Chapter Twenty
Nathaniel could hardly contain himself as he snapped the reins of his uncle’s carriage. He was on his way to see Kitty. To collect her for the magazine assignment, but his foremost reason was something that would change their lives.
If she said yes.
Doubts slithered in. What if she didn’t? Told him no? That she loved Stratford?
Stop the negative musings… If he progressed with that attitude, she surely would refuse him. It was his deepest hope that when he finished professing his love and admiration for her, she’d see him for who he truly was — not a rake, but a warm, caring man who wanted nothing more than to make her his wife. Forever.
As he steered the horses to the Sullyard’s house, his heart danced in his chest. It was his chance to finally find some happiness. Not be second best to his cousin. Could he convince Kitty he was the better choice?
Time to find out.
He slowed the carriage, tied the reins to a nearby post, and climbed down. As he walked purposefully to the door, he wondered if Kitty was watching out the window. It seemed she usually was when she was expecting someone to fetch her for an assignment. His intention was to ask the sleepy aunt to give them a moment of privacy so he could ask Kitty the important question that longed even at the second to spring from his lips.
With a grin, he knocked on the door.
It immediately flung open. His smile fell.
Not Kitty.
Both Lydia and Patience stood there. Eyes red. Had they been crying?
“Oh, thank goodness it’s you.” Lydia reached out and grabbed him by the hand, yanking him inside the house. What in the world was she doing?
Patience flung herself into his arms. “It’s the most dreadful thing ever to happen.”
“What…”
Lydia pulled him farther into the room and all but pushed him onto a nearby settee.
Nathaniel peered up at Patience, then Lydia. “I say… what’s all this about? I’ve only come to collect Kitty.”
“She’s not here.” Patience sniffed and dabbed her nose with a handkerchief.
Nathaniel’s hand fisted in his lap. Had that letch Stratford done it again? Gotten to the house for Kitty before he could arrive? He stood, forcing the young women to take a collective step back. “Never you mind. I know where her assignment is to be. How long ago did my cousin come and get her?”
Lydia shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. He didn’t come for her.”
“How do you know?”
“Patience paid a young man who’s a messenger to go and see if she was with him. Stratford’s reply was that he hadn’t seen her since the four of you were last at the stream.”
“Then where—”
Lydia grabbed his hand. “There’s something you must see.”
Nathaniel was yanked forward and unceremoniously pulled back outside and around to the back of the house.
“Where are we going?”
“Just come along.” Lydia didn’t release his hand. To his embarrassment, Patience took hold of his other hand and pulled him even harder. Had Kitty’s sisters lost their minds?
As they neared an old shed, Nathaniel frowned. He couldn’t imagine any reason at all why they’d want him to see something like that. He slipped his hands from theirs as gently as he could when they finally stopped. “Listen, I can see something has upset you both and I’d love to help, but I’m really just looking for Kitty.”
“So are we.” Patience burst into tears.
“My goodness. What’s happened to have gotten you both so upset?”
Lydia stepped forward and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. He gasped. Did she mean to kiss him?
“Nathaniel, there’s something you must know.”
Was she going to profess feelings of fondness? She isn’t the sister I desire.
“W-what is it?” Best to get it over and done with so he could tell Lydia he loved her sister.
“Kitty is… missing.”
His heart thudded hard in his chest. “Pardon?”
“We believe that someone has taken her.”
“Why would you… how could… but I don’t understand how…” It can’t be true.
“Just listen to what we have to say.”
“If you truly believe she’d been kidnapped, why haven’t you notified the constable?” His voice rose higher with every word.
Patience opened the door to the shed and stepped inside. “Enter and you’ll see why.”
Things were getting stranger by the moment. Lydia ducked into the shed, as well. Nathaniel peered inside the dusty interior, able only to make out their dim outlines in the shadows. It was daytime, but back beneath the trees in the dark shed with only one small window, it might as well have been twilight. He jumped when he heard a scratch and a hiss, but relaxed when a lantern Patience now had in her hand came to life with a bright flame.
“Come and see what we’ve discovered.”
Patience held out a small scrap of dirt-covered foolscap. An odor of some type of alcohol drifted up. “Read what it says.”
Nathaniel squinted to view the tiny, nearly-illegible writing.
Do not contact the constable or you will be sorry.
He let out a gasp as shock rolled through him. Who had written it? Had someone played some macabre joke?
“Now, look at this.” Lydia tilted her head to the left.
With trepidation, and still not quite sure what to make of it all, Nathaniel edged toward the far wall.
