Page 52 of My Demanding Duke

He had just reached the top step when a call from below caused him to swivel.

"Your Grace!" Josie called, her voice high with distress. Anna's maid had clearly just come through the front door, for she still wore her cape and gloves . "Thank goodness you're here!"

"What is it?" Hugh demanded, a premonition of danger making his heart race. He raced down the stairs to where Josie stood, her breath short from exertion.

"It's Her Grace," Josie wrung her hands. "She received a note this morning, after you left. From Lord Gravesend. He claimed to have news of her father."

Hugh felt the blood drain from his face. "Where is she?"

"She asked me to accompany her to Green Park. We were to meet him by the fountain."

Hugh stifled a curse of annoyance; had he not expressly forbade Anna from walking alone?

Tears welled in the maid's eyes, as she continued her tale.

"When we arrived, he insisted on speaking with Her Grace alone. I was to wait nearby. After a few minutes, when neither returned, I grew worried and searched for them."

"And?" Hugh prompted, though he already knew the answer.

"They were gone, Your Grace. Both of them." Josie's voice broke and she dissolved into floods of tears. "I searched everywhere, then when I realised that he had taken her, I rushed straight back to inform you."

Hugh stood frozen, the implications crashing down upon him. Gravesend had Anna. He had lured her away with promises of information about her father.

And Hugh knew, with cold certainty, that the young lord had every intention of thoroughly ruining his wife.

He swore an epithet, so violent it caused poor Josie to jump.

“Apologies,” Hugh absently offered, running a distracted hand through his hair. He had to find Anna, and quickly. Luckily, he knew the one man in London who could assist him.

“Do not speak of this to anyone,” Hugh urged Josie, squeezing her arm in reassurance. “I will find Anna before that knave has any chance to harm her.”

“God speed, your Grace,” Josie whispered, wiping away an anxious tear from her cheek.

Without another word, Hugh departed through the door he had only just come through, calling for his carriage.

Hugh arrived at The Bird’s Nest to find the gaming hell half-awake, its windows still shuttered against the day. A yawning footman let him in without comment, clearly recognising trouble when he saw it. Hugh cut through the main hall and strode toward Shatter’s office without waiting for permission.

Daniel Shatter looked up from his ledgers with a startled expression, as Hugh slammed through the door.

“Your Grace,” he said slowly, pushing back his chair. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”

“I need information,” Hugh said, wasting no time. “Lord Gravesend has taken my wife.”

Daniel’s expression darkened at once. “Taken her?”

“Lured her to Green Park with lies about her father and disappeared with her. I believe he means her harm.”

“I’ll put some scouts on it,” Shatter said immediately, his tone calm. “From Seven Dials to Southwark—if Gravesend so much as breathes, we’ll hear about it.”

“I’ll check the gentleman’s clubs as well,” Hugh said, thinking aloud. “Gravesend’s not the type to work alone.”

“You might start with a known friend,” Shatter suggested, lightly. “Gravesend is rarely sighted without young Lord Lewisham in tow. If anyone knows of his whereabouts, it’ll be him.”

Hugh nodded in agreement; he should have thought of that himself, but his mind was too scattered with worry.

“You don’t happen to know where Lewisham keeps rooms?” he asked, quelling the rising despair he felt.

“Won’t stray too far from behind his mother’s skirts to keep any,” Shatter grunted, as he poured two large brandies for them both. “He’s in residence at Graystone House—and so is the new duke. He was once your friend, wasn’t he?”

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