A Passion For Pleasure by Nina Rowan

Author:Nina Rowan [Rowan, Nina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), Romance
ISBN: 9781455509560
Google: OoAJWypPJ38C
Amazon: B0092XHWQG
Barnesnoble: B0092XHWQG
Goodreads: 16076076
Publisher: Forever
Published: 2013-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The inner alphabet on the cipher disk contains the original twenty-six letters,” Granville explained, pulling a stool up to the table in the museum’s studio. “And the exterior contains twenty-six numbers as well, plus the integers two through eight inclusive, for a total of thirty-three.”

“So the openings on this plate”—Darius tapped his finger on the drawing of a brass disk—“align both the plaintext and the ciphertext equivalents.”

“And the gears inside the box rotate the disks,” Granville said.

Both men peered at the diagrams as if they were maps to a hidden treasure.

Clara smiled slightly at the sight of them, furrows of concentration lining their foreheads. Though Darius needed the funds of a patron before constructing the machine and presenting it to the Home Office committee, he had enlisted Uncle Granville’s help in translating the diagrams. The men had spent all their time studying the plans in the two days since Clara and Sebastian’s wedding.

“The alphabet code is very precise,” Granville explained. “And it requires a different key word for each correspondent. Wait a moment. Let me get the notes I made about Monsieur Dupree’s calculations and we can see if they work.”

He left to return to his workshop. In the ensuing silence, Clara remembered Sebastian’s words, his declaration of love that wound through her like bright ribbons. Oh, how desperately she wanted to return the avowal, to admit to all the feelings that had been locked inside her for so many years—her youthful adoration now flourishing into a brilliant, richly complex love that both thrilled and frightened her. A love she could not yet acknowledge.

A shuddering breath escaped her. She looked at Darius, who was watching her across the misty sunlight. A hint of sympathy eased the impassivity of his features.

Clara swallowed and placed her sewing on a nearby table.

“Did Sebastian tell you about my son?” she asked.

Darius nodded. “He will help you in whatever way he can.”

“He already has.” A touch of nervousness wound through her. “Were you terribly shocked when he told you of our agreement?”

“No, because I know my brothers.” Darius rubbed a hand across his hair and studied the notebook in front of him. Behind his glasses, his eyes took on a distant cast. “Sebastian is not like Alexander or Nicholas. Or me, for that matter. Alexander forces things to fit the way he wants them to. Nicholas breaks them, if need be.”

“And you?” Clara asked.

Darius shrugged and leaned forward to make a notation on a page. “Sebastian is more…surreptitious,” he continued. “He used to merely charm people into doing what he wanted, but now it seems he needs to find a different approach. And he will find it, Clara, make no mistake. Loyalty is his greatest strength.”

A smile tugged at her mouth. “And his greatest weakness?”

“The same.”

“Why?”

He put the pencil down, a frown etched on his brow. “Because he sometimes finds it necessary to lie in order to protect those he loves.”

Clara knew he spoke of the way Sebastian had kept secret the infirmity of his hand, which Darius must have sensed even if he didn’t know the full truth.

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