Discovering Miss Dalrymple
September 11th, 1814
Dorsetshire
Alexander St. Clare, seventh Duke of Vickery, found his father’s diaries by accident. He was working at the massive oak desk in the study, reading through the latest report from the bailiff on his Lincolnshire estate and jotting down notes, when the tip of the quill split.
“Drain the north paddock,” he muttered under his breath, while he opened the top drawer of the desk and searched for a penknife. The penknife was at the very back of the drawer. Alexander groped for it, banged his knuckles against wood—and then the wood yielded and the penknife skittered out of reach, deeper into the desk.
Damn. He’d broken the drawer.
Alexander carefully removed it—and discovered that the drawer wasn’t broken at all; the back was hinged,
