Page 49 of His Sinful Touch

“Alex,” Sabrina said firmly. “I understand what you want to do, but I want to hear what they say. I have to know what’s happening.”

“Yes, I know, and I had a thought. That’s the reason for putting them in the formal drawing room.”

“Ha!” Con said gleefully. “Old Edric’s peephole!”

“Old who?” Sabrina asked as Lilah said, “What?”

“Edric Moreland, our great-grandfather. Or was it great-great? Anyway, the one who built this place,” Alex explained.

“The person who wanted the sultan’s room?” Sabrina asked.

“Exactly. He was a bit of a nutter, and he had this obsession that people talked about him behind his back.”

“Which they probably did,” Con added, “given that he was a bit of a nutter.”

“Edric had a small window put in the room that lies on the other side of the drawing room, with a decorative wooden screen to hide it. He used to sit in the other room and listen to what his guests said when he wasn’t around.”

“Our grandfather used to converse with callers from behind the screen, I’m told,” Theo added. “Because of his fear of getting sick. But no one’s used it in years.”

“We did,” Alex confessed, and Theo laughed.

“Of course you did.”

“But the conversation was always so deadly dull, we gave it up,” Con added.

“The point is...Sabrina and Miss Holcutt can sit there and see everything that transpires, and the Dearborns will never know you’re there,” Alex told her.

“Very well.” Sabrina nodded, giving in.

“Good. Then, Con, if you will escort the ladies to the viewing room, we can begin the show.”

* * *

SABRINA FOLLOWED ALEX’S twin down the hall, thinking guiltily that she should have insisted on being present at the meeting; no doubt someone like Megan or Kyria would have. But the truth was, she dreaded having to face the Dearborns, that little nasty feeling twisting through her as it had last night, the helpless awareness that she could not remember who they were or whether they were telling her the truth.

Unexpectedly, oddly, she remembered the dream she had tried so hard earlier to recall. Peter Dearborn had been in it. They had been standing together, and she had felt woozy and sick. It was hazy and vague and receding from her mind as suddenly as it had come. Holding on to the memory was like grabbing at fog.

Was this a memory from her past? Had it slipped into her mind when she was asleep? Or had she just dreamed about Peter because she had seen him last night? Whatever the reason, the thought of it brought a sick feeling to her stomach again. She swallowed hard and struggled to pay attention to Con and Lilah, who were walking in front of her and bickering.

Sabrina had the suspicion that bickering was the form of any conversation between Con and Lilah. She wondered if it would always be like this whenever Lilah and Con were with them. She realized, with a shock, that she was thinking of Alex and herself as being together. Having a future.

That was foolish. Beyond foolish. She was grateful when they reached their destination, distracting her from her wayward thoughts.

“This is it,” Con said in a low voice. “You’ll have to be quiet, for they will be able to hear you as well as you can hear them.”

He opened the door onto a small windowless room, dark except for the light filtering in through an intricate wooden screen on the opposite wall. It was easy to be quiet here, for there was a hushed, secretive quality about the place. Con led them to the screen, where a narrow wooden chair sat.

Con bent down and peered through the screen. “Good,” he said, still in a soft voice. “Phipps hasn’t put them in here yet. He will soon, though, so...” He held up his finger to his lips.

“We understand,” Lilah assured him.

“Mmm. I just wasn’t sure if you were able to refrain from talking.” He grinned at Lilah’s glare and crossed the room to pick up another chair and set it down beside the screen.

With a final wink, he left the room, and the two women sat down to wait. Nerves danced in Sabrina’s stomach. The very silence of the room was oppressive, so that when the door finally opened in the neighboring room, the crack made Sabrina jump. She and Lilah glanced at each other, then leaned forward to peer through the screen.

Niles and Peter Dearborn walked into the room and looked around them. Sabrina froze as Peter’s eyes turned toward her.

Chapter Seventeen