Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 45: Part 3- The Turning of the Key

(please be advised, this chapter has not been edited yet.)

Verushka found her way back to the grand ballroom, numb to the sound of the stringed instruments or the tinkling of champagne flutes toasting the night's success. The irksome shutting of a pantry door scraped closed in the corner of her mind, but it could be silenced. It was not good to dwell on sadness at the best of times and least of all when she had work to do.

She spotted the Duke of Wyvernstone talking to quite possibly the oldest man she had ever seen in her life and hovered silently at her brothers elbow.

"Verushka," Jay turned to her startled. "I wondered where you had gotten to. I hope you were able to mend your dress."

"What?" Verushka snorted and immediately remembered she had just spent a good deal of time in a cupboard with her affianced husband and then even longer in a kitchen with pantry maids. It would not do to give the ton something to gossip about when her position in society was so vital to her mission. "Oh, yes. The Duchess of Bexley was kind enough to lend me her ladies maid. But, I find that the events of the evening have quite worn me out. I have a slight headache and was hoping you would permit me to retire early tonight?"

"Of course," Jay agreed without even a glimmer of hesitation. "Let me escort you home. If you will excuse me, Baron Hindmarsh?"

The archaic baron nodded deeply, which to Verushka looked suspiciously like the first signs of sleep punctuated with slow blinks. It was just after midnight, early by ton standards to end a party but the baron certainly didn't look like he minded. She curtsied her thanks and took her brothers arm as they headed for the door. Custom dictated that they thank their hosts before departing but it seemed Jacob had been able to infer her need for an imminent departure.

The second the carriage door was closed and the cobblestones were crunching loudly beneath their wheels Jacob dispensed with his concern about her professed headache. "What on earth happened?"

That frustrating door in her mind blustered against its frames and Verushka forcibly snapped it shut and strengthened its locks. It should remain shut, just like the pantry and everything inside it.

"What did Cain do? I swear to God if he-."

"He didn't do anything, well nothing I didn't want him to," Verushka hastened to explain.

"Ugh." Jay looked as if he had swallowed a whole lemon. "Then why are we rushing away from your engagement party?"

"Because I think we have somewhere far more pressing to be."

"And where is that?" Jay narrowed his eyes.

"Houses of Parliament," she stated plainly.

To his credit, Jay who always received news of any kind with equanimity, raised a single brow. "Have you suddenly acquired a keen interest in politics?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Verushka snuffed. "I think I have figured out where this belongs." She pulled the set of keys from her pocket and turning back the ornate silver rod, presented him with the flat brass key.

Jay inspected it closely, sliding the metal between his fingers with careful consideration. "It's a key for a pin and tumbler lock. Quite well made if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes, Mina said as much." Verushka nodded.

"Mina?" Jay's head shot up.

"Oh, yeah." Verushka bit her lip. "She just likes locks and puzzles and things. Anyway, these keys were given to me by Bianca Rinehart. I had thought they led to the person who ordered the assassination attempt but I couldn't figure it out until now," she barrelled on keen to steer the topic away from her friend's involvement. "Cain said something to me tonight about servants' cupboards being the one place the ton won't go and I started wondering, what is the one place the Queen is not permitted in all of England?"