to something more careful, on account of the steep, treacherous stairs spiraling up and up.

Often, in his youth, Stephen had missed a step on his way down and tumbled to the bottom. He no longer had the springy bones and energy from his childhood, so best to be careful. After all, he knew very well how much a fall down these steps would hurt. Especially if one were pushed.

Generally, the observatory would be shrouded in darkness, but he could see that a candle glimmered, buttery light spilling down the stairs.

“Beatrice,” Stephen snapped, “if that is you up there, then?—”

“It’s not Beatrice, dear.”

He flinched, only a few steps from the top, and paused. “Mother?”

He climbed the rest of the way, stepping onto the dusty wooden floor of the observatory.

Sure enough, Theodosia sat at the huge, sprawling table that took up half of the space. Her chair was tipped back, her delicate boots propped up on the table, and she was dressed finely, as if for the opera.

“What are you doing here?” Stephen managed, a trifle lamely.

Theodosia smiled lazily at him. “Well, Beatrice sent me a note to tell me she would not be coming to the opera, and she had the grace to inform me that you were home. I thought I would pay you a visit. Did you forget I had a key to the observatory?”

To emphasize her point, she withdrew a brass key, matching the one Stephen had in his pocket.

She grinned. “After all, your father built this place for me when we first got married. We did rather like each other once, you know.”

Stephen flinched. He headed straight to the desk, rifling through some papers there.

The room was not a large one, perfectly circular, with a domed glass ceiling kept covered by heavy plates, which could be opened and closed at any part by the application of heavy machinery, operated by a winch set in the corner.

There were heavy telescopes of all shapes and sizes, all aimed towards the heavens at various angles. The papers on the table were notes, journals, manuscripts, books, and spyglasses, as well as various pieces of equipment and charts. It had all once belonged to Theodosia.