Page 72 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
Her heart gave a triumphant leap and she glanced up at Harry.
“I’ve found it!”
Her loud squeak immediately earned her disapproving glares from several of the other library occupants, and a cacophony of shushes, and she sent them an apologetic wave.
“Sorry!”
She turned the book around on the desk to show Harry. There, on the page in front of him, was a printed illustration showing a pair of eyes, one with a distinct section of the iris segmented. Green and brown watercolor had been added over the black-and-white engraving, and the unique pattern of brown wedge and green flecks was an exact match for Harry’s own eyes.
He stroked the paper with his finger and his face held an expression of delighted awe. “That’s it! Those are my eyes!”
“Without doubt, but we still have a problem. Look.” Ellie pointed to the words below the illustration. “Nowhere in this article does it say that those eyes belong to Henry Brooke, son of the Earl of Cobham. He only talks about ‘the patient,’ or ‘the child in whom I observed this rarity.’”
Harry skimmed the document himself, then looked up with a shrug. “That’s not the end of the world. All we have to do is find this Dr. Emberton and get himto confirm that I was the original patient. That should be more than enough to satisfy a judge that I am who I claim to be.”
Ellie nodded.
Harry leaned closer, and her heart rate increased as the smell of his body enfolded her.
“So, are we going to steal this article?” he whispered. “The best way to remove a page from a book is to leave a wet piece of thin cotton thread closed inside, on the inner edge. It softens the paper so it tears neatly.”
“How on earth do you know that?” Ellie whispered, appalled.
Harry grinned. “Learned it from a fence who used to deal in stolen maps in Milan. But you really need to leave it a day or two, to work properly.”
Ellie shook her head.
“I suppose if you cough loudly,” he continued, undeterred, “or pretend to sneeze at exactly the same moment as I rip the pages from the book, it should cover the sound.”
“We are not stealing or defacing anything. Behave.” She scribbled the name Emberton, and the title of the article, in her notebook. “We’ve got the doctor’s name. Now we can go and look him up and find out where he practices.”
She glanced up, and the sudden intense way Harry was looking at her sent a bolt of heat straight through her. He leaned even closer.
“Have you ever fantasized about making love in a place like this? Somewhere completely forbidden? Because I have.” His gaze fell to her lips and she squirmed in her seat.
She’d be lying if she denied it. The thought of doingsomething so naughty made her almost quiver with excitement, and she could clearly imagine the thrill of trying to stay quiet while Harry’s hands roved all over her.
“You’d have to be extremely quiet, of course,” he whispered, a wicked twinkle in his eyes. “I might even have to put my hand over your mouth to stop you making any noise. I could press you against the shelves and lift your skirts.” His pupils flared. “Or perhaps I’d spread you out on one of these library tables and lick your—”
A cough and the scrape of a chair made Ellie flush guiltily. Dear God, the man was a menace! He could reduce her to a puddle of lust right in the middle of a reading room.
She sent him a disapproving glare. “Notan appropriate way to celebrate our success.”
He gave a playful pout. “A bit of rebellion is good for the soul. I’m determined to make you break a few rules, Miss Law. Even if it kills me.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Once they were safely back on the Strand, Harry gave a whoop of triumph loud enough to startle the pigeons.
“Success! I didn’t think we’d find anything, to be honest.”
Ellie smiled, secretly delighted that the lead had paid off. She’d spent hours on similar cases and never had a jot of luck. “Let’s head back to the office.”
She glanced around for Carson and the carriage, but Harry caught her arm and tucked it into the crook of his own.
“What’s the rush? The sun is out, the air is bracing. Let’s take a stroll.”
She glanced up at him in suspicion. “Why?”