by Jane Charles
He stilled. “You knew about that?”
“Of course, dear. Pickmore told me. I advised against it, of course, but the two of you went ahead, molding Miss Doyle into a proper miss and presenting her to society, to fool them into thinking she was someone she wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he argued weakly.
“It wasn’t?” Her eyebrow lifted. “Then, how was it?”
Henry had no answer.
“You took her for granted. She allowed you to change her, then you dressed her up and took her to a ball, and for what?”
“She received her reward,” Henry argued.
“What? A necklace that was already hers by right? The very necklace that her brother stole from her, wagered and you won? She simply wanted back what was hers to begin with, but you made her earn it.”
When his mother put it that way and Henry reflected back on his time with Eve, he had to admit that she was correct. But Eve had gone along. She had agreed.
“What of affection? Caring?”
“Affection?” The idea was absurd.
Yet, it wasn’t.
“You care for her, Henry.”
“She’s my ward!”
“Not as a ward but as a miss.”
His mother was far too perceptive and Henry stalked across the room, putting his back to her.
“How affectionate have you been?”
“It’s not something a gentleman should discuss with his mother.”
At that his mother snorted. “Need I remind you that I’ve given birth to two sons? I am well versed in all manners of affection.”
Good God, he did not want to think about his mother even kissing anyone, let alone…
“Have you ruined her?”
He wheeled around and faced her, outrage flowing through his veins. “I most certainly have not.”
“Yet, you don’t deny affection.”
“I kissed her,” he finally admitted as he looked away.
“Then what happened?”
“I apologized.”
Then?”
“I promised that it would not happen again and set her from me.”
She pursed her lips as she nodded. “How long ago was that?”
“Two days before the ball.”
“And did everything return to normal following this moment?”
Blast, his face was heating.
“Ah, it didn’t. Why is that?”
“I believe she was avoiding me.” He reluctantly admitted. “In fact, Miss Doyle avoided the library and meals after.”
“After you kissed her and set her aside.”
“It wasn’t like that, I assure you.”
His mother raised that blasted eyebrow again. “You kissed her, apologized then insisted it would never happen again.”
“Exactly!”
“Then carried on as if nothing had occurred.”
“I tried! She’s the one who avoided me.” He wasn’t the one in the wrong here. It was Miss Doyle who wished not to have anything to do with him. She’d not only avoided him in the house, but then completely disappeared. “It would serve her right if I didn’t go look for her,” he finally said, glad for the anger.
“I agree. She’s better off without you.”
Henry blinked at his mother. “Without me? I’ve done everything for her.”
“It sounds to me as if she’s done everything for you. Yet you treated her as little more than a servant. Coupled with the fact that you kissed and then rejected her, I would have left you as well.”
All he could do was stare at her. His mother was taking Eve’s side. What happened to family loyalty and all of that rot?
“Admit it, Henry, you care for her.”
“Of course I do. She’s my ward.”
“No. You care for her as a man does a woman.” She took a sip of tea and smirked. “I daresay, you might even be in love.”
Henry tried to argue, but all he managed to do was sputter. Love? What nonsense. Of course he cared, but love? Not likely.
“Go find Miss Doyle. However, don’t do so unless you are prepared to get on your hands and knees and beg her forgiveness.”
“Me!” he demanded in outrage. “She’s the one who ran out on me.”
“Exactly.”
Irritated that he’d not found Eve and that his mother had no pity for his situation, Henry took his leave and returned home, hoping that one of his staff or Pickmore had learned of Eve’s whereabouts.
Instead, he found the Devils of Dalston gathered in his library.
Chapter 17
They’d all searched for Eve until it was late into the evening but none of them were able to find her, or even a clue as to where she’d disappeared to. Henry had gone to each of the coaching inns, but nobody had seen anyone matching her description. It didn’t help that he had no idea when she might have left. Pickmore, Ashford and Keegan tracked down the hackney drivers who usually frequented the area, but none of them had driven Eve anywhere. It was Darton who paid a call to Mr. Francis Hilliard, but he’d not seen Eve either, and promised not to breathe a word that she was missing. He further swore that he’d not tell his mother as she would gossip about the missing ward.
Clark, McNaught, Sellers and Lennox had combed Covent Gardens and the theatres, but she hadn’t returned there either.
Henry was at a loss, his panic not lessening. A person just didn’t disappear into thin air.
What if she hadn’t left on her own? What if someone had come in and taken her. Kidnapped her? There’d been a robbery a few doors down not long ago, except those thieves had taken relics. However, that didn’t mean those very thieves hadn’t decided to take up kidnapping as well. Except, all signs pointed to the fact that Eve had left on her own. Had someone taken her, she wouldn’t have been given time to pack all of her clothing.
That is what hurt the most. Eve had left him and an empty hole where his heart was supposed to be. And as much as Henry didn’t wish to evaluate his emotions in too much depth, he had to wonder if his mother was correct.
Could this be love? Is this what it felt like to lose someone of your heart?
Of course, he didn’t discuss his feelings with his fellow Devils. It just wasn’t something they did. However, having them here, searching, was a great comfort.
