Page 111 of His Wicked Charm

“But we don’t know what it’s going to do. The consequences could be a great deal more than just leveling Barrow House.” Lilah asked, “What if it’s some sort of illness or evil that infects people? We can’t just let the world be exposed to it.”

“I’ve been thinking, too.” Con spoke up. “There are other ways to open a door. Dynamite, for instance.”

“Dynamite!” Lilah exclaimed. “You’re going to blow it up? That’s your solution? You’ll bring the house down around our ears.”

“Not necessarily. Con’s idea just might work.” Alex’s eyes started to gleam. “Blasts can be controlled. That’s rock beneath this house. If you had an expert, he could place it so that most of the damage would be to the door. Some of the wall around the door might crumble, but I don’t think it would harm Barrow House.”

“Besides—” Con took up the argument “—the Sanctuary isn’t below the house. The tunnel starts there, but I’m sure that the Sanctuary itself lies between the maze and the house. It’s open ground above it. Even if it caved in, it would only damage the lawn, not the house.”

“But what about this renewal we need to do?”

“If only the door is blown, you’ll be able to go in and perform whatever ceremony you need. I can’t help but wonder if your aunt is right and three women would be better, but if you’d rather go the route of descendants of the original men, we’ll get Peter. If his father is lurking around here, you know that Peter is, too.”

“But even if the house doesn’t collapse, it could cave in the Sanctuary,” Lilah pointed out.

Con shrugged. “Hopefully, if it’s destroyed, that would end the whole thing. The force would be buried where it couldn’t get out. This is just a last-gasp effort anyway. We’ll still look for the key. As Sabrina said, they can continue to come over and help us look.”

“I’ll track down Dearborn and Peter,” Alex offered. “Twist their arms to make them agree to the ceremony and bring out the other two keys. If nothing else, we know money will work on Niles Dearborn.”

“What if it is Sir Jasper who has the keys?” Sabrina asked. “He’s in London. Or maybe even Yorkshire.”

“Then we’ll have to rely on Con’s method.”

“So...” Con got up and paced about. “Here’s my plan—Alex and Sabrina will go to Carmoor tomorrow as planned and prepare to take in three houseguests. Alex will also hunt down Niles Dearborn and Peter. Lilah and I will go to Wells and get dynamite, as well as an expert to set it off. We’ll continue searching for the key in the meantime, but if we can’t find it, come Midsummer’s Eve, we’re going to blow the door in.”

CHAPTER FORTY

CON’S PLAN HAD not accounted for Lilah awakening the next morning with a pounding headache and a sore throat. The thought of going to Wells—indeed, of doing anything but spending the day in bed—did not appeal to her.

When she told Con, he said easily, “We’ll stay, then.” He sat down beside her, laying his hand on her forehead.

“No, that’s good of you to offer. But you should go to Wells without me. We don’t have time to waste. It’s only three days now.”

Con frowned. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone. Alex and Sabrina had already left when Cuddington told us you were ill, but I could send someone to fetch Sabrina back.”

“No. Let her enjoy setting up in her own home,” Lilah said. “And I’m not alone. Aunt Vesta is here.” Con’s lifted brow at that statement made her chuckle despite the way she felt. “Really, Cuddington will see to it that I’m all right. She’s bringing me some warm lemon and honey for my throat, and the cook is busy making up some noxious potion for my fever. I’ll just sleep. I’ll probably be feeling much better by the time you return.”

She did, in fact, spend the morning in bed after Con left, and when she awoke that afternoon, Lilah was feeling enough better that she dressed and went downstairs, thinking that she could at least be useful by searching for the key.

The house seemed very empty without Con. What would she do when he left? Lilah pushed that thought aside and sat down in the library. She should make up a list, she thought, of places her father might think she would look for a key.

Unfortunately, Aunt Vesta decided to keep her company. Her chatter was not conducive to thought, and after a time Lilah gave up on the list. Perhaps she had come downstairs too soon. She thought of going back to her room, but it seemed too much effort, so she sat down in one of the comfortable wingback chairs, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. Where would her father have hidden the key? What place did he think was special to her?

Aunt Vesta, of course, was quite capable of carrying on a conversation by herself. She ranged from her favorite cures for a sore throat to the wonders of the waters at Wiesbaden to Vesta’s own apparently dire case of fever when she was seven. “Father rode into Wells to fetch a better doctor, he was so worried—and he was not the sort of man to fret over every little case of sniffles or cut finger. Not like Virgil. Do you remember how frantic he was whenever you were ill?”

Lilah murmured noncommittally. Was her aunt right? Had her father worried over her every illness? Had those last years of living apart from him colored her memories?

“I remember when I had the measles,” Lilah said. “He gave me the dollhouse.” She smiled faintly. “It was supposed to be for my birthday, but he gave it to me early because I was bored with staying in bed.”

“Virgil was never good at keeping secrets.”

She had loved that dollhouse. It had been such a pretty, normal house, tidy and square in the Georgian style. Nothing at all like her own crazy, sprawling...

Lilah’s eyes flew open. “My dollhouse!” She jumped to her feet, startling her aunt.

“Lilah, dearest, whatever—”

But Lilah was already gone, running down the hall and up the stairs. She was charged with energy now, the lassitude of illness fleeing in the face of her excitement. How could she not have seen it? Her father’s letter had held a clue only Lilah would know. He hadn’t said Barrow House or my house or our house. His note had read “your house.”