A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances by Grace Burrowes

Author:Grace Burrowes [Burrowes, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781956975871
Publisher: Grace Burrowes

Chapter Ten

“What are we looking for again?” Atticus posed the question as he peered up the cold flue in what had been Harry’s bedroom on Dingle Court.

“A ledger book,” I replied, “or some sort of tally sheets. A journal, possibly, and it might not look like an accounting. In winter, hiding something up the chimney would have been a dicey proposition, but that just means you should have a look anyhow.”

I reverted to old training, making a mental grid of the room and starting my visual inspection in a corner of the ceiling. No signs of disturbed plaster, no irregularities in the molding. Harry’s bedchamber had been comfortable—Dingle Court was traditionally a mistress’s abode—but many notches below the grandeur on offer at the ducal residence.

And now, the place having gone years without refurbishing, summer morning light revealed a fading establishment. The half-rolled-up carpet, once a strikingly rich swirl of peacock hues, was turning pastel, the bed hangings had long since been taken down, the blue lace curtains had been victimized by moths. The side of the bed frame closest to the windows had faded while the side facing away from the windows retained a hint of its old beeswax shine.

Cheadle and his footmen ought to take the place in hand.

Harry had been nearly as tall as I am. Hiding something overhead would have occurred to him, but the room’s architecture didn’t lend itself to such a handy solution.

“Nothing up the chimbly,” Atticus said, shaking a paw grimy with coal dust.

I tossed him a square of linen. “Remind me to allot you some plain handkerchiefs. A gentleman should never be without. Use your clean hand to tap the walls.”

He transferred a considerable quantity of dirt from his fingers to my handkerchief. “Why am I thumpin’ the walls?”

“A well-made structure is reinforced at regular intervals. You should find a pattern. Tap across that wall, and the sound will change every two feet or so. That’s where a supporting timber, or stud, has been placed to keep the building upright. Ceilings and floors are reinforced with joists. If you tap along, and the sound changes where it oughtn’t, you might have found something.” A slow process, usually a last resort.

“And then we’ll knock down the wall?” The boy apparently liked that idea.

“And then we will assess the wainscoting, but the general idea with a hiding place is to exploit the spaces already available, not create a racket hacking into walls or destroying the chimney.”

I turned my attention to the dressing closet, looking for false bottoms in the empty wardrobe and clothespress, tapping the walls, and generally getting nowhere.

“Shame ain’t nobody livin’ here,” Atticus said. “Alley is wide enough for carriages. Quiet street, plenty of trees, has a garden.”

Not a garden, a rioting patch of weeds, wild flowers, and a few maples that could no longer be referred to as saplings. Such neglect was unlike Arthur.

“Say a prayer that Harry didn’t secret his papers in that garden.”

“He were here in winter. Digging up frozen ground is a right pain in the arse.

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