Page 31 of The Bachelor Spy
“There’s no reason to think otherwise.” Pennington’s fingers drummed against his knee with barely contained energy. “I’d wager if any of the lot here knew my relation to the Crawfords, they’d send me packing without a second look. Granddad was sacked without cause, I tell you. Threatened with prison, even. Promised that not one Crawford would ever work in Derbyshire again.”
“That’s downright awful.”
Pennington released a bitter huff. “I deserve that treasure. And I’ll give you a share too, if you help me out.”
Crawford.Blake filed the name away. Evidently, a Crawford had been in service at Havensbrooke at some point. A very particular Crawford, and clearly some sort of grudge had passed down through generations.
And then there was this talk of treasure …
It made no sense.
And he might have dismissed it as exaggerated talk by some young, proud men, but there were too many unusual goings-on in this house to spurn the timeliness of such a conversation.
“I’m game, so long as I can help with one arm for now.” This from Edwards.
“It’s all light work. Just locating the map and entrance to the tunnel.”
Tunnel?
“But I can’t do it myself.” Pennington hesitated, vulnerability creeping into his voice. “And if it’s exactly where Granddad said, we wouldn’t have to rot here after the war, would we? Wouldn’t have to go back to the mines or the factories. Could start fresh like. Maybe even get to Canada or Australia.”
Blake’s mind raced through possibilities. The stolen sketch of the chapel. The missing painting. The candlesticks. Now talk of treasure and tunnels. Were they connected, or simply two separate problems converging in the same location?
And where did the spy fit into all of this? Because therewasa spy at Havensbrooke—Director Lark’s intercepted message proved that. Military intelligence was leaking from this house like water through a sieve.
Was someone using Pennington’s treasure hunt to mask their own activities or divert suspicion?
In all his career as a spy, he hadn’t met with such a strange collision of unknowns. His lips tipped slightly. But Grace was involved, so he shouldn’t be surprised at all.
Blake took a careful step back, avoiding the creak in the floorboards he’d already memorized, and exhaled through his nose. It was likely nonsense—every estate in England had its legends of smuggler tunnels and buried riches. Havensbrooke was old enough to have accumulated several.
But the timing felt far too tidy to dismiss.
If Pennington had been systematically stealing items to fund his treasure hunt, that would explain the odd pattern of thefts. Not a spy’s work but an opportunist’s.
But what about the sketch?
Yes, he needed to alert Director Lark of Evie’s whereabouts.
And yes, he had to attempt to keep his alias while protecting Lady Astley in the process.
But to risk contacting the director, he needed more information than presumptions, which meant he had to find a way to confront Evie Montgomery as soon as possible … all while avoiding Nurse Wilson, a houseful of patients, and a very curious countess in the process.
Chapter 5
Blake would be furious with her.
So would Frederick, most likely.
And to be fair, shehadgiven a cursory look around for Blake at the house before venturing off. It wasn’t as though she’dintentionallyset out on an unchaperoned ramble. He was simply nowhere to be found, and the ruins were practically begging to be explored. So she brought Zeus.
Grace glanced down at her unlikely escort. The beautiful field dog, larger than the average English setter, trotted beside her, tail sweeping like a metronome through the bracken. On her other side, Zahra kept pace, her green dress fluttering in the early autumn breeze.
Between Zeus’ formidable presence and Zahra’s quick wits, Grace felt reasonably certain they’d avoid catastrophe. Probably.
Especially since they hadn’t brought Sham to upset Zeus’ usually sanguine demeanor.
And really, Grace wasn’t technically courting danger. She was only walking to the ruins and the old chapel, driven by a small, entirely reasonable curiosity: Why would anyone steal that sketch? A family sketch of personal value, but not valuable to anyone else.
