Cinders and Ashes (17 page)

Isobel
was nudged awake by Dominic, and sleepily stumbled to her feet with
the help of her husband. As everyone crowded around the table, they
stared almost reverently down at the small pouch on the
table.

“
What do you think it is?” Isobel yawned, and leant sleepily
against her husband’s chest.

Amelia
slowly opened the pouch and eased the folded piece of paper
out.

“
What is it?” Sebastian moved to stand immediately behind
Amelia, his hands braced on her hips as he peered over her shoulder
to see the writing.

“
Have you ever heard of Jack Cunningham?” Amelia asked,
squinting at the small lettering in the candlelight. She tried to
keep her eyes away from the haunting sketch of the man at the top
of the page.

“
It isn’t familiar to me,” Sebastian replied, amid denials
from everyone else.

“
It’s a Penny Dreadful for Jack Cunningham. Hung for murder
four years ago.” Amelia read the large print at the top of the
document.

“
Murder of whom?” Dominic frowned at the red pouch and the
book.

“
I can’t read it in this light, the print is too small. It
looks like Martha Bainbridge, a servant. Can you read any more?”
She lifted the paper for Sebastian to read.

Moments
later, Sebastian shook his head. “I can’t see a damned thing, the
print is faded. We need better light.”

“
It must have some significance for it to be put into a pouch
like this, and hidden in a book.” Dominic lifted the book to read
the spine. “Gardening.” He tossed the book down on the table with a
snort.

“
I don’t understand the significance of this, but do we have
to search the rest tonight?” Edward mumbled with a yawn. “I don’t
know about everyone else, but I wouldn’t notice a clue if it hit me
in the head and shouted, ‘I’m a clue’.”

“
I suggest we leave everything as it is. Go to bed. We can
take a closer look through everything in the morning,” Sebastian
replied, breathing in the delicious scent of Amelia standing before
him with a pang of longing. He wished he had the easy familiarity
with Amelia that Dominic had with Isobel, and he could slide his
arms around Amelia’s waist while she snuggled back against
him.

“
Quite right, I can’t see straight,” Isobel mumbled with a
yawn. “If I never see another book again, I’ll be
happy.”

After
bidding everyone a quiet goodnight, Amelia retired to her
designated room. Making no attempt to see to her ablutions, she
gratefully shrugged into the soft cotton nightgown Isobel had given
her, before collapsing onto the soft bed with a groan. Despite a
slight musty smell, it was lovely. Almost as good as her bed at
Tingdale.

That thought gave her reason to pause.
When had the bed she used at Tingdale House become her bed?
She had only been there a couple of nights and already it was
hers?
With a frown she turned over, and
opened her eyes to stare the vast expanse of empty bed beside her.
A pang of bitter regret stole through her.

She was
about to turn over when she heard the quiet click of her bedroom
door. She didn’t need to see who it was. The lemony scent that was
distinctly Sebastian hung in the air. She wasn’t sure whether to be
angry or relieved, when he moved around to the empty side of the
bed and lay down.

“
What do you think you are doing?” she asked, raising herself
onto her elbow to stare at him. Did he never listen?

“
I am not pestering to make love with you,” Sebastian
grumbled, as he gestured to his lean length now sprawled beside
her. “Look, see? I am fully dressed.”

“
Then you have got the wrong bed.” Amelia wondered what he was
up to.

“
But I won’t sleep in there, because I will be constantly
worried about you. Your safety,” he amended, carefully ignoring her
snort of disbelief. “At least in here, like this, I pose no threat
to your feminine virtue but can satisfy my own need to keep you
safe.” His voice was reason personified.

Amelia
wasn’t falling for it. “But I promised to scream if anything
untoward happened. You are just in the next room. Peter is on the
other side. I am sure nobody would dare cross either of you to get
to me.” Her instinct warned her she wasn’t going to move him, and
secretly she didn’t want him to. Especially as he was still
dressed. But could she sleep with him being there, so temptingly
close, yet not touch him? Would he keep his hands to himself? She
knew if he pushed her, she would undoubtedly succumb to anything he
suggested.

“
Alright, darling, I will be completely honest. I cannot sleep
on my own now,” Sebastian admitted on a sigh. “Since being in your
cottage, I find I cannot sleep on my own. I keep turning over in
the night only to find you gone. Then I start to worry you are
alright, only to find myself unable to get back to sleep.” He could
feel her eyes studying his face carefully, and was grateful when
she didn’t immediately throw him out on his ear. “I’m tired, and
need to get some sleep. It appears the only place I can get a good
night’s sleep, is beside you.”

Amelia
fought the urge to roll her eyes at his piteous excuses. Again, he
was ignoring her requests, but she couldn’t be angry with him for
the way he was doing it. If she was completely honest with herself,
she was glad he was there. Something about the house made her feel
distinctly uncomfortable. She was glad she had his reassuring
presence beside her.

“
Alright, as long as you promise not to snore.” She flopped
down on the bed with a yawn, only to freeze when Sebastian
carefully pulled the covers up to her ear, and placed a tender kiss
on her temple.

“
Good night, Amelia,” he murmured, settling down beside
her.

As
silence settled around them, Amelia became aware of the coolness of
the room. The grate in the bedroom was small, and although the fire
had been lit, it did little to take the chill off the room. Despite
being tucked under the warmth of several blankets, Amelia could
feel the cold air on her ears. Sebastian must be frozen.

She
scolded herself for being so weak and feeble. He had after all got
his own bed waiting for him next door, should he choose to use it.
He could be tucked up nice and warm if he chose.

Still
, he was looking after her
wellbeing. With a sigh, she knew she wouldn’t get a wink of sleep
with him shivering on the covers.

