She decided to explore the common rooms first and then investigate the family quarters.

The library she had seen and would explore in far greater detail in the months to come. Her heart actually palpitated when she thought about Leonardo’s journal and all the other treasures yet to be discovered.

In addition to the library there were three sitting rooms, although one was small enough to deserve the name parlor. Serena decided it would be the room where she would spend her evenings with Oliver. The thick carpets and fireplaces at both ends of the room ensured it would be warm and cozy in the fall and winter months.

There was a music room with a piano her friend Portia would salivate to play and Serena made a note to herself to mention it in her next letter to her friend.

The dining and breakfast rooms she had already seen. To the rear of the house was a billiard room, compete with untouched accouterments. Serena had a difficult time imagining Mr. Lockheart engaging in anything so frivolous as billiards.

On the upper floor were only bedchambers. The first four Serena looked were pristine and untouched in appearance. The fifth door opened to a room different from all the others. This could have been the cell of a monk. She closed the door behind her and lighted three of the candles on a large branch beside the door. The room was utterly stark, no artwork, no tapestries such as hung in her room and even in Nounou’s.

The room’s only furniture was a bed and two nightstands. The bed was a massive four-poster with no canopy, its four posts giant squares with no decoration other than inset metal rings. The bedding was white linen. The floor was entirely without rugs, the wood so dark it was almost black. In the dressing room the clothes were stored with such precision it looked as if a person had measured the gaps and spaces with a ruler. Footwear and folded garments were likewise exactly placed. The room seemed to contain an entire wardrobe and Serena realized he probably did the same thing in all his houses, eliminating the need to do a great deal of packing other than nights he might be forced to spend in hotels or inns.

Every item was flawless and new-looking, four pairs of top boots, two pairs of Hessians, all polished to a blinding shine, not so much as a speck of dust to be found.

She fingered the exquisite silk of a dull pewter banyan, easily imagining him garbed in such a garment. Either he or his valet had impeccable taste, and every waistcoat and coat had been chosen to complement his coloring and physique.

The massive dressing room had an adjacent bathing chamber, as did hers, but the floor was a black marble shot through with striking bolts of white, the tub a dull gray metal in front of a fireplace whose mantelpiece matched the bold, stark lines of the rest of the room. The walls were hung with the same pale, patternless silk as the rest of the chamber, their pristine surface not disturbed by art of any kind.