Caught by surprise, and lacking a ready excuse, I reluctantly surrendered the watch. “It belonged to my father,” I said as Henry turned it over in his large hand.
“It’s an amazing piece. My father has something very similar. I believe this one was made in England.” He opened the lid and read the inscription.
“Most likely, since it came over with my grandparents. It was supposed to go to my husband when my father died.”
Henry nodded in response.
“Oh!” I said suddenly struck by the idea that he may have misunderstood my intentions. “I didn’t mean...the watch was my father’s, and I couldn’t just give it away. I hope you don’t think I was offering it to you.” Good heavens! I sounded like an imbecile, but in my panic the words tumbled out before I could sort them into something less insulting.
Hazarding a peek at his face, I caught sight of a frown. “I would never assume such a thing,” he said brusquely, handing back the watch. “Please excuse me for interrupting.” He gave a curt bow and left the room.
Well, that was positively awkward, I thought once he was gone. No denying my words had been clumsy and even offensive, but what else was I supposed to do under the circumstances? I wasn’t about to give up a family heirloom to have it hawked within a week for passage to Boston or even all the way to England. His dignity may have been smarting, but it would mend soon enough—the watch, on the other hand, was irreplaceable.
Any hopes I had that Henry might forget my rudeness by evening meal were gravely misguided. He spoke not a word to me directly, and the moment his boiled beef and carrots were gone, he excused himself from the table. When the front door shut, I assumed he had gone out for a walk, which suited me fine considering what lousy dinner company he had been. I finished my meal at leisure and then went into the small sitting room to read.
Two hours passed without sign of Henry, and I found myself glancing out the windows to look for him. It was full dark, and I hoped he hadn’t gotten himself lost, or worse yet, opted to walk all the way back to Philadelphia. Close to midnight I went up to my room, determined to send Ben out in the morning if he hadn’t come back.
I got ready for bed, but couldn’t sleep a wink. Instead I sat up in an armchair near the empty hearth, jumping at every sound. My mind bounced uncomfortably between worry that he had somehow fallen into trouble and anger at being so quickly abandoned. What if he had discovered the small clearing in the woods? Crossing into the Otherworld carried enough risk, I didn’t need Henry poking around and asking uncomfortable questions about the altar.
At my wits’ end, I was debating whether to wake Ben rather than waiting till morning when the front door finally opened. Practically holding my breath, I listened as Henry walked up the stairs, coming to a stop right outside my bedroom door. Unsure of his intentions, I picked up a book from the side table, setting it back down with a small bang to let him know I was still awake. A few more seconds passed, and he crossed the hall to his own room.
For a good while, I sat completely still, wondering what he would do next. It was quite possible that he had been innocently walking for the past four hours, taking in the cool night air before returning home to sleep. It was also equally possible that he had spent the time devising an escape plan and had only returned with the hopes of finding the house at his disposal.
My stomach dropped when I thought about my father’s watch sitting unprotected on the silver tray in his room. I had jumped up to retrieve it when I also remembered my mother’s jewelry. Going room by room, I took a mental inventory, from the silver candlesticks sitting out in plain sight to the sword hanging in my father’s study. There were so many valuables scattered throughout the house, it would be ridiculous trying to haul everything to my room.
Silent as a mouse, I stepped into the hall to listen outside Henry’s door. If all was quiet, chances were he had simply gone to bed and would cause no more trouble tonight, allowing me to think things through in the morning. For a good minute I heard nothing, and it seemed I might have overreacted, when he stirred and began pacing the room.
Sorely tempted to steal a look through the keyhole, I stumbled upon a cunning plan and scurried down the stairs to my father’s study. The top drawer of his desk held a large ring of keys, each one etched with the name of its correlating lock. Aided by a single candle, I found the one I needed and then slipped back up the stairs. Standing outside of Henry’s room again, I inserted the key into the metal hole and turned the bolt. In an instant he was at the door, testing the iron knob.
“Selah,” he growled threateningly. “Unlock this door at once!”
I took a step back and shook my head in reply, heedless that he couldn’t see me through the door. His fist crashed against the wood. I spun around, the key clamped in my hand as I flew back to the safety of my own room.
Chapter Five