by Fanny Finch
The Duke of Lox nodded and waved for her to leave the room. “Tell her I will be down shortly.”
The only woman the Duke of Lox thought might come at this hour to speak to him was Emma. Perhaps Camilla. Lady Christian would not dare to wake him up unless it was a true emergency. He ran through the other women he thought might come asking for his aide but could think of none that he would suspect of doing such a thing.
He dressed quickly and pulled a brush through his hair. Before he left the room, he splashed water on his face and dried it with a towel. It would help make him more alert and awake. He would have been up in a few hours anyway.
He took the stairs down to the foyer and stopped at the last step, staring at the young woman in surprise. It was not Emma or Camilla. It was someone he did not expect at all.
It was Katherine Wentworth. He looked at her with concern on his face.
“Miss Katherine! What on earth are you doing here at this time of the morning?”
Katherine took a step toward him. Her face was in distress, just as Helga had said.
“My lord, I am so afraid. I am so afraid.” She lifted her hands and covered her face, breathing heavily.
The Duke of Lox walked to her and placed both his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her.
“Miss Katherine, have you come here alone?”
Katherine nodded without taking her hands from her face. The Duke of Lox was immediately worried about the girl’s reputation. He looked around for Helga. She was standing by the foyer door, staring at the ground.
“Helga, wake Christian. Tell him to come down to the parlor immediately.”
“Yes, my lord.” The woman went directly to the stairs and started up.
“Come with me, Miss Katherine.” The Duke of Lox gently turned Katherine toward one of the sets of double doors and went to it, opening it for her. “Sit down. I will have some tea brought in. Have you had breakfast?”
Katherine nodded. “Yes, my lord, I ate breakfast at home before I left.”
“It is very early, Miss Katherine. Why are you venturing out on your own so early in the morning? Has something happened?”
“I… I do not know, my lord. That is why I am here. I am afraid. I believe something has happened to Emma!”
The Duke of Lox pulled in a sharp breath. He remained standing when Katherine dropped into a large chair. She leaned forward, still covering her face with her hands.
“Do not despair, Miss Katherine. Tell me what has happened. Wait…” Before she could speak, he lifted one hand. “We must wait for the Duke of Rabney. Is Lady Fielding all right?”
Katherine nodded, removing her hands from her face but staring down at them when she balled them up in her lap. “I… I think she is. I… I am only concerned about Emma… oh, my lord, I do believe she has been harmed.”
“Who would do such a thing?” He shook his head, holding his hand up again. “Hold your thoughts. I will get you some tea.”
He stood up and went to the counter that ran along one side of the parlor. He reached up and pulled a cord to notify the scullery maid or the cook. It was only moments before the young woman appeared, having come directly up the steps from the kitchen in the lower part of the house.
“My lord?” The girl looked at him curiously. He could tell she was wondering what was going on. He would not provide gossip for her.
“Fetch Miss Katherine some tea, Minnie. And bring some for myself and the Duke of Rabney, as well.”
Minnie nodded. “Yes, my lord.” She turned and went back down the steps, closing the door behind her.
The Duke of Lox went to a side table by the doors they had come in and opened a drawer. He removed a soft handkerchief from it and returned to Miss Katherine with it.
“I can see you are trying not to cry, my dear. You must be quite concerned about your sister.”
Katherine nodded vigorously. “I am. Oh, your grace, I do not know what to do or how to feel. I am so afraid for her. I just know something terrible has happened to her.”
The thought that Emma was in danger and he knew nothing about it made the Duke of Lox feel nauseous. He sat in a chair near Katherine, staring at her, wishing the Duke of Rabney would hurry up. Just as he was thinking it, his friend appeared at the door, staring at Katherine with wide eyes.
“Miss Katherine!” he stated in a tone eerily similar to the one the Duke of Lox had used. “What is going on?”
“Come in, Christian,” the Duke of Lox said, leaning forward and waving his friend in. “There appears to be trouble.” He turned back to Katherine. “Tell us now, Miss Katherine. What has happened to Lady Wentworth?”
“Something has happened to Lady Wentworth?” the Duke of Rabney spat out the words before Katherine could explain. “Is Lady Fielding in danger?”
Katherine looked at the Duke of Rabney through teary eyes as he approached with concern in his eyes. “No, my lord. She was fine when I saw her this morning. I… I went to Emma’s room to see if she wanted to go to London with me today to purchase a new gown. Mother said a few days ago that I could get one. But Emma was not in her room. I went to Camilla’s and she was still sleeping. I found Gertrude and asked her where Emma and my mother were because Mother was also gone. She said they had gone shopping in London early.”
