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Finally, Baines and Judith were alone. He turned towards her.

“Have you the slightest notion what you have put me through?”

Judith blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“I have spent the better part of the morning searching a house large enough to conceal a regiment, while every servant assured me that you were undoubtedly attending to some domestic matter. I discovered that no one had seen you since yesterday evening, that you had left no message, and that a person who wished to implicate you in treason remained at liberty beneath this roof.”

“I did see Miss Hammond.”

He looked heavenward. “Indeed.”

Her eyes flashed. “I discovered the traitor.”

“Yes, you did—and then you confronted her alone.”

“I did not seek a confrontation. She discovered me while I was examining the book.”

“In a deserted room, beyond a passage which no one uses, without informing another living soul where you had gone.”

Judith opened her mouth, then closed it.

Baines pressed his advantage. “You knew someone intended to use your correspondence against you. You knew Mallory had been employed to gather information. You knew the conspirators possessed access to the concealed passages. You knew all of this and yet you chose to pursue your suspicions without assistance.”

“I had every intention of sending for you.”

“When?”

“As soon as I had sufficient evidence.”

“I cannot bear to consider the result if Lady Dunsmore had decided that locking you in a cupboard was insufficient.”

Judith’s expression changed.

He regretted the admission immediately, but the fear which had sustained him throughout the morning had not yet relinquished its hold. “She might have killed you,” he said quietly.

The words settled between them.

Judith lowered her gaze. “I know.”

Baines drew a slow breath. “I do not think you understand.”

“I understand perfectly well. I was frightened, Basil. When she closed that door, I had no idea whether or not anyone would find me.”

His anger faltered.

Judith looked up. “I thought of you.”

He stood motionless.

“I thought of how furious you would be when you discovered what I had done,” she continued, attempting a smile. “I imagined the lecture you would deliver, and I decided that if I were fortunate enough to hear it, I should endure every word without complaint.”

“Your present conduct suggests otherwise.”

“I had not anticipated that you would be quite so thorough.”

Despite himself, he laughed.

Judith stepped closer. “I am sorry I frightened you.”