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I snorted and sat up. “I’m still getting used to that, but I’ll get the hang of it soon. And speaking of the world, we’re going to the Gottspake you spoke about earlier?”
He nodded. “She should have the answers to the card riddle.”
We rolled along and I was glad when the road became less bumpy. Indeed, the thoroughfare changed to a paved road as smooth as silk and the houses improved. They resembledthe elegant manor homes that surrounded Torch’s abode but with even larger and grander lawns. Some even had orchards attached to their property.
We rolled up to an elegant wrought-iron double gate with two large stone pillars on either side. A man stepped out of the gatehouse and eyed us with a sharp look. “What’s wanted?”
Raines used his reins to tap the side of the carriage where Will’s crest was visible. “My master wishes to see Lady Gottspake.”
The gatekeeper squinted at the crest and studied the marking. “Wait a moment,” he growled before he slipped back into his little hut. A moment later he stalked out and unlocked the heavy chain. “She says you can come in,” he announced as he opened the pair of gates.
Will lifted an eyebrow as we rolled past the man. “I’ve never known her to have a chain on her gate.”
“Maybe she’s been having trouble with burglars?” I suggested.
His eyebrows crashed down. “If that were true then they would have been very bold to do so.”
Something in his voice caught my attention. “Like the Agency?”
“We shall find out.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
We rolleddown the short gravel drive to the circle that ran in front of the stately manor house. The abode of Lady Gottspake featured three floors with large, tall windows that looked out on a wide porch. Pillars held up the roof over the porch and provided some cover from the sun. We stepped out of the carriage and walked up the short flight of ten-foot-wide steps.
The door opened and a man in a well-tailors servant’s suit stood before us. He stepped aside and bowed low at the waist. “Welcome, Lord Thorn. Lady Thorn.” I lifted an eyebrow as we slipped past the servant.
The interior of the home was not the opulence I expected from the outside. The walls were wood boards stained a heavy black with a thick shine on them. The floors were gray marble and black curtains hung over the wings to our left and right. Niches in the walls held plaster heads and all the faces featured people with closed eyes. A wide staircase curved up to the second floor and disappeared into the ceiling. The rear of the home was accessed via a long hall straight down the middle that was enshrined with shadow.
“News travels fast,” Will commented to our guide.
The servant closed the door behind us and stepped up to our side. “It does, My Lord. If you will wait a moment, Her Ladyship is finishing her breakfast.”
“At this hour?” I blurted out.
The man cracked a smile. “Her Ladyship is accustomed to late nights and late mornings. If you will excuse me.” He disappeared up the stairs.
I was struck by a cool chill that brushed against my arms and raised the hairs. Will wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me close against his side. I looked up at him and found him smiling down at me. “There’s nothing to worry about. The decor is from the family of her late husband.”
“The Lord Gottspake?” I guessed.
He shook his head. “Her ladyship was inherited from her family. She married a man with no title but with a great deal of wealth and they lived very happily until his death some ten years ago.”
“Her husband’s family had some interesting decor choices,” I mused.
Will chuckled. “They were in the mortuary business. The curtains and wood advertised their goods.”
The color drained from my face as I nodded at the plaster heads. “Then those are-?”
“The faces of some of their more illustrious clients.”
“That’s. . .different.”
“One would have to be different to marry someone of the Gottspake family.”
“I heard that.”
The voice came from the stairs and we looked up in time to watch a woman of seventy stroll down the stairs. The woman had short black hair, the ends of which curled under her chin. Her skin was as pale as snow and she had a pair of bright blue eyes. She wore a long black dress that trailed behind her and along pair of gloves stretched from the tips of her fingers up past her elbows. Her attire showed off some ample cleavage.
