At The Stroke Of Midnight (23 page)

Instead, he found nothing but more
chill and blackness, the light from the conservatory spilling across the snow
and reflecting back into the large windows that swept several stories high at
the very back of the house.
 
That gave
him pause, especially when he noted what looked to be a formal doorway that was
now tucked behind some drapes.
 
Placing
his lantern on the floor, he decided to investigate, hoping that it might
provide him with some clue as to how he might find Jane.

Pulling the drapes aside, he looked
up to find the same soaring, delicately arched windows that were found at the
front of the manor.
 
Here, however, the
center window was complete with a stained glass panel featuring a woman in a
field full of violets.
 
A woman that
looked remarkably like Jane.
 
Or, more
to the point, the portrait of Catronia Ashford that hung in the gallery.
 

Holding his lantern aloft,
Sebastian turned in a slow circle and saw additional rooms that looked as if
they had been parlors and a butler's area.
 
When he turned around again, his back now to the enormous windows, he
noted that the entire area spread out as if it were a great entrance room and
the hallway leading back towards the living quarters where he'd come from far
more than just a normal hallway.

The entire area was far too grand
to simply be abandoned or the back of anything, with a large, sweeping
staircase - the same one, he noted, that Jane favored - and additional
corridors that led off in every direction.
 
This was, he realized, the original entrance to the house.
 
At some point in the past, everything had
been reversed.
 
It was why the
conservatory entrance was hidden and so much of Blackstone seemed
backwards.
 
It was because it was.
 
When this had been the main entrance to
Blackstone, the flow of the house worked beautifully.
 
Now, it was a mess of design that had no structure.
 
No beauty.

And the stained glass window
soaring high above could be the only reason why everything had changed.

Still, Devonmont had not destroyed
the window and certainly, he must have been pressured by Angeline to do
so.
 
That he hadn't told Sebastian that
he still cared for his daughter, at least in a fashion.
 
It would have been far easier and much less
costly to simply have the window removed and destroyed when the family was not
in residence.

Instead, he had gone to great
lengths to flip the house around, leaving the window intact but hidden from
view.
 
That was why no one, save Jane,
came to this area.
 
Angeline wanted to
pretend that, like anything that involved Catronia, it did not exist, but was
powerless to have it destroyed.

It gave Sebastian hope and on this
night of all nights, hope was what he needed most.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he
quickly reached the second floor and began to search again.
 
He had only gone a few steps when he heard a
small sniffling sound.
 
In the silence
of the older part of the home, it was easy enough to hear.

Looking about, he noticed another,
smaller corridor that had escaped his notice earlier.
 
It went off to the west, away from the other rooms.
 
He also noticed a thin stream of light
pouring from beneath one of the doors.
 
He felt certain that he had found Jane.
 
He was also just as certain that the door would be locked.

Ah, well.
 
It was a good thing that one of his best friends, Nicholas
Rosemont, the current Duke of Candlewood, had been an excellent lock pick - not
to mention an excellent teacher of the craft - during their misspent youth at
Eaton.

Reaching into his pocket, Sebastian
pulled out the twisted bit of metal that he had thankfully remembered to take
from his dresser before he had embarked upon this journey, anticipating just
such an emergency.
 
He would have hated
to take the time to go back and retrieve it.
 
The more time he spent in the more populated part of the house, the more
likely he was to encounter one of the Devonmonts.
 
It was also less time he would have to spend with Jane on what
was very likely to be their last night together.

And that would truly be a pity.

Jane glared at the doorknob and
thought about rattling it again, but she quickly decided against it.
 
She had already injured her hand once in a
futile attempt to escape.
 
She would not
do so a second time.
 
The door was
locked, not to mention rather sturdy.
 
It would not budge.

She also thought once more about
looking for the old, secret entrance that led to a stairway back to the main
floor that was hidden somewhere in what had once been the countess' suite of
rooms.
 
Her mother's rooms.
 
The very rooms that Jane had played in as a
child.

When Tildon had brought her here, a
look of true regret on his face, she quickly discovered that a cozy fire had
already been lit in the grate to ward off the night's chill.
 
She thought this place an odd choice for her
imprisonment.
 
After all, she knew these
rooms well, better than anyone in the house really.
 
There were all sorts of hidden passageways scattered about.
 
Or there had been at one time.
 
At the moment, however, Jane could not
locate a single one.

If she could, she would escape,
though she had no idea where she would go afterwards.
 
Her choices were rather limited, even more so now that she had
been thoroughly interrogated by the Countess of Covington.
 
There were perhaps a few people she could
prevail upon for help, but all of her old friends were at their country estates
as well.
 
They would help her, she was
certain, but first, she would have to reach them.
 
That would, of course, assume that she could get out of this
suite of rooms.

She was debating about where to
look next for a hidden door when she heard the doorknob rattle and the sound of
something being inserted into the lock.
 
From the outside.
 
Scurrying over
to the door, she tried to figure out her next step.
 
If it was Angeline or Lizzie, well, she was uncertain what she
could do.
 
If it were a servant, perhaps
she could bash them over the head - lightly, of course - with something that
would give her time to escape.

