A Study In Seduction(43)
“We’d best go,” he said. His voice sounded hoarse. He cleared his throat. Must have caught a chill. “The hall will be closing soon.”
Dear Jane,
Monosyllable, yes. Clever girl. Here is another riddle:
A word of one syllable, easy and short.
Which reads backward and forward the same;
It expresses the sentiments warm from the heart
And to beauty lays principal claim.
Frankly I’m reaching the end of my riddle repertoire, so I will have to procure more complex challenges. Perhaps I’ll send along some mathematical problems to further test your skills.
Best of luck with your comprehension of long division; it sounds as if you’ve a most excellent tutor in your older sister.
Sincerely,
C
The riddle ran through Jane’s mind as she walked with Mrs. Driscoll toward the house for her piano lesson. A word of one syllable…
She glanced to the side as a movement caught her eye. Lord Rushton was striding along one of the side paths toward a large glass house.
“Sir… my lord!” Jane let go of Mrs. Driscoll’s hand and almost ran to catch up with the earl, her heart beating with a combination of fear and excitement over her own audacity.
He turned with a frown. Did the man ever smile?
Not that she expected him to smile at her.
“I’ve brought you something.” She thrust a book at him. “It’s a treatise on insects that are most harmful to a garden. It’s got pictures and everything. If you can identify them, you can figure out how to rid your garden of them. There’s all sorts of things you can try, like tobacco water or lime water for aphids, fumigation… you can trap snails and slugs with raw potato… and there’s a whole section on insects that injure greenhouse plants…” She paused to catch her breath.
The earl’s frown returned as he paged through the book. “Why did you bring this to me?”
“I thought you might find it useful. I did tell you I like to study insects, if you recall.”
He glowered at the pointed note in her tone.
“I also like puzzles and riddles,” Jane added. “I even know one about insects. Part of a tree, if right transposed, an insect then will be disclosed.”
“What on earth are you going on about, girl?”
“It’s a riddle. Part of a tree—”
“I heard you,” the earl grumbled. “Foolishness, riddles.”
Jane flushed. “Er, did you figure out what’s the matter with my fern, my lord?”
“Yes. Not enough moisture and perhaps too much direct sunlight.”
“I water it every day.”
“Mist it every day. Don’t water the roots every day. They ought to dry in between watering. I’ve got your fern in the greenhouse. Come and collect it after your lesson.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
Jane turned and hurried back along the path to where Mrs. Driscoll stood waiting.
“Leaf,” the earl called.
Jane stopped.
“Leaf?” she repeated.
“Leaf. Transposed it’s flea. The answer to your riddle.” He almost smiled. Almost. “Bastian tells me your sister’s fond of puzzles as well.”
“Oh, yes, my lord. But Lydia’s are more difficult than mine. All about numbers and sums and such.” A rush of pride in Lydia filled her, and she added, “My sister is brilliant, Lord Ruston. There isn’t a puzzle in the world Lydia can’t solve.”
“Is that a fact, Miss Jane?” A faint air of challenge crossed his expression. “We’ll just see about that.”
Chapter Eleven
He was here. He was coming up the front step right this moment. Lydia gripped the heavy curtain in her fist, trying to remember if her grandmother had left the house. Yes, she had; she’d taken Jane to attend one of her charities with Mrs. Keene.
Relief mixed with a combination of fear and anticipation as Lydia hurried down the stairs to the front door. Before the bell rang, she pulled the door open. “Lord Northwood.”
He scowled. He looked terrible. Dark circles ringed his eyes, his jaw sported coarse whiskers, and his clothing was abominably wrinkled, as if he had been in the same coat and trousers for the past two days. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was Sebastian Hall rather than the impeccable Lord Northwood.