“I’ve returned, Lord Kilsyth,” Mrs. Peade announced as she stepped into the library. “Thank you for the day off and I hope there were no difficulties in my…” she trailed off as she took in the room. Mrs. Peade knew each of the Devils and what purpose they served, but this was the first time they’d all been gathered in his home at one time.
“Do you know where Miss Doyle has run off to?” Henry asked and prayed his housekeeper had a simple answer. He didn’t care if it was something so obvious that he’d find himself embarrassed for not thinking of it himself. He just wanted her back.
His housekeeper frowned. “Run off?”
“Yes, run off,” Henry barked, and immediately regretted his harsh tone. “When I rose this morning, I found that Miss Doyle had left. She packed all of her clothing and disappeared sometime after we all retired.”
Mrs. Peade’s mouth dropped open and Henry’s heart sank. His housekeeper had no answers either.
“I’m sorry, Lord Kilsyth. I don’t know where she’s gone.”
Henry scrubbed a hand over his face. “By chance has Jeffries returned?” He was the last servant to be questioned, but Henry doubted the butler had any further information. Even so, one never knew when someone had a bit of information that could lead to an answer.
“I believe he has also just returned,” Mrs. Peade answered.
“Have him sent to me.”
“Of course, Lord Kilsyth.”
“Did Miss Doyle say anything to you about leaving?”
She gasped. “I would have certainly told you if she had.”
It was as he had assumed. “Were you aware of anything that might have been bothering her? Had her brother tried to
contact her? Do you know of anything that might have caused her to leave?”
“I’m sorry, Lord Kilsyth, but Miss Doyle confided nothing to me, nor was she behaving oddly.”
Henry blew out a sigh. “Thank you, Mrs. Peade. Please send Jeffries to me.”
“Of course, Lord Kilsyth.” His housekeeper started for the door then stopped and turn. “Oh, I do hope you find her.”
“As do I, Mrs. Peade. As do I.”
Henry crossed to the sideboard and poured more brandy into his glass, racking his brain for any clue that Eve might have said during any discussion that could indicate where she might have gone.
“You wish to see me, Lord Kilsyth?” Jeffries asked from the entrance.
“I am assuming that you’ve learned that Miss Doyle has left with no clue as to where she’s gone.”
“I just learned.”
“Did she say anything to you about her destination?”
“No, Lord Kilsyth. The last time I saw her was after the ball, after an officer with the Thames River Police called. I left later that morning.”
“Thames River Police? When the blazes were they here and why didn’t you alert me?”
Jeffries frowned. “They knocked shortly after you retired. Miss Doyle was still in the library but she insisted that I not disturb you and that she’d tell you after you’d awakened.”
“As she was gone when I woke, why the blazes were the Thames River Police calling at my home and at such an ungodly hour?”
Jeffries gulped and took a step back.
“Well?” Henry demanded. Though he had no answer yet, he was certain that he now had the answer to why Eve had fled. He highly doubted she was wanted for any criminal activity, it was linked, somehow.
“Her brother, Lord Kilsyth,” Jeffries answered. “Bow Street suspected him of being one of the thieves that took the mummy and artifacts and gave chase. Mr. Doyle tried to outrun them but ended up tossing himself from the Westminster Bridge. Thames River Police came to inform Miss Doyle after they fished his body out of the Thames.”
All Henry could do was stare at his butler as he absorbed this new information. Rage engulfed him. “And you didn’t think I should be told immediately?” he bellowed.
Jeffries took another step back. “Miss Doyle insisted. I poured her a brandy and she said she wanted to be left alone and that she’d tell you in the morning.”
“You should have gotten me,” Henry yelled.
“Kilsyth,” Pickmore interrupted. “How could Jeffries have known that Miss Doyle would leave? Had she asked the same of me, I would have given her the peace to mourn as well and honored her wishes.”
“It was a devastating loss, no matter how poorly the man may have treated his sister, he was still her brother,” Kilsyth argued. “She shouldn’t have been left alone.”
Jeffries hung his head. “I apologize, Lord Kilsyth. I was only doing as Miss Doyle asked.”
Henry stared at the servant who had been with him for the past five years. Jeffries had never failed him and Miss Doyle had been in the household long enough that the servants followed her command as if it had come from Henry.
“I simply wish you would have told me. Please do not make the same mistake in the future. When something as important as the Thames River Police arriving on my door to report a death occurs, despite who the message is for, I demand to be told no matter what the hour.”
“Yes, of course, Lord Kilsyth. It was my mistake.”
It most certainly was, but Henry could hardly blame the man. Eve said she’d tell them in the morning and, of course, Jeffries trusted her word. But still, the servant should have realized that she shouldn’t have been left alone after hearing such devastating news.
“Did she happen to say what her plans were?”
“She told them to inform the coroner to give her brother a pauper’s grave because she couldn’t afford a proper burial. She then came in here. I stayed with her a few moments and poured her a brandy. That is when she asked to be alone.”
“You didn’t see her leave, hail a hackney or anything like that?”
“Of course not. Had she attempted to, I would have alerted you immediately.”
At least Jeffries would have shown sense in that instance, instead of when it failed him by leaving Eve alone to mourn her brother.
