He crept quietly out of his bedroom and along the corridor, then down the stairs, his feet barely making a sound on the stone floor. Soon, he was in the library and felt his breath catch in his throat as he took in the room’s grandeur once again.
One day, he promised himself, he would have a library like this in his own house. He was determined that as his lifetime progressed, he would continue to acquire more and more knowledge of history and the world around him.
The game of charades reminded him of the conversation he had had with Isabella in this very room, on the day they first met. It was only yesterday, but it felt to him almost as if a lifetime had passed since that moment. But her thirst for knowledge had been so refreshing, and he realized he had never met a young lady quite like her before.
He let out a sigh, recognizing he was doing it again, allowing himself to get distracted by thoughts of Isabella when he should be concentrating on his goal: to discover the truth about his father.
He moved slowly around the room, scanning the shelves. Nothing on them gave him any clues about George Langley’s past, but there was plenty to divert him. He resolved to allow himself perhaps half an hour in here, enjoying the collection of books, and then he would perhaps venture into another part of the house and see if he could discover more.
Perhaps he would even dare to try and find George Langley’s study. Could he be so bold as to start to rifle through the man’s private papers in the middle of the night? He told himself that perhaps he would have to if he really was determined to find out the truth.
He took book after book down from the shelves, enjoying their musty scent and leafing through the pages, reading random paragraphs, then replacing them where he had found them.
He respected the order of the library far too much to leave books lying around where they did not belong, and besides, he did not want to leave any trace of his visit. He had a sense that if he were discovered in the middle of the night in the library, then questions would be asked.
He moved across the room towards another tall bookcase, and his eyes fell upon a low table. On it was an intricately carved chess set. It was magnificent; Sebastian did not think he had ever seen such a beautiful set. He could not resist the temptation to pick up one of the queen pieces and feel its heavy weight in his hands. He ran his thumb over its shape admiringly.
Just as he was about to force himself to leave the room, he heard a faint sound, like fabric rustling against a hard surface. He looked up in surprise, and there in the doorway was Isabella, dressed in a thin nightdress and wrapped in a shawl. In the dim light, the shape of her body underneath her clothes was clear, and Sebastian felt a strong stirring within himself.
***
Isabella felt her mouth drop open in shock at the sight of Sebastian standing there in the library, one of the chess pieces from her father’s set in his hand.
Once again, she had been unable to sleep, and rather than lying restlessly tossing and turning in bed for hours, she had decided to seek out some diversion in the library. There had never been a time in her life when she had not been able to find solace in a book, and she was sure that tonight would be no different.
But he stood there staring at her, an intensity in his eyes that she had never seen before. It made her feel acutely aware of the thinness of her nightgown and the inadequacy of her shawl. His eyes swept up and down her body, and she felt a tingling sensation on her skin. She wondered what he was thinking as he looked at her.
She knew she should turn now and leave the room; they should not be here alone in the dark any more than they should have been alone in the garden that morning. But she could not drag herself away. His gaze drew her in a way that she could scarcely even describe in her own mind.
“Lady Isabella, forgive me,” he said softly, taking a step towards her. “I could not sleep, and I was looking for a book to read, and then I happened upon this marvellous chess set and could not stop myself from admiring it.”
She nodded. “I could not sleep either,” she replied. “It seems we are making rather a habit of meeting when we should be sleeping.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Would you prefer it if I left you alone?”
“No,” she responded too quickly. “I am glad of the company.”
“Me too,” he said.
The warmth in his smile as he looked at her made something inside her melt. “It is rather strange that both of us seem unable to sleep,” she ventured. She knew she was straying into dangerous territory, but the look in his eyes at that moment made her realize that she did not care.
He nodded. “I suppose the evening’s events have been rather stimulating.” He looked down at the chess piece in his hand. “Tell me, how did your family come to own such a magnificent chess set?”
She smiled. “It is one of our most treasured family heirlooms. It belonged to my grandfather, the late Lord Evermere. He used to tell a story of having discovered it at a marketplace somewhere in Scotland, being sold by the man who had made it. He could not believe his luck to have found something so wonderful in such a remote place.”
Sebastian looked at her a little strangely. “It seems that your family have a habit of finding valuable things in far-flung places.”
She frowned. What could he mean? It seemed like rather an odd thing to say. “Well, my father has travelled very widely, as you know, so, of course, he has brought many things home with him. But perhaps, as you said this morning, some things are better left in the place from where they originate. I am not sure that one could say that for this chess set, though, since it was for sale.”
“Oh no, I did not mean that,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “I am not sure what I meant, really. I suspect I had rather too much brandy after dinner, and now I am talking nonsense.”
The seed of an idea was forming in Isabella’s mind, and she could not hold back from speaking it out loud. “Would you like to pay a game of chess, My Lord?”
His eyes met hers as he paused and considered his response. There was a hint of conflict in his eyes, and Isabella knew that her suggestion was a rather daring one. It would commit them to spending an hour, perhaps more, alone together in the library in the middle of the night, and she knew full well that was not a proper thing for them to do. But she could not resist, and the daring part of her hoped that he could not either.
“Lady Isabella, I fear that we should not …” Sebastian said rather hesitantly.
She nodded slowly. “I see. Is it because you fear that I will beat you?” She looked at him with a challenge in her eye, and she knew as soon as she saw the look on his face that she had won him over.