Patience lowered the lantern. There, drawn low on the wall in pencil, was a picture.
He frowned. “What is it?”
“We were hoping you would know. We, that is, Patience and I, can’t figure out its meaning.”
Nathaniel crouched down on the floor, mindful of his lame foot, hoping he’d not lose his balance.
When he peered more closely at it, the image began to take better form. It was the back of a large hand, probably that of a man by the thickness and shape of the fingers that were touching a woman’s… bottom. And right above the index finger, tucked beside a fold of the woman’s dress, was the letter K. He shook his head slowly, trying to understand what its meaning might be. What an odd subject for a drawing.
Wait… Was it supposed to remind him of the day he helped brush off Kitty’s posterior when they’d nearly been trampled by that horse? Warmth from the memory warred with the cold fear in his heart.
Why would Kitty have drawn such a thing? Nathaniel was embarrassed, remembering his reluctance to do it, yet wanting to act the part of the convincing rake. But more than that, he couldn’t forget the thrill at touching her in such an intimate way. His face heated and he feared a blush had crept up from his cravat.
Something shuffled in the dirt, and Nathaniel glanced downward. Lydia stood quite close, as she tapped her boot on the floor. He had to tell them the meaning. There was no way around it.
Kitty’s sisters were staring at him, obviously waiting for him to enlighten them as to his opinion on the mystery.
“I…” He stood and rubbed his hand down his face. How to explain what he thought it meant? To say it delicately and not insult the tender sensitivities of the two young women?
“What?” Lydia grabbed his arm. “You must tell us. We have no idea. If you think you know what Kitty meant by leaving this clue, please let us know.”
As much as the evidence pointed to something untoward, Nathaniel’s mind still couldn’t believe that someone would have done this to Kitty. There had to be a reasonable explanation. There must be. “Are you absolutely certain someone has taken her?” Please have doubts. Please tell me what I need to hear.
“Yes.” Patience sobbed loudly as if she wouldn’t be able to take much more of the strain of not knowing.
Lydia patted her sister’s hand. “We think it for several reasons. First, we haven’t seen our sister since last evening.”
He dropped his mouth open.
“Second, w
hen we finally remembered to check back here, the shed door was standing open.”
“But why would that—”
“Because we never, ever use it. Robert is the only one with a key, and when he does enter it for any reason, he always locks it when he’s finished. He’s even warned us not to try to come in here.”
Panic grabbed hold of Nathaniel’s heart. While he’d been alarmed before, he still thought perhaps there was some reasonable explanation to account for Kitty’s absence. But after listening to what they’d said, he understood why they’d been nearly hysterical and dragged him out there. “Speaking of your cousin, where is he? Out looking for Kitty?”
Lydia shook her head. “No. When we went to tell him of Kitty’s disappearance, he was nowhere to be found. We don’t have a clue where he is. And Great-Aunt Anne is visiting her sister in Bath and won’t return for several weeks.”
Patience pointed to the wall. “We know Kitty did this because of the K she hid in the drawing. Once we realized that Great-Aunt Anne and Robert would be of no help and that we couldn’t go to the authorities, we hoped against hope that you would be able to help us.”
Nathaniel lowered his eyebrows as he studied the picture again. He’d not noticed the roughness of the picture. It hadn’t Kitty’s usually carefully penciled detail. “The lines are so jagged. So rough.”
Patience bit her lip and glanced at Lydia, who said, “We’re wondering if whoever took her had tied her hands.”
Actual pain lanced through Nathaniel’s heart. Who would have done this? Taken Kitty? Treated her so reprehensibly?
Something poked his arm with three separated taps. He glanced down. It was Lydia’s finger. “Nathaniel, if you know something, can think of anything this picture might mean, you must tell us. Now.”
He let out a breath. She was right. “I believe that the picture is supposed to be Kitty’s… uh, posterior. And the hand is…”
“Whose?”
He let out a breath and whispered, “Mine.”
Both girls stood with mouths hanging open.
“I know it sounds extremely distasteful, but it’s not what you’re thinking.”
Lydia scowled. “I’m not sure you know what I’m thinking. Why you’re a—”
He held up his hand. “We can discuss that later. I think I know where she is. We must hurry!”
Without hesitation, they rushed from the shed and went around front. He helped both sisters into the carriage, and then he climbed up. With a quick glance at them and back at the house, he realized there was no time for propriety or getting a chaperone.
Time was of the essence.
Color of Deception Page 21