“Very well, you are dismissed.”
“Thank you, Lord Kilsyth. And, I am sorry. I will not make such a mistake in a future.”
“If you do, you’ll be sacked” he warned.
At that, the butler’s pallor paled.
Good. The servant needed to remember that Henry was the lord here and despite what Eve may have wanted, he was to be told everything that occurred beneath this roof.
“I say, Kilsyth, this may help in determining where she might have gone off to,” Pickmore said once Jeffries left and closed the door behind him.
“I believe I already know where she’s gone.” Henry took a deep drink of the brandy, irritated that he hadn’t considered the possibility already. “To her sister.”
“Sister?” Sellers asked. “You never mentioned a sister, just a wayward brother.”
“Her sister teaches at a girls’ school.” Henry pushed his fingers through his hair. “The Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies.” Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Why hadn’t he considered her sister before now?
“The school borders Norbright’s estate. I’ve met her sister.” Ashford muttered, drawing Kilsyth’s attention. “I just didn’t connect that the two Miss Doyles were related.”
“We leave now,” Henry announced. “I’ll not waste another moment before going after her.”
“We?” Pickmore questioned.
“Yes. You and me along with Ashford and Keegan. They know the way so I won’t lose time in searching the proper location, and you to talk sense into Miss Doyle if my reasoning should fail.” Henry strode for the entrance to the library. “Jeffries. Have my carriage brought around and tell my valet to pack for a trip and do the same for Pickmore. We are traveling to Cornwall.” Then he turned back to those gathered without waiting for a response. “Go ahead Ashford and Keegan, I’ll be around to fetch you as soon as we are ready to leave.”
The Devils just sat there staring at him.
“What?”
“We may have had other plans,” Keegan announced.
“Cancel them,” Henry barked.
“Perhaps you should consider asking,” Sellers offered dryly.
Bloody hell. Henry rubbed the bridge of his nose again. “I apologize, gentlemen. The disappearance of Miss Doyle has left me unusually distr...unbala...upset. I would greatly appreciate it if the three of you would accompany me on this journey in finding her.”
Slowly they all began to grin. It was Ashford who stood first. “Of course, I’ll go along, as well as Keegan. Far be it for us to stand in the way of love.”
“I assure you this is not love. She is my ward!”
“Of course, Kilsyth,” Keegan responded as he walked to the library entrance. “Our mistake.”
Keegan’s smirk betrayed his thoughts and the man didn’t believe he was mistaken. If Henry read the expressions of his fellow Devils, they also believed his concern to be more than simply worry about the location of his ward.
None of that mattered. It was something Henry didn’t have time to think about now, or explain. After he found Eve again, then he’d examine the reasons for his unusual behavior.
After hailing a hackney in the early morning hours, Eve had arrived at the coaching inn just in time to book passage on the first mail coach traveling toward Cornwall. Once she found her seat, which was thankfully not in the middle of two bodies, she tucked her reticule inside the folds of her pelisse and clutched it tight. Inside were what was left of her funds after paying passage and the necklace. Eve feared that if she fell asleep, she could be robbed. And, fall asleep she did.
Of course, Eve shouldn’t be surprised. She’d barely s
lept before the night of the ball and then last night, after they’d returned and she had learned the fate of her brother, Eve hadn’t slept at all. Instead, she’d packed her clothing and snuck out of Kilsyth’s townhouse hours before the sun rose.
All day she rode, exiting when they changed horses, then reclaimed her seat to sleep some more. In fact, Eve slept more than she had in the last week and didn’t know if it was from the rocking of the carriage, pure exhaustion or the pain at the loss of her brother and leaving Kilsyth behind for good that she tried desperately to bury. This was not a time to succumb to emotions and Eve feared that if she gave into her mourning, she’d cry all the way to Cornwall, surrounded only by strangers, and she couldn’t have that. Instead, she closed her eyes to avoid making conversation and tried to think of anything but what she’d lost.
Almost thirty-two hours after leaving London, Eve arrived in the village of Kirksbury. Despite the fact that she’d slept on the mail coach, she was still exhausted and her body ached. Yet, she’d not reached her destination. Now she must find the Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies.
After retrieving her satchel from the top of the coach, Eve was left on the walk as the mail coach drove onto the next destination. With a deep sigh, she did a turn, taking in the village when she spotted a tea shop. Once she enjoyed a bracing cup of tea and perhaps some sustenance, she’d continue on her journey and pray that it wasn’t so far.
Unfortunately, the tea room served only tea and breads, buns and sweets and after taking a seat at the only available table, she ordered tea alone and settled back to try and relax before she set out on her final trek to her sister.
Poor Cait, she wasn’t expecting Eve, but Eve desperately needed to see her sister. Needed her wisdom or maybe just to have her near. But Eve also prayed that her sister wasn’t punished by her employer when Eve showed up on the doorstep of the school without warning or invitation. Cait had only written the kindest things about Mrs. Wiggons so certainly, she’d understand. But what if Eve wasn’t allowed to remain and needed to return to town. Perhaps she should secure a room for the night to be assured that she’d have a place to sleep in the event Mrs. Wiggons did not allow her to stay?
