Bridgewater left, and when the doors closed, she heard a faint click. Had he locked them? Her anxiety rose. She hopped over the glass and ran to the doors. Head cocked, she listened for his departure. When she was sure he was gone, she tried the doors. To her great relief, they were open. She slipped into the entry hall and dug in her pocket for the ring of keys. She ran to the towering doors, hands shaking. The largest key fit the lock, but as she turned, the papers in her bodice fell down through her dress and dropped to the floor.
She scrabbled to collect them. When she stood, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered furiously to Nab.
He put a finger to his lips and pointed nearly imperceptibly in the direction of her midsection, indicating an unseen danger behind her. With a thumping heart, she listened but heard nothing. She had to assume it was Bridgewater.
“Did he see the papers?” she mouthed.
“Undine?” Bridgewater said. “What are you doing?”
“I beg your pardon, milady,” Nab said loudly. “I should watch where I’m going.” He added under his breath, “Give them to me.”
“No.”
“Where did you get them?”
“The mural,” she whispered. “Hidden compartment.”
Bridgewater hurried toward them. “Why is the door open?”
She turned, keeping the papers and keys behind her. “I thought I heard a noise out here.”
Nab snatched the papers and keys from her hands and slipped into the dark beyond the door.
“He must have been singing to himself,” she said, battling to keep her voice light. “I thought I heard something and opened the front doors.”
“The doors were locked.”
“I’m afraid they weren’t. I think I alarmed the poor boy when I called him in. He dropped everything he was carrying.”
Bridgewater looked at the lock, then stared into the night. She could feel his uneasiness.
“We have a bigger concern,” he said. “The footman says Morebright has lost his keys.”
“Are they the only set?”
“That’s not the point. The point is he thought they were on his vest. But they were gone when he retired for the night.”
“Can we help him retrace his steps?”
“The footman’s doing that. What I’d like you to do is wait in your room.”
“For what?”
“I see no issue with this, Undine. It’s nearly one. Just take yourself to bed. Something may have been taken, and this way, you and I will be removed from the equation.”
“You mean I’ll be removed from the equation.”
Two footmen arrived with brooms.
“Please escort my wife to her room and wait outside,” Bridgewater said to them. “I’d like her to remain safely out of the way while the house is searched.”
The men put down the brooms and waited.
Bridgewater stood between her and door.
“Thank you,” she said, curtsying. “I’ll feel much safer with you there.”
She made her way to the stairs, footmen on her heels, and prayed Nab was already far, far from the house.