The Duke of Lox blinked at the young woman, eventually turning his eyes to the Duke of Rabney to see what he thought of that explanation for Miss Katherine’s arrival. Both men looked at Katherine with curious looks.
“Why do you suspect that might not be what happened?” the Duke of Lox asked her.
Katherine shook her head. “My lord, Mother and Emma have not been getting along since… since you came into her life. Mother is determined to have Emma wed to Lord Carne. I know she is.”
“How can you be so confident?” the Duke of Rabney asked as he sat down in a chair facing both the Duke of Lox and Katherine. “Perhaps that is exactly what happened.”
Katherine shook her head even more violently. “No, no! Emma would not go without Camilla or without telling someone else. Her bedsheets were messed in a way I have never seen. As if… as if someone dragged her from her bed.”
A chill ran through the Duke of Lox. He stood up in his anxiety and began to pace, thinking about the situation. “Why would Gertrude tell you she was gone to London with the duchess if that is not in fact what happened?”
Katherine lifted tear-filled eyes to him. “I am afraid, my lord, that my mother told her to say that.”
The Duke of Lox stopped pacing and stared at the young woman. Before he could speak, the Duke of Rabney stated in a calm voice, “Do you realize what you are saying, Miss Katherine?”
Katherine nodded without vocalizing her feelings.
“This is a very serious accusation to level against your own mother.” The Duke of Lox sat back down again, his heart pounding in his chest. Would a mother truly take a child away from the family home and hide her away just so that she would be forced to marry another man? It seemed so unlikely.
“I realize that,” Katherine said in a desperate voice. “But I have thought about it and I cannot come up with any other reason for the state of Emma’s bedroom and the fact that she did not speak of her intentions to leave to anyone. It is not like Emma to do that. She always tells Camilla where she is going, if her cousin is there. And Camilla stayed last night.”
The Duke of Lox looked at the Duke of Rabney. “I thought something was odd when the ladies did not stay up to say goodnight to us.”
The Duke of Rabney nodded. “Yes, I agree with you, Baldwin. Though it was very late.”
The Duke of Lox returned his eyes to Katherine. “What do you suspect happened to Lady Wentworth, Miss Katherine?”
Katherine shook her head, reaching up with the handkerchief to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I do not know, my lord! That is what is troubling me! I cannot fathom where Mother might have taken her!”
“Corning Manor is a big place. Perhaps she i
s being held there, in a private room or suite.” The Duke of Lox looked at his friend approvingly.
“That sounds possible,” he said.
Katherine shook her head. “No, I do not believe she is still in the house. I believe she has been taken from the house.”
“Why do you feel this way?” The Duke of Lox was on his feet again, his mind racing as fast as his heart. “Surely the duchess would not hurt Lady Wentworth.”
“I do not know. I just do not know.” Katherine began to sob, holding the handkerchief over her face. She spoke in spurted breaths. “I fear something has happened to Emma. My mother can be very headstrong. I heard her discussing the marriage arrangement with Lord Carne and they were not kind to Emma. They do not care if she is happy. They only want her to do what they want her to do. My mother expects the duke to die very soon. If she has taken Emma away from Corning Manor, her father may die without her presence, without knowing. I do not know if he can hold on that long, my lords, and we must find her and return her to Corning Manor so that she is with her father when he passes. I cannot bear the thought of Emma not seeing her father until he is already gone. She should be sitting in his room right now, spending the last moments he has with her. She is his only daughter. He should not be without her.”
Chapter 35
Emma sat on the ledge, looking down at the green grass below, wishing she was free to leave the castle. She had not realized how precious her freedom was until it was taken from her. She had thought the three days she spent in isolation in Corning Manor was bad. But it was not nearly as bad as being locked away in a tower, kept away from everyone she loved.
The sun was reaching up into the sky. It was one of the bright sunny days of England. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. She wondered what her friends and family were doing. Did they know she had been taken? Surely, someone would think to check on her. Especially if her step-mother had returned to Corning Manor. What excuse could she have given that would not raise suspicion?
She could not have returned without Emma. Someone would say something. Camilla. The Duke of Lox. Someone.
She did not know how they would find her, even if they were looking. She did not know where she was. How would they know?
She tried not to feel distraught by her situation. No matter what happened, she would be all right. Her step-mother’s threat of “punishment” meant very little to her. After all, a life with Lord Carne would be punishment enough. She could jump from the window at that very moment and it would be better than living her life with Lord Carne.
But Emma was not a stupid woman. She was confident the Duke of Lox would find her. She was not about to take her life to avoid Lord Carne. He certainly was not worth that price. She looked out over the trees and the rolling hills around her. Winter was coming but the grass below the castle tower was still as green as ever.
