Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 26: Sleeping with the Enemy

Cain watched the door click shut before letting out a frustrated sigh. He pushed himself off the drainage pipe to kick the overhanging ledge with the soft pad of his boots and rolled quietly onto the luxurious rug of the study floor. He stood up stretching his arms and calves from the tenuous strain of clinging to the crags of a flat wall waiting to enter.

It was still odd watching a Bexley maid play the role of a courtesan and he wondered how many of his staff Veronique had her hooks into. He stopped still in his tracks and prayed that Verushka was not caught up in all this chaos. He tried not the think of his innocent maid on a similar mission that night especially when he wasn't entirely certain he liked seeing even her friend use her limited wiles, though it was for Queen and Country.

Cain rifled through the papers on the desk, reading and remembering all visible details for recall later. Nothing jumped out at him and he turned to the drawers and hastily picked the locks to check the contents. He felt a roughed panel beneath the surface and ran his fingers along the edge until a small click sounded and gave way to a hidden compartment above. Cain withdrew a scroll with coded script and memorised the sheet before replacing it with care. The paper was fragile and the markings faded but neither from sun or use. It was age that wilted its texture and Cain knew that it bore no significance to the current dilemma but he stored the information away to ponder later.

By all outward affects the Judge seemed like simply a hardworking man who had chosen his wife poorly. Cain knew that the answers to the dangers surrounding Queen Victoria did not lay in an illegible parchment and so he found himself edging to the door and daring the brightened hallway to find where the real secrets of the Rinehart house resided.

The Duke trod carefully passed rooms filled with priceless art and furniture, wondering to what length the humble Judge's earnings extended beyond his conferred knighthood and the courtroom. The manor was certainly not a home of a government official and equally reflected nothing of the style of his study. Often husbands allowed their wives to manage the house but the dichotomy was so evident that it bordered on the ridiculous. It did not take Cain long to determine that all he had to do was follow the gilded furnishings to their crescendo to find Lady Bianca's apartments. He deduced that nothing more was to be gained from the Judge and while his wife was away, it presented the perfect time to search the depths of her deception.

On his way, Cain passed a room lit by the gentle amber glow that comes from sparse candles and firelight. He knelt at the thin gap of the door and peered through to see Liara sharing a tumbler of whisky with the Judge and botching what looked like the Philidor Defence from their cosy picnic and chess game on the rug. Rinehart whispered something into her ear while claiming her pawn and Cain could have sworn that the smile she beamed at him was real. It all seemed innocent enough and well managed until the Judge kissed the exposed slope of her neck and Cain refused to watch any more. Women who wielded their sexuality like weapons were a dangerous breed and though he despised the concept, he knew that he needed their skills more often than not to protect his Country.

Cain left the disturbing scene by the fire, wishing he could burn the image from his memory as easily as wood. He never thought he would see the day that he envied a tree. Thankfully, after ducking a few servants he had reached distinctly feminine quarters and began checking systematically through them until he heard a shrill voice emanating from the other side of the door.

"The shipment was already here. It is not my fault that the method of its delivery has caused chaos. If it were up to me I would send it back to Calais."

Cain recognised Bianca's tones but could barely hear the muffled answer from a masculine throat. He pressed against the door but to no avail. Bianca was only audible because she was shouting in anger but her companion seemed much cooler and more lethal in his inflection.