Effie stopped beside him, still refraining from making eye contact. “You needn’t wait on me,” she said. “I shall show myself out when I’m finished.”

Parker didn’t question her. Any servant worth his salt was aware that it was as indelicate for a lady to be seen entering a water closet as it was for her to be seen leaving one.

“Very good, miss.” Parker quickly departed, presumably off to inform the music teacher that his pupil would be joining him shortly.

Effie exhaled the breath she’d been holding. She waited, hand on the door of the washroom for a full twenty seconds, wary of one of the servants seeing her. But there appeared to be none about. Lord Compton was away, Lady Compton was engaged in the drawing room, Miss Compton would be occupied in the music room, and the servants would be kept busy ushering up any callers.

This was Effie’s moment.

Slipping down the hall, she made for the library. She quietly opened one of the double doors. An excuse for her presence hovered on the tip of her tongue should she find anyone inside. But there was no one. No servants, no shadows, and no ravening wolves waiting to pounce. The large book-lined room was bright and empty, smelling of pipe smoke and lemon polish.

Silently closing the door behind her, Effie went to the shelf where Miss Corvus’s books were displayed. She extracted the first one, turning to the page where she’d seen Miss Corvus’s message.

It was still there.

Relief coursed through her. She had feared Compton might have made good on his threat to expunge it. But no. As ever, his attachment to valuable things superseded all other concerns.

Effie prayed it would be his undoing.

Acting swiftly, she opened her reticule and removed the wad of twine. She’d never secured an item as large as a book to her crinoline before, but given the circumference of her poplin skirts, she was confident it was possible.

Raising her petticoats and crinoline, she tucked the book beneath and used the twine to tie it to the underside of the wire cage frame. It wasn’t a heavy tome, but heavy enough to exert an unfortunate pull. Not ideal, admittedly; however, it would do until Effie could get to Brook Street.

She dropped her skirts back into place, giving them a shake to test whether the book wobbled.

It didn’t.

Effie was heartened by the discovery. She adjusted the remaining books on the shelf to better disguise the first book’s absence. With luck, Compton wouldn’t immediately discover it was gone. By that time, the book would be safe in Miss Corvus’s hands.

All that remained was for Effie to slip out of the library and exit the house without drawing any attention to herself. Snapping the drawstring closure of her reticule shut, she turned to leave.