Page 96 of How to Tempt a Duke

“Shall we examine the journals with the key?” Charles asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Yes!” It came out far louder than she’d anticipated.

“It’s driving you mad, is it?” He laughed, the rapscallion, and then called for Thomas to bring them the journals and key. “I confess I’m eager to know as well.”

Eleanor wriggled in her bed to sit higher up, for a better position to view the journals, and tried to ignore the sharpness of discomfort in her arm.

Thomas did not leave them waiting long, and brought the three remaining battered books to the bedside. He passed them crisply to Charles and left them alone in the room once more.

Charles took the flat piece of metal and opened the first page of the first journal. It held no information. The second journal, however, revealed squares that fit neatly in spaces with no writing. This appeared several times until about the seventh page, when the holes matched perfectly over a series of letters.

Eleanor held her breath and tensed. Those letters formed words.

DECCAN PLATEAU CLIFFSIDE ON R

Charles drew the key up and turned the page.

“Do you know where that is?” Eleanor asked.

“I do. It’s in India. I’ve even been there once.” He put the key to the second page.

IVER WAGHUR WHERE THERE IS A U

Charles shifted the key to the opposing page. Again and again he did this, until the entire message had been spelled out.

Deccan Plateau cliffside on River Waghur

Where there is a U-shaped gorge

A door will open to a large room

Seek the hollow stone

Eleanor’s heart raced faster and pulsed in the injury of her arm. “Charles, this is it.”

“It might be. There has been much speculation for years on what became of the stone. This is one of many assumptions.”

But even as he spoke with such skepticism, his eyes were alight with the joy of their discovery.

“We’ve deciphered the code! Charles, we did it.” She flushed with their accomplishment.

“Indeed we have.” He folded the key into the journal. “And it couldn’t have been done without us working together. I think we make a fine Adventure Club on our own.”

A pleased blush warmed Eleanor’s cheeks at his praise. “That we do. Do we leave soon?”

His brows rose. “When you’re well.”

“I could heal on the boat while we journey.” She beamed up at him in the way she knew he liked.

He chuckled and shook his head. “You truly were born an adventurer, my Duchess.”

Epilogue

Deccan Plateau, ten months later

A trickle of sweat ran down Eleanor’s back and the heavy fabric of her skirt continued to catch at the brush. The oppressive heat was ubiquitous, pressing and suffocating. Loose tendrils slipped from the knot of her hair and were left to curl about her damp face.

Mad though it might seem, never had Eleanor been happier than when she was hiking through the wilds of India with Charles at her side while they followed their guide. The young boy was named Sahil, and he had a mop of dark hair perpetually falling into his soulful brown eyes.