“Och, we’ve been ’ere the whole time, sir,” said the footman. “As ye requested.”

The butler gave a disgusted sigh. “You were in the South Wing when I arrived, so I know that’s not true.”

“No’ fer long. Me and MacPhearson just wished fer a bit o’ fresh air, and the windows were open to the sun so we—”

“Take your post and do not move. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Now I’m stuck here, and I’ll have to find a way out when I am done.

Robert walked to the center of the room, examining it in a sweeping glance. It was very large, with a fireplace at each end, a very high ceiling, a wheeled ladder to reach the highest shelves with ease, and several cozy furniture clusters that suggested one might find the settee of one’s dreams if one kept searching. At one end of the room several small statues and ancient figurines were displayed on a neat row of shelves. Adjacent to the shelves was a large oak desk, resplendent with carving.

It was the most obvious place to hide something, and he wasn’t convinced of Ross’s ability to think like a thief. That would take some intelligence beyond the norm, and thus far, Ross hadn’t exhibited such.

Robert sat down at the desk and examined every drawer, every nook and cranny, finding no sign that it held anything of value. Too bad. I was hoping this would be simple.

He leaned back in the chair and surveyed the room again. The wall shelves were filled with an impressive assortment of books. He rose and scanned a few titles of the closest. Ross kept a decent collection of research tomes about ancient Greek civilizations, but they were unused-looking. I’d wager my last groat Ross hasn’t read any of these.

He went to the largest, most ornate shelves, which were deeper and held larger books, many of them ancient maps held in binders. It was difficult not to succumb to temptation and get lost in examining them, but Ross and Moira would only be gone another hour, two at the most.

Is that blasted secret chamber here? It certainly looks like the sort of room to have one. The shelves seemed the best place to begin. Could one be hiding a secret doorway?

He felt along the edges, noting any dip or impression along the way. He moved from bottom to top, using the wheeled ladder to reach the higher shelves. On and on he searched, finding nothing.

Frowning, he examined where the final set of shelves met the wall beside two windows. The shelves were flushly mounted, bolted solidly against the wall. Not the shelves, then. Where else? The exposed walls near the windows? A door could be hidden there.

He couldn’t knock along the panels, listening for a hollow spot, due to the footmen in the hallway. So he rolled some thick blotter paper from the desk into a heavy tube, lit it, then held it to the bottom of the baseboards, looking for a waver in the flame to show there was an opening. He had no fear that the smell of smoke might alert the footman because, thanks to Buffon, the entire castle now carried the scent.