Free Love and Larceny by Regina Scott

as they crept back to the
crossroads.
    “Not a great deal,” Wynn confided, pausing to
stand face to face with her in the candlelight. His eyes looked
tired, sagging a bit on the outer edges. He nodded toward the
passage that headed off toward the rear of the house. “Passages
like this one cross the manor, but he wasn’t able to explore them
all before he decided to close them off for safety’s sake. He may
have missed some entirely.”
    “And someone else found them?” Daphne
wrinkled her nose, skeptical.
    “I suppose it’s possible,” Wynn replied.
“Lord Brentfield is new to the estate. Others may have known more
about the place before he arrived.”
    “Or came in while he was gone.” Daphne chewed
her lower lip a moment. “Hannah and David were on a honeymoon for
nearly a month. That must have been when the repairs were done. One
or two more workmen might not have been noticed.”
    Wynn nodded. “Possibly not. But that would
mean the thefts had stopped. The thieves are gone. Our mysterious
stranger in the woods and on the terrace was merely a servant as
Lord Brentfield implied.”
    She
should be glad for that, for Hannah’s sake. Yet she felt decidedly
dejected. “Then we have no reason to be searching.”
    “Except for this.” He pulled something gray
out of his waistcoat pocket and held it on his open palm. “I found
it at the foot of the terrace. It’s possible our thief dropped it
from his shoe.”
    Daphne leaned closer. “Is that a rock?”
    “Limestone, to be exact.” He rubbed it with
his other fingers. “And recently broken off from a larger rock if
the roughness is any indication. Are there any limestone deposits
on the Brentfield lands?”
    “Like big cliffs or mounds?” Daphne shook her
head. “Not that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve ridden over most of the
estate. The only limestone cliffs I know are near the seashore at
Brean. We went there once when we were attending the Barnsley
School, which isn’t too far from here.”
    In the dim light, she could see Wynn was
frowning. “Seashore? We must be miles from the sea.”
    “Not too many miles,” Daphne told him,
turning for the south passage. “Barnsley was fifteen miles from the
coast, and we’re closer here, perhaps six or eight. But I don’t see
a reason for a thief to be out looking for seashells like we
were.”
    “Doubtful,” he agreed, following her, but his
voice sounded thoughtful, as if he were considering the matter.
    They followed the south passage to where it
intersected the servants’ stair at the back of the house, but the
only marks in the dust were of their own making. Wynn was yawning
when Daphne agreed to call it a night. He saw her back to her
room.
    “Forgive me,” he said as he handed her out of
the passage. “I just realized. By following me, you broke your
promise to your mother.”
    Daphne took her candle from him. “I most
certainly did not. I didn’t set one foot outside my door. I went
through the wall instead.”
    He smiled. “I meant by being alone with
me.”
    “Oh.” Daphne felt her face warming. “Well,
that part of her dictate is nonsense in any event. You’d never take
advantage of a situation like that.”
    “Certainly not,” he agreed, but he seemed to
be watching her.
    “You are a gentleman,” Daphne insisted.
    “Indeed I am.” Still he didn’t move. What
else did he expect of her?
    “And we are just friends,” she pointed
out.
    “Good night, Daphne,” he said, and he
disappeared into the darkness before she realized that he hadn’t
agreed with her.
    *
    Wynn was still yawning when he ventured down
the stairs to breakfast the next morning. Perhaps it was the late
hour last night or the extra exertion, but his leg felt unusually
stiff and sore. Then too, his spirit had taken a bit of a beating
as well.
    Just friends , Daphne had said. Was
that all he would ever be to her?
    He did his best to hide his limp as he came
into the breakfast room, just in case she should be