Page 36 of Cocky August Rake
“A viewing slit.” Rose ran her fingertip along its edge. “It may be opened from the passage or closed from inside the room.”
Lord Reginald went very still beside her.
“So someone can watch?”
His voice had changed again. Only slightly. A deeper note beneath the businesslike question.
Rose’s thoughts scattered.
Because all at once, she was not imagining Nell standing protectively in the passage.
She was imagining him there.
Watching her.
She swallowed. “If the woman wishes it.” Taking a quick breath, Rose forced herself to continue. “If she does not wish to be visible to an observer, she can simply” —Rose snapped the slide shut— “close it.”
Lord Reginald said nothing.
Rose moved to the chaise. A silk tassel hung beside it, low enough to be reached without rising. She lifted it between two fingers.
“This pull summons one of the maids.”
Rose let the tassel fall.
Then she reached beneath the curved wooden arm of the chaise and found a second cord, hidden in shadow.
“This one is for trouble.”
His eyes narrowed. “Trouble.”
“One pull summons Nell—Mrs. Smith. Two brings Boris.” Her voice remained even.
His gaze moved toward the door.
“Exactly.”
Rose crossed to the window seat and pressed another hidden catch. A shallow drawer slid free beneath the cushioned bench.
Inside lay a short blackthorn club.
Lord Reginald grimaced. “That will not stop a determined man,” he said.
“No.” Rose closed the drawer. “But it may hold him off long enough for help to arrive.”
His face had gone unreadable again, though she thought she saw something troubled beneath it.
“Do you—” He cleared his throat. “Does it come out often?”
“The club?” Rose shook her head. “No. As I explained before, most patrons are well acquainted with the rules.” She gave the hidden drawer a small push until it disappeared beneath the window seat. “I have only ever had cause to use it twice.”
“Twice,” he repeated. “In how long?”
The question changed the air in the room.
Suddenly, they were no longer discussing the club, or Boris, or the measures in place at The Domus to keep its women safe.
They were discussing her.
