Timeless Desire by Gwyn Cready Read Free Book Online

her wonder if it was a Gutenberg.
    But she didn’t stop to admire any of them, for while she was not exactly sure what she was looking for, she knew for certain the item did not come bound in leather.
    She could feel the energy in the room shift and change as Bridgewater followed her with his eyes, and she wondered if she might even use that to help her identify what she was looking for. She reached the table at which he sat when the empty soup bowl caught her attention.
    Scratched into the bottom were the words “They know.”
    The pause in her step nearly gave her away, and he regarded her closely, but she managed to keep her attention on the bookcase in front of her.
    “Your collection certainly reflects a wide range of interests,” she said, pulling the first thing out of the air she could think of while wondering about the message in the bowl. Who knew? The army? And what did they know? Reeves was obviously a well-trained and loyal servant.
    “Thank you,” he said. “I was lucky to have a very fine tutor.”
    She wondered if he was collaborating with the Scots, just as he’d been accused of. Of course, with the perspective of three hundred extra years, she knew the Scots would lose their independence to England and not gain it back completely even in her time. Were their struggles to remain free any less honorable than the struggles American colonists would be fighting three quarters of a century from now? Of course, in the eyes of a ruling power, a group fighting for its freedom looks both traitorous and dangerous.
    “Your father must be very proud.”
    At the mention of his father, Bridgewater’s expression hardened. She could see him wrestling with a response. “My father and I are not close.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “It has been a great loss for me. Perhaps not as much for him.”
    “Oh, I’m sure it is a great loss for him,” she protested, though the look on Bridgewater’s face said otherwise. “Charlie’s father—Charlie was my husband—wasn’t an easy person to get along with. Charlie’s older brother really resented it, and they were estranged. They ended up reconciling when Charlie’s father became ill. Charlie’s father always said the thing he regretted most in life was not doing what he needed to do to have his son in his life.”
    Bridgewater shifted his weight from one foot to the other. She could see the enormous pain in his eyes.
    “I think perhaps the situation with my father is different.”
    “Don’t give up hope,” she said. “There’s always a chance people can mend their ways.”
    He bowed. “I will do my best.”
    She thought it best to let the subject drop and returned to her examination of the bookcases. A telltale flash of silver caught her eye.
    The hinges were difficult to see—someone had attempted to camouflage them with brown paint—but a few scratches exposed the metal beneath. Her eyes followed the vertical line separating metal and wood upward to where it met another line running horizontally the length of the bookcase. About four feet below where that line ended, she saw a slight impression. She slipped her fingers in and slowly swung the heavy, book-filled door open.
    A hand pressed it closed with a soft but definitive click.
    “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”
    Bridgewater had appeared at her side without a sound, and the pain in his eyes had been displaced by something colder.
    “Oh.” The change in him disorientated her, and she found herself edging backward, clutching her brandy.
    “I would appreciate if you took care not to mention the door to anyone.”
    “Of course.”
    He searched her eyes, evidently taking a measure of her trustworthiness. “If you cross me, you will suffer for it.”
    “I won’t. I told you I won’t.”
    She fought the trembling that had overtaken her knees, and his hardness abated a degree.
    “I beg your pardon,” he said after a long moment. “You have been most kind. But a man cannot trust