Page 49 of The Song of the Siren (The Venturesome Ladies of Little Valentine #2)

Using his right hand to follow the wall and holding the stick in his left, he walked carefully.

There was a turn to the left that would take him to the main staircase, or he would carry on towards the picture gallery.

Sweeping the stick back and forth, he winced as he swiped at several pieces of furniture.

Something delicate and likely priceless teetered on the surface.

Stonehaven held his breath, awaiting a crash that didn’t come.

“Gently does it,” he chided himself, carrying on.

It was much farther than he remembered to the corridor, but finally he discovered the opening he sought.

Relieved, he turned down it, sliding his hand along the wall until he bumped the edge of a picture frame.

It fell with an almighty crash and clatter, and Stonehaven swore.

“Clumsy oaf. Blasted thing. I hope that was Uncle Leonard. Never could stand the bastard.”

He frowned, wondering if perhaps it had been a portrait of Aunt Adeline, which also hung along the wall somewhere there. “Sorry, Aunt,” he called, just in case, and then shook his head. “Queer in your attic, my lad.”

At the end of the corridor, he turned right and felt around carefully for the top of the stairs. It wasn’t there. Well, dash it all, it had to be! With his stomach twisting into a knot and his heart thudding, he searched back and forth. No staircase.

There was a wall, a door, and… Ah, another corridor.

Perhaps he had misjudged. He went forward carefully, uncertain of where he was, swinging the stick back and forth and…

suddenly the floor disappeared from under him.

He fell, sliding down a short staircase of stone steps and landing hard on his arse.

A small skittering sound reached his ear, and he patted the small pocket on his waistcoat.

Groaning, he sat still for a moment, somewhat dazed. “Bugger,” he said succinctly. “Well, you’ve done splendidly. You’re lost, you great pillock, and you’ve lost Bea’s heart too.”

Crawling on hands and knees, he searched the cold flagstones, praying no one came across him in such an embarrassing state.

He was just beginning to believe he would never retrieve it when something touched his fingertips.

“Aha!” Relieved, he snatched up the pebble, turning it in his hands to reassure himself it was the one Bea had given him, shaped like a heart.

Sighing, he put it carefully back into his pocked, found his walking stick, and hefted himself to his feet.

But wait. A short stone staircase. There was one opposite the Willow Green Suite in the oldest part of the house. If he followed that down, and then walked to the end, perhaps….

He got to his feet, moving cautiously, and as he walked he heard a faint sound, rhythmic and… and lovely. He smiled, his heart picking up as he increased his pace, gaining confidence that he knew where he was, where he was going.

Bea’s voice echoed along the corridor. The song was one he remembered from somewhere, though he didn’t believe he’d ever heard it sung.

It felt as if he’d heard it in a dream. It steadied him, orientating him in the great house and he regained his bearings and followed the sound.

The song seemed to grow stronger and sweeter as he hurried towards it and, when he finally found the door to the music room, he pushed it open with a feeling of triumph, of having overcome a great obstacle.

Well, it might be a bloody great house, and he had fallen on his arse.

So what? His beloved’s song had led him to safety, but he thought perhaps he would have managed even if she’d not been so delightfully obliging as to call to him so beautifully.

“Lawrence!”

He heard the piano stool scrape as she got to her feet, the quick light tread he recognised hurrying towards him. From the feeling of the room, he realised she was alone. Or he hoped so, at least.

“Where’s George? Did—Did you came alone?”

“I did,” he said, feeling rather smug. “I smashed a painting and fell on my backside, but all things considered, I’d say it was a successful first foray.”

“Oh, Lawrence!” She threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. “You wonderful man. I am so very proud of you.”

“I’m rather proud myself,” he admitted. “Though I was thinking perhaps we ought to put a cap on the well.”

There was a light thud as she hit his shoulder with her fist. “Now you are deliberately trying to scare me.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “Just teasing, love. I realise now I can never get lost in this great pile of stones, not when I have you to guide me home again.”

“Me?”

“I heard you singing,” he said, reaching up and tracing his hand down the exquisitely soft contour of her face. “Did you sing to me when I was out of my head, dosed up on laudanum?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what else I could do for you, but I hoped perhaps it might ease you a little. It worked for the children when they were poorly.”

“It worked for me too,” he said softly. “Though I did not realise it until just now. Thank you, darling Beatrice, for being kinder than I ever realised.”

“It is easy to be kind to a man I love with all my heart.”

Stonehaven nodded and reached into his pocket. “I still have it. Your heart, I mean. I never intend to lose it either.”

Bea laughed and kissed him again. “You can lose that as many times as you like, but you’ll never lose this one,” she said, placing his palm against the place where the real thing thudded, a little quicker than usual too, which pleased him a good deal and confirmed there was no one else around.

“How long until we can be married?” he murmured with a tortured groan, resting his head against hers and pulling her closer.

“A week,” she said with a sigh. “Papa is arranging the licence as we speak.”

“Too long,” he grumbled.

“Far too long,” she agreed, nuzzling his jaw.

He was quiet for a moment, knowing he was a wicked rogue and not caring a jot. “There’s a bedroom around here, you know, just along the corridor and up the stairs.”

“Is there?” she replied, all innocence.

“Fancy exploring?” he asked nonchalantly.

“With you? Always,” she whispered, and followed him as he followed her, laughing, and discovering the way ahead together.