Don’t borrow trouble. Right now you don’t even know whether or not he’s at home.
He caught Duncan’s eye and pointed to the ceiling.
Duncan nodded again.
They crept slowly toward the door and out into the foyer. It was empty, thankfully, but Thomas knew they couldn’t afford to linger. A maid could step out at any moment, and would certainly let out a cry that would set the whole place on alert at the sight of two intruders.
He hurried to the stairs. Duncan followed close behind.
They made their way up, walking as quietly as they could, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. Still, Thomas felt as if he could hardly breathe while they were out in the open like this, and it wasn’t until they had reached the second floor and rounded the corner into one of the hallways that he allowed himself to exhale.
He glanced at Duncan, then pointed onward, to the door he knew lead to Henry’s study.
Duncan nodded.
They snuck down the hall, glancing over their shoulders every few seconds to see whether they were being followed. The hall behind them remained empty. No one had realized that the Manor had been broken into. Nobody knew they were there.
They reached the door. Both of them hesitated, looking at each other. It was clear to Thomas that Duncan was just as uncertain as he was feeling about what would happen next.
But they had to find out. They had come this far.
He reached out and put his hand on the doorknob.
Duncan slid a hand into his coat pocket and pulled out the pistol he was carrying. The sight of it made Thomas’s heart skip a beat.
We won’t use it. We won’t.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath that completely failed to steady his nerves—and flung the door open.
Henry stood in the middle of the room, his arms full of papers. When he saw them, he let out a cry of surprise and the papers cascaded to the floor. He started to bend to pick them up—
Duncan trained the pistol on him. “Don’t move,” he said.
Thomas heard the tremor in his voice and knew that his friend was just as alarmed by everything that was happening as he was. It would be a miracle if they got through this.
“What are you doing here?” Henry demanded. His voice shook too. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Aren’t we?” Thomas asked.
“I told my staff not to let you in.”
“So then you knew that we would come looking for you,” Thomas said. “You must have realized that Crowle would tell us everything. You must have known that once we knew you’d written the letter about me, we would realize that you had written another letter. The one about Richard.”
“You’re going to believe the things that man said?” Henry demanded. “You’re going to believe him overme? We’ve been friends for years. Does that mean nothing?”
“It means everything,” Thomas said quietly. “It means that Duncan and I know your handwriting when we see it, Henry. It means that we both understand just a little too well what might lead someone like you to do such a terrible thing.”
“You’re mad,” Henry snapped. “What are you going to do? Did you come here to kill me?”
“Of course not,” Thomas said. “Not unless you force us to. But we would much prefer to see you surrender peacefully.”
“And then what?”
“And then it’s up to the constables,” Thomas said.
“You believe I’m going to allow you to hand me over to the constables? Youaremad. I have no intention of being arrested.”
“You didn’t mind arranging for my cousin’s downfall, though, did you?” Duncan asked. “Richard sits in gaol because of your actions. You went to visit him, knowing that you had done that to him. You had the nerve to look him in the eye, knowing that you were responsible for destroying his life? How could you have done that?”
