He swallowed and entered, half expecting his brother to strut out of the adjoining dressing room, shoot him a sardonic grin, and ask Reese how his cravat looked. But the room was unnaturally still and the memories were … oddly comforting.

Reese stood in the center of the room for a minute or so, giving himself time to breathe and appreciate the mementos strewn about the room—his brother’s favorite beaver hat sitting on the bureau, an Egyptian vase that he’d brought back from his Grand Tour on the nightstand, a stilted but nonetheless cherished family portrait hanging on one wall.

Reese turned the key over and over till it was warm in his palm.

And then he went to the large trunk at the foot of Edmund’s bed. He lifted the lid, which was unlocked, and pushed aside a folded velvet quilt, a heavy wool greatcoat, and two gleaming pairs of Hessian boots. There, at the bottom, he spotted what he’d been looking for—a small mahogany chest with a brass lock.

He pulled it out, closed the trunk, and sat on top of it, placing the wooden box on his lap. Edmund had used it to store his most prized possessions. Not the most valuable things, which were secured in the safe downstairs, but the most precious. He’d once opened the chest and shown Reese a few of the items inside: a handkerchief their mother had embroidered, a single cuff link that had belonged to their father, and an old snuffbox he’d won in a wager at Eton.

Before Reese could lose his nerve, he tried the key in the lock. A chill skittered up his spine as the lock clicked, then turned.

His heart racing, he pushed back the hinged lid and peered inside. As expected, the chest contained an odd assortment of keepsakes, but Reese’s eyes went directly to a folded note sitting on top—with his name written on the outside in his brother’s hand.

Panic clawed at Reese’s spine and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Every instinct yelled for him to slam the chest shut, lock it, and throw the key in the moat surrounding the garden.

But then he thought about Sophie and the faith she had in him. He thought about the way she looked at him, so calm and trusting, like she believed he was capable of overcoming anything.

Swallowing, he set the chest aside, picked up the note, and opened it.