And then she froze.

The pocket watch was still lying on the brass-cornered chest of drawers. Except now it was alone.

Jasper’s keys were gone.

Twenty-Nine

Julia raced up the spiral stone staircase that led to Jasper’s study, her skirts clutched in her hands lest she trip over her hem. The location was unfamiliar to her. Despite her curiosity, she’d never before climbed the stairs to the tower. She hadn’t dared defy the condition Jasper had made on their marriage.

“The door of my study on the fourth floor of the Hall remains locked at all times. You’re never to enter it.”

Images of Bluebeard’s castle danced across her mind as she reached the door at the top of the stairs. Like the door to her bedchamber, it stood open. Her pulse skittered wildly as she crossed the threshold, expecting she knew not what.

But no gruesome sight was there to greet her. Nothing like the one that had awaited Bluebeard’s wife.

It was only a shadowy, sparsely furnished room, containing a large wooden desk, a leather-upholstered chair, and a wall of bookcases. The drawers of the desk had been wrenched open. Papers were strewn about over its surface.

Charlie stood in front of the desk, holding one of the papers in his hand, struggling to read it in the light filtering through a high window.

“Charlie! Put that down!” Julia went to him in a rush. “You know you can’t be in here!”

He looked up at her. “It’s nothing private. Just some rubbish about a chap called Colonel Dryden and a nurse named Eloise.”

Julia tugged the paper from his hand, careful not to tear it. “Out,” she said. “I’ll not have your father find you here.”

“Are they people he knew in the war?” Charlie asked.

“If they are, it’s none of our business.” She gave Charlie a little push toward the door. “My goodness, the mess you’ve made. What on earth did you hope to find here?”

“Whatever it was he’s been keeping secret. I thought it must be something terrible.” Charlie flashed a disgusted glare at the heaps of paper on the desk. “But all this time, he’s only been writing his stupid memoirs!”

“Yes, yes, it’s very deflating.” Julia attempted to console him, even as she felt an overwhelming wave of private relief. “Life isn’t like a penny novel, you know,” she said, as much for Charlie’s benefit as for her own. “Sometimes people’s secrets are really quite ordinary and uncomplicated.”

“I thought he was a criminal.”

“I know you did.” She gave him a look of gentle reproof. “Your father isn’t the same man he was before the war. It may be hard to trust that, but after all these years, I would hope you could at least give him a chance.”

“Is that why you married him? Because you think he’s changed?”

“I believe he has. People can, if they have a mind to. Sometimes all it wants is time. You’re wise to be skeptical, but it’s all right to have a bit of faith now and then.” She urged Charlie out of the room. “Go and have your tea. I’ll join you after I tidy up here.”