Page 11 of The Viscount’s Second Chance (The Lovers’ Arch: Later in Life)
"T homas!”
Thomas’s head snapped up at the sound of a woman bellowing his name. He’d been sitting down to break his fast and had just barely begun to read the first page of his pressed newspaper when there had been a knock at the front door, followed very quickly by that—
“Thomas!”
That voice.
He stood and tossed down his paper, his heart and body on full alert as he recognized who had come to call this early in the day.
“Nora?” He’d been about to fly into the hall when she materialized in the doorway to the breakfast room. “What is the matter?” Panic rose in his chest as he closed the gap between them and held her upper arms.
She appeared uninjured as he scanned her body, but he wouldn’t believe it until he heard her say so. Her chestnut locks had been tamed and plaited before being pinned to the back of her head in a simple style. Contrary to yesterday’s jet black attire, she wore a gown of creamy dove-grey with minimal adornments. Her color was better and he was pleased to see she didn’t look the slightest bit ill despite the drenching she’d suffered. In fact, her sherry-colored eyes glittered with an excitement he hadn’t witnessed in what felt like forever. It was utterly intoxicating.
And, when he caught her light floral scent—the same hint of lilies he’d smelled after she’d finished her bath—he grew instantly, ferociously, inappropriately hard. She reduced him to a vibrating mass of baser needs and primal instincts. Never had he stopped wanting her or thinking about her, but the degree to which she’d occupied his mind and haunted his fevered dreams the previous night was a new level of obsession. It was like he’d had a taste of something long-forgotten: His memory knew it was delicious, knew that he’d once been addicted to it, but had forgotten just how potent it could be.
That was Nora for him.
And she’d just burst into his house like the girl he’d once known and was thrusting a folded piece of parchment at his chest.
“It’s Beth’s letter!”
He eyed the flush of her cheeks. “You didn’t walk all the way here from your Townhouse, did you?” The thought of her traversing the streets entirely alone, even at this early hour, made him more than a little uneasy—especially when she had use of a private carriage.
“It matters not if I did!” She waved the letter in front of his face again. “This is more important.”
“Nothing is more important than your wellbeing.”
She released an exasperated sound, clearly more than a little put out that he was not matching her frenetic energy. “Just read it, will you?”
Deciding to address her safety when she was less worked up, Thomas accepted the document and unfolded it. His eyes skimmed it and froze. He looked up to find Nora watching him with wide eyes, her hands clasped tightly beneath her chin, and her lips caught between her teeth in an effort to keep her excitement in check. Now that he’d read it, he better understood her reaction.
“This is the letter I delivered to you the other day?” he asked. Nora nodded rapidly. His eyes dipped back down to his sister’s familiar penmanship and read her words to Nora once more.
I pray that you will not be too cross with me once you read this letter in its entirety. We always said we would not keep secrets from one another, but I fear we have both been guilty of that over these last twenty years (more on that later because there is a matter far more pressing).
My dearest, truest friend: I have found it. The how, when, why, and where of it will be revealed in due time; for now, know that all our years of searching were not for naught. The Lovers’ Arch was not simply a beautiful story in a book, but genuine history. I do not know why the truth was not discovered before now, but I suspect it is because the most beautiful and wondrous things in this world often go unnoticed until it is too late.
I realize you expected this letter to contain my final words to you when, in reality, this is just the beginning. I recognized the deterioration in my health and decided to give you one last gift of adventure before I was unable to do so—and this is so much more satisfying to me than simply dragging you to the location. I do, however, have one request: take my brother with you. If I know him as well as I think I do (and I am certain I do), he’ll be rather morose. I suggest you bring him with you on this adventure—not only for his well being, but because I suspect there are some clues only he will be able to interpret.
Happy hunting, Sister of My Heart.
Until next time.
“The arch exists,” Nora whispered. “Beth found it and you and I are going to follow her instructions and find it as well.”
“Are you saying she devised a sort of game for us?” Thomas’s heart squeezed in his chest. How like his mischievous sister to do such a thing with her waning strength.
“It would appear that way. And she states in no uncertain terms that we are to do this together.”
Thomas enjoyed immeasurably the sound of that, but asked only, “When did she find the time?”
“I thought that over when I couldn't sleep last night, and I wonder if she managed it under the guise of resting while she practically pushed me out the door to run my errands or keep our appointments alone. She knew I would not question or press her.”
Thomas turned the paper over, but it was blank. “Was there some sort of clue? Where are we supposed to begin?”
A grin lighting up her face, Nora fished a scrap of cobalt blue ribbon from her reticule and handed it to him. He rubbed it between his fingers, turned it over, held it up to the morning light streaming in through the windows of the breakfast room. As far as he could see, there was nothing remarkable about it.
“What does this mean?”
“It was tucked into the envelope as well.” Nora sauntered over to his untouched plate of food and plucked a strip of bacon from it, taking a hearty bite. “Care to join me for a bit of shopping after you finish eating?”
An hour later, Thomas escorted Nora through the enormous carved door of one of London’s most popular booksellers, Thorpe it was where he’d taken the girls shopping on their rare trips to London. The pleasant scent of ink, parchment, leather, and dust motes brought all the memories rushing back to him and struck him like a fist to the jaw. He doubted he’d ever be able to come to this place and not think of his sister.
A small hand slid through his arm and wrapped around his bicep in a reassuring grip. “I know,” was all Nora said as she guided him further into the cavernous building and out of the way of the entrance.
And she would know.
Nora was the only other person who could hear the echoes of Beth’s footsteps as she scurried up and down the numerous aisles of well organized books on the main floor of the shop; remember the sight of Beth grinning as she waved down at them from the upper balcony where more books were housed; feel the warmth of the watery sunlight as Beth had enjoyed it filtering down from the building’s iconic arched glass roof; recall the weight of Beth’s selections in their arms as they tried to talk her out of purchasing the entire shelf of new publications.
“I wonder where we should begin,” Nora muttered thoughtfully, snapping Thomas from his musings. “It is such a large building.”
Large was an understatement. In addition to being a traditional seller of books, Thorpe to toss up her skirts, unfasten his falls, and pull her back into him as he thrust deeply, clapping a hand over her mouth to silence her cries of pleasure as other patrons strolled nearby.
“Nothing,” Beth groaned and sat back on her heels. The word snapped him out of his wildly inappropriate fantasy.
Thomas propped his hands on his hips and turned in a slow circle. Where would Beth have hidden something for them to find? This was a place of business and doubtless countless customers had come through it since Beth had left whatever it was for them. Where was a secure enough location in this cavernous building? To him, the answer was somewhere the entire public wouldn’t be able to put their hands on it and walk off with whatever it was.
“I have an idea,” he said, extending his hand down to Nora and helping her to her feet.