Gradually the house began to settle down. She heard the duchess’s voice as she went down the hallway to her room, accompanied by a lower murmur that Megan identified as the duke. Later, there was the sound of the servants as they went about their late evening chores of turning down beds and helping the ladies of the house out of their difficult garments. Megan was sure that Thisbe and her husband had long since gone to bed, as they were in the habit of retiring early. Finally, a great deal later, she heard the sound of a heavy tread.
Theo, she thought, returning from his evening. Hurrying to the door, she opened it a crack and peered out. The hall sconces had been turned down to their lowest, casting much of the corridor into shadow. She slipped out into the hallway and edged around the corner to look toward the family’s bedrooms. She was quick enough to catch a glimpse of Theo’s back as he went into his room and closed the door behind him.
She continued to wait. It was good that Theo was home; now she would not have to worry about him returning to the house while she was in the collection room. Megan resumed her seat in her chair, a book open and unread on her lap as she forced herself to be patient until the hands of the clock drew close to midnight.
Surely everyone was in bed now. The only ones whom she had not heard were Reed and Anna, but she thought that they must be in their chamber. As Anna had mentioned the other day, they were still accustomed to country hours. Megan had noticed that the couple was usually up when she and the twins ate breakfast.
Slipping out of her shoes, she walked in her stocking feet across the room and opened the door. She paused, listening for the faintest sound, and finally, when she heard none, she stepped out into the hallway. She slid around the corner and looked down the hallway. All the doors were closed, and no sound issued from any of the rooms. She looked the other direction. Everything was quiet and dark.
Taking a deep breath, she moved down the hallway to the servants’ staircase, which lay farther away from the occupied rooms. She was not worried about the servants hearing her, as they retired early and slept soundly after their labors, tucked away on the top floor.
Downstairs, she eased along the dimly lit hallway to the door of the duke’s study. The door was closed, and she turned the knob and pulled it open. It stuck for a moment, then came open with a pop. Megan froze, her heart in her throat.
The house was silent. No one on the floor above could have heard the sound of the door, she reminded herself. It had simply sounded inordinately loud to her ears. She pulled the door open and looked inside the dark room. In the faint stream of light from the hallway, she could make out the dark shapes of the furniture.
She had not been inside the duke’s study, and she looked around the door for a light. She found a wall sconce beside the door, and felt around it for the key-shaped handle that turned the gas light on. Finally she found it and turned it cautiously, bringing up a pale yellow glow.
Megan stopped when there was enough light to see her way across to the wide walnut desk. The twins had not said specifically where their father kept the key in his study, but the likeliest place was the desk, so she planned to start there. She moved quickly, sliding open the top right drawer. When she saw no keys, she moved to the left top drawer.
Several keys lay in a shallow tray in the drawer. Fortunately, there were tags attached to each, and she sorted through them quickly, discarding those that read Workroom or Cabinet.” She stopped at the tag that read C Room. Picking it up, she closed the drawer and straightened up.
Theo Moreland was standing in the doorway.
A shriek escaped Megan’s throat, quickly cut off as she clapped her hand over her mouth. She stared at Theo, her brain as frozen as her muscles.
How long had he been there? What had he seen?
“Sorry,” Theo said. “I did not mean to startle you. I was in the library, and I heard a noise in here.”
“I—that’s all right. I—I just didn’t expect to see anyone.” Her fingers curled tightly around the key, hiding it in her palm. If he had not seen her take the thing from the drawer, perhaps she could get out of this without being fired from her job—or worse. The room seemed suddenly very dark and far away from everyone else.
“I am sure not,” Theo replied sardonically. “Since you are in my father’s study.”
“I—I was looking for a book to read,” Megan explained. “I could not sleep.”
Theo came into the room, walking around the desk to stand in front of her. He glanced at the bookshelves filled with tomes that lined one wall of the study.
“I think you would have better luck looking in the library,” he commented mildly. “Unless, of course, you are desirous of reading about Ionic columns or Mycenaean art or the layout of the Temple of Hephaestus.”
Megan realized that her excuse was foolish, but it had been the first thing that had sprung into her head. She would simply have to brazen her way out.
“I was looking for something to put me to sleep,” she pointed out with some asperity. She gestured with her empty hand toward the book that lay open on the desk beside her. “I thought this one looked as if it would do the trick.”
As Theo glanced toward the open tome, she slipped the key into the pocket of her skirt.
“It certainly looks it,” Theo agreed easily, adding, “Though I, of course, would find it difficult, as I’m no longer proficient in Greek.”
Megan hid her dismay as she took another look at the book and saw that its pages were covered with indecipherable Greek letters.
“Yes,” she agreed with a casual air. “I decided it would require too much effort to enable me to sleep. Although a text on Hellenic art and architecture might be just the thing.”
“No doubt you are right.”
Megan was certain now that a smile was tugging at the corners of his lips. They were exceedingly well-shaped lips, she thought, and she remembered what they had felt like brushing against her hand.
Firmly she pulled her mind away from such errant thoughts. She could not understand why he should be amused. One would think that he would be angry at catching one of the family’s employees in such a compromising position. The notion that he was laughing at her raised her ire.
“I’m sorry. I fail to see what is amusing,” she told him in her frostiest tone, raising an eyebrow for emphasis.
“I am generally amused at life, I’m afraid,” Theo commented. “I have been told many times that my outlook is not sufficiently serious.”
He took a step closer to her. He was only a foot away from her now, far too close for comfort, and Megan had to tilt her head back to look up at him.
“I—I had better get back to my room,” she said.
“You know,” Theo said, just as if she had not spoken, “there are those who would regard your presence in the duke’s study at this time of night as somewhat suspicious.”
“Suspicious?” Megan asked, drawing herself up and giving him her haughtiest look. “Suspicious in what way, I might ask?”