Page 83 of His Enemy Duchess

“I am almost certain she didn’t pack anything other than a book, Your Grace, but I can double-check.”

He crossed his fingers and stared at the wall, a ball of anxiety.

A book? Why would she take a book if she was planning to return today?

“Maybe she got lost on the way back?” Penny suggested.

“Unlikely. She knows the roads by heart at this point, and she’s an excellent rider. Something is afoot… I can feel it.”

Penny chewed on her lower lip, rocking the stick of the broom back and forth. “You could visit her family residence, Your Grace, if you believe there’s something to be concerned about.”

Was it my confession? Was it so unwelcome that she had to run?

It didn’t make sense to him, but it was the only explanation he had. Perhaps she had felt the same overwhelming sensation he had experienced after they lay together. Perhaps, like him, she just needed some time to let the guilt and fear ebb.

“I… I don’t know about that, Miss Wright,” he eventually said.“She asked me to trust her. I feel like riding there to check on her might be some sort of betrayal of that trust.”

Penny stared at him with squinting eyes. “Your Grace, I’d like to ask for permission to speak freely.”

Thomas looked at her in confusion. “Everyone here has the permission to speak freely, Miss Wright.”

“In that case… with all due respect, this behavior is most uncharacteristic of you.”

Thomas was shocked awake by that statement. “Care to elaborate, Miss Wright?”

“Doesn’t the Duke of Heathcote always put his duty above everyone and everything, even himself?”

“He does.”

“So? What are you still doing here?”

“Are you implying that Sophia is my duty?”

“Is she or is she not your wife, Your Grace?” she asked in a dry, matter-of-fact tone.

“That…” Thomas struggled to find his words. “… is true, Miss Wright.”

“Is she not part of this family? And therefore, of this house?”

“That is… also correct.”

“Then doesn’t Your Grace have a duty to her?”

Thomas sighed and rubbed his eyes, but Penny didn’t relent.

“You said you were worried about her, did you not?”

“I did, and I am.”

“And in matters of worry, it’s prudent to be certain of someone’s welfare, isn’t it?” Penny prompted, her voice thick with worry. “Even if she’s displeased, at least we’ll all know she is well and safe. I know I won’t sleep if I don’t know for certain that she’s not hurt or dead or… oh goodness.”

“It would be the most logical course of action to check, yes…”

“Then why aren’t you saddling your horse?” she all but yelped.

Thomas witnessed firsthand the usually timid and soft-spoken maid breathing frantically in front of him. She looked like she had just endured a grueling race, trembling and sweaty.

As he observed her, a memory flashed through his mind—the story Gregory had told him about his father thinking that his beloved wife had been kidnapped by the Kendalls.Thathad been a misunderstanding, and his mother had come to no harm, but what if something similar had happened to Sophia?Something that was not a misunderstanding. After all, there had been countless reports of highwaymen on the roads.

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