“
After everything I have done to keep you alive, I cannot in
all conscience allow you to die of cold now, Sebastian,” Amelia
muttered, tugging the covers down with a sigh.

Within
minutes, Sebastian was settling beneath the covers. To Amelia’s
astonishment, he remained fully clothed.

“
What are you doing?” she asked, as she eyed the slightly
dusty white linen of the shirt he was still wearing.

“
I am settling down as you told me to,” Sebastian replied
obliquely, pleased with her obvious confusion. His masculine pride
was glad she was perplexed by his behaviour. He wanted her to be
wary, and aware, of him and his importance in her life.

“
You know what I mean.” She flicked a finger at the laces on
his shirt casually, careful not to touch the heat of his broad
chest beneath.

“
I told you I wouldn’t pester you to make love. You are
perfectly safe with me Amelia.” His voice softened. “Trust me.” His
voice was pure honey and made her shiver with anticipation. The
request held hidden meaning not lost on her.

It
bothered her that she hadn’t been entirely honest with him about
her heritage, but she knew that as things stood she was likely to
be shoved into doing things she wasn’t ready for as soon as he
discovered the truth.

“
I do, Sebastian,” she replied, knowing she meant it. “You
wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

Sebastian bit back a sigh of frustration and settled down.
Being allowed into her bed, even fully clothed, was a major step
forward. He was grateful for small mercies, but it wasn’t nearly
enough. Careful to keep his hands to himself, he tugged the covers
up, this time over both of them, before settling down with a deep
sigh. Within moments they were fast asleep.

Sometime
during the night, as the temperature beneath the covers built,
Sebastian became too hot. His attempt to kick the covers off was
met with a murmur of discontent from Amelia, who promptly tugged
them upwards again. Grumpily, Sebastian tugged his shirt over his
head and tossed it onto the floor. Minutes later his breeches took
the same journey and with a sigh he instinctively spooned,
completely naked, around the woman who held his dreams in her small
palms.

The
following morning Sebastian stretched and rolled onto his back as
the last vestiges of sleep left him. Feeling somewhat out of sorts,
he blinked sleepily against the morning sunlight streaming through
the windows, and glanced towards the vast expanse of bed beside
him. The empty bed beside him. A quick glance around the room
confirmed Amelia had already got up and left.

He knew
she was avoiding being alone with him. Whether because she didn’t
want him asking questions about her past and pushing her for her
true identity, or whether she didn’t want to make love with him
just yet, he couldn’t be sure. For some reason, he suspected
both.

With a
soft curse, he quickly left, dressed and went in search of
her.

By the
end of breakfast, he knew Amelia was avoiding him. After a brief
‘Good morning’ at the breakfast table in the presence of the
others, she had made little attempt to converse with him. Once or
twice during their repast he had managed to catch her gaze with
his, but she had smiled vaguely in his direction before turning her
attention to her meal.

It
rankled.

A
lot.

“
I think we need to search the books in the house again,”
Sebastian murmured, wincing at the resounding groans that met his
announcement. “We found the Penny Dreadful tucked in a book on
gardening. As far as I am aware there is no connection between
gardening and being hung.”

“
But do we have to search
every
book? This house is littered
with them.” Peter already knew the answer to his question, and was
unsurprised at Sebastian’s reply.

“
We need to check to see if anything else is
hidden.”

“
The book has to have some significance to your uncle
Bertram,” Amelia murmured, watching Peter shake his
head.

“
What do you mean?” Sebastian queried with a scowl.

“
I mean that in a house full of books such as this one, how
would he remember where he had hidden the pouch? The book has to
have some oblique meaning to Bertram.” Amelia licked the last
crumbs of her bread from her fingers before rising to her feet.
“Was it given to him as a present or something? Or was he a keen
gardener?”

Sebastian turned toward Dominic, impressed by Amelia’s logic.
“As far as I am aware, Bertram never gardened in his
life.”

“
I have no idea where Bertram got half of these books,”
Dominic muttered, glaring at a haphazardly stacked pile on the
kitchen table. “It may be worth searching the gardening books
first,” he added reluctantly, moving towards the door. “It may save
us a year or two of searching.”

Amelia
smiled sympathetically as she followed Dominic. “If we each take
the rooms we had yesterday and search the books, shake them out and
then move towards the library?”

Her
question was met with groans and huffs by the assembled gathering,
before everyone took to their allotted rooms. The soft thuds and
thumps of books being randomly stacked soon filled the
air.

Throughout the morning Amelia fully expected Sebastian to
seek her out and challenge her. By late morning, she wasn’t certain
if she was glad or not when he had made no move to come anywhere
near.

She
still couldn’t explain last night. Why she had caved in so quickly
to have him lie with her. Although he had remained true to his word
and not pushed her to make love, she wasn’t sure she appreciated it
or not.

She had
awoken this morning with her nose buried in his chest, his strong
masculine arms wrapped around her. The soft huff of his breath as
he slept ruffled the hair on the top of her head. It would have
been far too easy to remain with him until he woke up.

Sometime
during the night he had clearly become hot and had divested himself
of his clothing, leaving him blessedly, temptingly naked beside
her. Even as he slept, Amelia could feel the masculine length of
him against her leg.

It had taken every ounce of inner strength she possessed to
carefully ease out of his arms and get dressed. She knew that if he
had woken up before she left; she would give him anything he asked
of her.
And most probably regretted it
later
, she thought ruefully, turning back
to the books with a sigh.

It was a
dejected search party that reconvened later that evening in the
library. Covered in dust, shoulders dropping wearily, they each
took a seat to decide what to do.