Jane was still busy looking around
the room for a weapon when she caught a faint hint of cedarwood mixed with the
earthy smell of horse and man.
 
She knew
that smell well, and had indulged herself by inhaling it each time she had been
near Sebastian for the last few days.
 
But how had he found her?

"Sebastian?" she called
softly, not wanting to get her hopes up too high.
 
"Is that you?"

The door rattled again, harder this
time.
 
"Jane!
 
I have found you at last."
 
There was another rattle and the sound of
something like metal scraping against wood, and then finally a softly uttered
curse.
 
"Damn and blast!
 
Why will this door not budge?"
 
That was followed by a louder noise, as if
someone were trying to break down the door.

"Sebastian!" Jane hissed,
louder this time, praying that no one else was about to hear the commotion and
come to investigate.
 
"What are you
about?
 
Do you wish to bring all of
Blackstone to this door and humiliate me further?"
 
While she was overjoyed to know that he had
been searching for her, his sense of subtlety did leave something to be
desired.

"I thought you would be
pleased that I came for you."
 
He
sounded hurt and immediately, Jane regretted her words.

Pressing her hand to the door, she
wished that she could see him, but instead, hoped he could hear the sincerity
in her words.
 
"I am.
 
I am pleased beyond measure.
 
But I am also well aware that we are both in
a precarious position.
 
If we are caught
alone together..."

She didn't finish that thought but
they were both well aware that nothing good could possibly come about if they
were discovered.
 
The scandal, which
would in no way be lessened because the events occurred at Blackstone, would
shock London, probably well into the next season.
 
Both families would be ruined.
 
And she herself?
 
Well, she
shuddered to think what kind of punishment awaited her, especially at the hands
of Angeline.

"We will not be."
 
He grunted and she heard the sound of metal
scraping again, this time from inside the lock mechanism.
 
Then there was a popping noise and the door,
which had not been used in quite some time, swung open slowly, its hinges
creaking and protesting with the movement.

Looking up, Jane felt as though she
had never seen a more lovely sight than Sebastian standing there in the doorway
looking every inch a fierce, ancient warrior.
 
His brow was streaked with a tinge of sweat from his efforts to unlock
the door and his cravat and coat were long gone, leaving him only clad in his waistcoat,
lawn shirt, breeches and boots.

Then he smiled that feral, slightly
crooked-toothed smile she had come to adore and her heart melted.

"Good thing my old friend
Rosemont was an excellent lock pick."
 
He held up a twisted bit of metal that glinted in the firelight.
 
"Else I'm afraid I would have had to
climb up the balcony, and I'm not too keen on heights.
 
Or open spaces where I might fall."
 
Then he opened his arms wide and took a
quick step into the room.
 
"Come
here, Jane."

Without thought, she rushed into
his embrace, burrowing so deeply into his chest that she did not notice when he
swung the door shut behind him so that, should anyone come to check on Jane,
they would find nothing amiss.
 
She
allowed herself to absorb the heat from his body, relishing the feel of his
strong, powerful arms around her.
 
She
should not want this, nor should she indulge herself so, she knew.
 
However, she was also powerless to resist the
pull this man had over her.

She simply wanted him so much.
 
She loved him beyond reason.
 
And she was weak when it came to
Sebastian.
 
She always had been.

"I was afraid I was too
late," he whispered into her hair.
 
"Your maid informs me that you are to leave on the morrow.
 
However, I half suspected that your father
would have sent you away tonight."

"Were the roads passable, I am
certain that he would have," she agreed, pulling back slightly so that she
could look at him, drinking in the sight of his handsome face.
 
She had thought she would never see him
again.
 
"My father is furious and
he blames me for this, as if I somehow implored your mother to make a scene at
dinner."

At that, Sebastian snorted and
pulled her back to him, unwilling to let her go, even for a moment.
 
"No, my mother does that well enough on
her own with no help or prompting from anyone.
 
Including you."
 
Then he
traced the line of her face with his fingertips.
 
"But for tonight, you are still here.
 
With me."

"I am," Jane agreed,
loving the feel of his hard muscles beneath her hands as she stroked his arms,
but yet attempting to push them from her mind at the same time.
 
"Though, as you can see, I have been
deemed unfit to keep company with the guests any longer."
 
She glanced backwards at the small sitting
room where she had been resting.
 
"However, I am fortunate that a few of the servants still deem me
worthy of respect.
 
Otherwise, it would
be a very frigid evening in here, I'm afraid."

"There are more loyal to you
than you might suspect," he told her gently, pulling back so that he could
take in the suite of rooms, critically noting even the small details that
indicated this had once been the residence of someone of rank.
 
Most likely the previous countess.
 
"I take it this is your mother's old
suite?"

Jane nodded and sighed.
 
"It is.
 
Which is why I find it odd that I was left here."
 
She gestured in the direction of the
hearth.
 
"There are hidden
passageways in this old section of the house, including many from this room.
 
At one time, several generations ago, it was
more of a family gathering room and numerous secret exits were constructed in
case the family needed to flee.
 
When I
was a child, I played here often.
 
I
know the passageways out of here exist, yet for some reason, I am unable to
find them."