"What sort of errand?" she asked, her question coming out breathy from whatever Grant was doing with his hand not gripping the door.
"That's not your concern."
Sienna heard the rustle of the woman's skirt, then she whimpered.
"Now get back into my bed. I'll be along and take care of you shortly."
"Yes, sir," she answered.
The glow of the candle disappeared as he stood there and watched her go. He closed the door and turned to the duke.
"Give her a moment to get back to my chamber."
"Sylvia?" asked the duke, referring to the secret they'd all become privy to just now.
Grant seemed wholly unaffected about them witnessing his run-in with his lover. He simply shrugged and said, "She's pretty. And energetic."
"She's barely eighteen," retorted the duke.
Grant scoffed with a shake of the head. "She doesn't act like it. Not with that enthusiasm for-"
"Wait," said Nikolai. "Isn't Sylvia the name of the one who is friends with the nosy schoolteacher?"
"That she is," replied Grant.
"And you decided it wasn't important to let me know you're tupping a possible spy among my servants?" asked Friedrich.
"What better way to get close to a spy?" Grant replied with a mischievous smile.
"Enough," said Nikolai, noting once more that this servant didn't behave like a servant. "We need to move on."
"Right," replied Grant, opening the door and scouting for any other stragglers in the hallway.
When he deemed it safe, he waved them forward, and they continued on down a narrow spiral staircase. Nikolai kept hold of her hand, moving ahead of her. They came out on a small landing. One way led down another narrow corridor with several doors.
Grant mouthed servants' quarters, then he pointed in the opposite direction. The duke had already stepped ahead, leading them down a short hallway into a vast kitchen. Rounding a large butcher block table past a huge cast-iron stove, the likes of which Sienna had never seen, he led them down a dead-end hallway with several pantries. The duke stopped at the last door and ushered them inside.
Grant turned, shut the door, and slid a heavy bolt home, locking them in the pitch dark. Nikolai grabbed hold of her waist, suddenly on alert. A match sparked as Grant lit a torch he had apparently stashed off to the side.
The duke stepped toward Nikolai with a hand raised. "Relax, Nikolai. The counter-latch doesn't engage until this room is bolted shut."
"Come again," he said, his voice even, though his hands still gripped her in a tight vise.
Grant rolled his eyes on a sigh, another tell that this man wasn't a mere servant. "The lock spins a set of cogs embedded in the wall that run along there"-he pointed along the shelving and stopped on a narrow shelf loaded with sacks of flour and dry goods-"and sets the lock free there." He lit a handheld candle with his torch.
"Where?" asked Sienna, still confused.
The duke turned a charming smile on her that had surely lured many women to his bed, then gripped the edge of the shelf and pulled, sliding it open on a hinge to reveal an iron door behind it. With the turn of another latch, metallic clicks rolling one, two, three, four, five, then a pop and the door opened inward. The duke pulled it as wide as it would go, a gust of winter wind sweeping in and guttering the candle. Sienna sucked in a quick breath.
"After you, my lady," said the duke with a polite bow.
Grant handed her the candle and she moved forward into the tunnel. There was no light at all, but the biting air told her that it would open up to the outside. The candlelight threw long shadows along the cavernous wall, the stone uneven but smooth. Nikolai kept close to her back, giving her confidence to move swiftly through the dark until they rounded a small bend where she could see gray light up ahead. As they drew closer, the opening revealed itself as a very narrow crag where she had to turn sideways to squeeze through. Directly on the other side stood a thick grove of evergreens, casting ghostlike silhouettes against the moonlit sky.
The others followed quickly behind her. Grant stepped ahead and waved for them to follow. "This way."
"Your candle, my lady," said the duke, holding out a hand.
"Oh." She blew it out, for there was no need under such a bright night.
He placed the candlestick near the passage entrance and the three set off after Grant who had snuffed his torch. Winding through the thick trees, Sienna asked, "Are these evergreens native to this area? They grow so thick here."