The door opening behind her made her turn her head and look to see who was entering. Whoever the duchess had sent to pick up her tray had not come yet. She wanted to see who was going along with the duchess in her scheme. It could not be one of the servants from Corning Manor. They were loyal to Emma. Most of them had been with the family for many years.
It was not a servant.
It was Lord Carne.
He grinned wide at her. “Good morning, Lady Wentworth.”
She did not smile back. She moved from the window ledge. She would not give him an opportunity to push her over when she rebuffed his advances. “Is it still morning?” was all she could say.
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Emma immediately felt unsafe. No gentleman would allow himself to be in a room alone with a lady. She crossed to the chair by the bed nervously.
“It will be morning for another hour, my lady,” he replied, still smiling.
She shook her head. “Why are you doing this, Lord Carne? You must know I am not willing to marry you. I will never want to marry you. I will never love you.”
“You will learn to love me, Lady Wentworth, I promise you.”
Emma grunted. “Your promises mean nothing to me. You will have much to deal with when my father and the Duke of Lox find out what you have done. Do you not realize what a position you have put yourself in? You will not escape from this.”
“I have no need to escape. I have what I want already here.”
“They will come looking for me,” Emma insisted. “You know they will.”
She did not like the look on Lord Carne’s face. He was too smug. She wondered how far away from her home he had taken her. Fear slipped through her but she pushed it away. She could not let Lord Carne know she was intimidated by him.
“As I said before, they can look all they want. They will not find you here.”
He stepped closer to Emma but did not come close enough to touch her. After having successfully kidnapped her, she did not know whether he would go even further with his ungentlemanly behavior. She braced for it but he did not come any closer.
“You must realize I am only doing what needs to be done,” Lord Carne said, leaning against the canopy bed pole, his eyes directly on her. She gazed back at him with confusion.
“Whatever do you mean?”
Lord Carne sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She watched him, thinking he had a strange look on his face. He had looked so smug before. Now he looked almost sympathetic, as if there was something he should be sympathetic about. He leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him with his elbows on his knees.
“I care a great deal about you, Lady Wentworth. And the Duchess of Corning has told me all about your situation. She is very worried about you. And so am I.”
Emma frowned in confusion. She could not think what the Duchess of Corning or Lord Carne could be worried about. “I do not understand,” she said quietly. “What is Mother worried about?”
Lord Carne did not immediately answer. He was still giving her that sympathetic look, as if she simply did not realize how she was being hurt. Her heartbeat sped up as several different theories ran through her mind.
Had her mother told him she was ill? That she was going to be sent away after her father died? What could she possibly have told him that would make it imperative for him to hide her away from the world and keep her from the ones she loved?
“The duchess said you would deny it. But you do not need to with me. I will care for you as a gentleman should. You do not have to worry yourself.”
“I am not worried about anything,” Emma protested. “I have nothing to worry about… except you… and Mother. I still do not understand why you are worried about me.”
“I just want to keep you safe from harm, Lady Wentworth. That is all I hold dear.”
Emma shook her head. “I am afraid you know more than I do about my own situation. I do wish you would inform me what you are talking about.”
“I am talking about the Duke of Lox, my lady.”
His words took her completely by surprise. She frowned deeper. “What do you mean?”
Lord Carne pulled in a breath, looking like he did not want to speak the words aloud. “He has a reputation for being a cad. I want to spare you from any humiliation he might cause you.”
Emma felt a sharp pain in her chest. This had to do with the Duke of Lox? How could it be? She thought back as her reservations about the man flooded her mind. Had she been right all along? She knew nothing about his reputation, other than what the Duke of Rabney had passed on to Camilla and Camilla passed on to Emma.
“I am so confused.” She regretted her tone of voice. Pain and embarrassment split through her. “How do you know this is true? What has been said about him?”
“I only know what the duchess has told me, my lady. She said that where he comes from, he has been seen with many different women, all claiming to be courting him, apparently at the same time. He has multiple women in different areas of London and living out in the country and he visits them frequently.”
“That does not make sen
se,” Emma said. “He has been here in our part of London all season. He…”
“Just because you do not see him with the women he is purported to have been with does not mean it did not happen.”
“And just because you say he was seen with them does not make it true,” Emma countered.
Lord Carne raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying your mother is a liar?”
Emma did not know how to answer that. She suspected that the Duchess of Corning had indeed lied to Lord Carne but she also could not deny her initial suspicions about the Duke of Lox. She had convinced herself that he had just used the wrong words and had not given her the best of first impressions.
But it was too late for Emma to turn back. She had decided she loved the Duke of Lox and would not be able to come back from that. When she pictured him in her mind, it made her body flood with a warm, pleasant feeling she wanted to feel for the rest of her life.
