Page 74 of Lady Waldrey’s Gardening Almanac for Cultivating Scandal

“It’s iron links, all in a row. And you have to get the first ring down to the end without tangling it. Father sent for it from London when he ordered those garden books.”

Candace blinked in surprise and swiped tickling strands of hair from her face. James had told her the books were already in his library, but he’d ordered them specially from London? For her?

“I think he just wants time to figure it out himself,” Arthur continued, oblivious to the firecracker he’d just dropped into her mind. “I think he’s afraid I might figure out the puzzle before he does.”

“Really?” she asked, her mind still plucking through the idea that James had purchased multiple books to encourage her interest.

Such a gift wasn’t inexpensive, though she doubted one such as James would consider them more than a trifle, considering his wealth. Still, it was the thoughtfulness behind the gesture that affected her the most.

“Father doesn’t want to admit I’m better at puzzles than he is,” Arthur said, his tone nearly a normal volume.

“Is that so?” James boomed, and square of light lit upon them as a door was thrown open dramatically.

Candace screamed in sudden fright, then pressed a hand to her racing heart. In crawling so far, they’d accidentally hunkered down directly in front of the second door. In essence, in trying to get to the back of one closet, they’d crawled right to the front of the other.

James offered a hand. “Are you quite all right?”

His words were all that was gracious, but his tone held barely restrained laughter. Candace allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“You frightened me,” she said stiffly.

Arthur came to his feet and frowned up at her. “What’s on your head?”

Candace’s spine stiffened, her eyes wide at the thought of spiders or mice. She reached up tentatively to find out what the matter was, but James frowned down at his son.

“It’s her hair,” he said.

Candace’s fingers prodded the mess that used to be her coiffure. It now felt as if it resembled a bird’s nest. Based on the state of it, she might have preferred to find the aforementioned mouse. She began yanking out pins to try to set it to rights.

“Who did you find first?” Arthur asked, oblivious to her embarrassment. “Who’s the seeker?”

“I heard you through the door, bragging about your puzzle skills, so I suppose it’s you.”

Even with her mouth full of pins while raking her fingers hastily through her hair, Candace couldn’t help but see the flash of trepidation on the boy’s face.

“We were a team in hiding; we’ll seek together,” she mumbled around the pins. “It’s only fair.”

“Don’t forget Seamus! There will be three of us.”

“Yes, perhaps Seamus will sniff people out.” Candace looked uncertainly behind her.

Seamus had nuzzled his face into a coat fallen from one of the hangers. A gentle snore wheezed through his muzzle.

“Only if someone’s stuffed their pockets full of sausages,” James teased. “Arthur, you go ahead and call everyone out of their hiding places.”

“What do I say?”

“All ye, all ye, come in free.”

“Very well.” Arthur scampered from the room.

Rousted by the sudden activity, Seamus woke and hefted himself up, trotting after. Candace had located a small convex mirror tacked to the wall above an unlit sconce and was repinning her hair into a plain low bun as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the elaborate confection that Hortense had designed that morning, but it was secure and tidy, and would suffice.

When she turned, it was to find James studying her, something like affection in his gaze. Her heart tripped and tumbled, and she gave a wide smile to cover the emotion.

“What are the odds that you would find us first?”

“Very good, considering I wasn’t about to climb the stairs.”