Page 47 of Conveniently Trapped with the Marquess
“There’s no use jumping to conclusions right now,” Christopher told her in a gentle voice. “You will only upset yourself.”
“You’re right.” Lady Emma nodded several times as if she was trying to convince herself of that. “But we can’t just stand around here. We should wake Father.”
“Yes, I believe we should.” Christopher looked back at William, who had been silent this entire time. William said nothing. There were no words he could say, nothing that would adequately express the way he felt right now.
But he led the charge, marching his way to the Duke’s bedchamber to inform him that his daughter had gone missing. It would mean William would have to admit to their late-night meetings. It meant that both he and Alice would have to deal with the aftermath of the truth. But as long as he got Alice back, William didn’t care what happened.
The Duke of Warington looked just as dazed as Lady Emma had been when he opened the door, but he perked up the moment he saw the three of them standing at his threshold.
This time, William was the one who explained to him what had happened. He didn’t have to say much, didn’t have to go into details about why he believed Alice was missing. The fear written on Lady Emma’s face, the worry creasing Christopher’s brow, the urgency in William’s face—it was all it took to get the Duke into action.
He woke the servants and set out search parties to scour the Manor and its grounds for any sign of Alice. In the meantime, everyone else gathered in the drawing room to figure out where she might have gone. The Duke was not yet present, still giving orders to the butler and so they all sat in tense silence, waiting.
“Here.” William looked over to see Christopher hand him a drink. “This might calm you.”
Without a word, William took the drink and threw it back in one gulp. The burn barely fazed him, and he handed the empty glass back to Christopher.
“She’ll be fine,” Christopher said loudly, to both William and Lady Emma. Lady Emma nodded at Christopher’s words but she didn’t look away from the carpet, chewing on her bottom lip with her brow creased. William stalked away from his brother, trying his best to keep his worries under wraps but it was to no avail. Images kept flashing in his mind—Alice’s terror-filled face, her screaming in horror, her being harmed in any way. He curled his hands into fists at his sides.
At long last, the Duke entered. He strode to the center of the room, his hands clenching and unclenching as he looked at his daughter and Christopher. When his eyes landed on William, he swallowed. “If she is still on the property then she will be found,” he said after a long moment. “I have all the servants in my employ searching the grounds and the Manor for her so she will show up eventually.”
“But what if she isn’t here?” Lady Emma spoke up, her voice nothing but a fearful squeak. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “What if she was taken?”
“Who would have taken her?” the Duke demanded, his voice rising. When he realized that he was shouting, he briefly closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. William could see that he was trying his hardest to rein in his emotions, to remain calm and level headed.
A feat that William himself was struggling with.
“Why,” the Duke went on, in a much slower and softer tone, “would anyone want to kidnap her? For ransom? Wouldn’t they have left a note if that were the case?”
Christopher looked at William but William was already stepping forward, the words on the tip of his tongue. “There is something that we must bring to your attention, Your Grace. Something that will likely make this entire situation much clearer.”
A flash of reluctance passed over the Duke’s face at William’s words, but he nodded. Slowly, he sank into a nearby armchair and braced both arms on the armrests. “Go ahead.”
So, William told him all about the man who had grabbed Lady Emma from behind, thinking she was Alice. He went on to tell the Duke about his late night trip to the gardens with Alice, how they had sat alone talking about the past before William noticed that there was intruder among them. The Duke blanched when William told him of the pistol shot that had gone off, that might have hurt one of them had William not acted as quickly as he did. When he was finished, the Duke was quiet, staring at William—staring through him.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” he barked suddenly, shooting out of the chair. Lady Emma flinched and Christopher inched closer to her side. “Why would she keep such an important thing from me? And what of you, Lord Erlington? You dared to put her in such a dangerous position in the first place and then said nothing to me after it happened?”
“My brother did not know an intruder would attempt to harm them, Your Grace,” Christopher spoke up. William wasn’t surprised. Even when they were younger, Christopher had always been one to defend William at every chance he got, even if William was very clearly in the wrong.
But William held up his hand, willing him to stop. He deserved all the blame. God know guilt was already beginning to eat away at him for having grown so comfortable, for believing that if they stayed within the house, whoever was after Alice would simply leave her be. He’d been so willing to continue their secret meetings and he knew that telling the Duke of what happened would only come in the way of that.
He’d been selfish. And Alice was being forced to pay the price.
“You have every right to be upset with me, Your Grace. You were gracious enough to invite me and my brother in, to hope for a union between me and your daughter, and I have betrayed your trust. I have every intention of paying dearly for that when the time comes. But, for now, I believe it would be far more helpful if we concentrate all our efforts on finding Alice and bringing her back safely.”
The Duke narrowed his eyes. He was still visibly angry, but William knew he wouldn’t let that anger get in the way of what was more important right now. He began pacing back and forth, putting his hands on his hips. “Then who do you think did this?”
William didn’t know what to say. He lowered his gaze to the floor, trying to concentrate on all that he knew. He hadn’t seen the face of the man who had grabbed Lady Emma that night, nor had he seen the intruder who shot at them. On the one hand, he knew Alice had rejected a great many gentlemen before, and that it was possible that one them might have been twisted enough to exact revenge on her. But that was either a stretch or far too wide a scope for him to single any one out.
Suddenly, Alice’s words the night of Lord Brownley’s ball came rushing back to him. She had suspected Lady Susan. Lady Susan had confronted her that night but William had simply written it off as Lady Susan acting on her delusions.
“Damn,” he cursed under his breath, so low that only Christopher heard him.
“What is it?” his brother asked, sounding a little more urgent.
William lifted his gaze to the others, who were now staring at him. “The night of Lord Brownley’s ball, Lady Alice was confronted by…an acquaintance of mine, Lady Susan of Blackmore, who told her that she should stay away from me. After the attack on Lady Emma, Lady Alice mentioned that she suspected that Lady Susan had been behind it. At the time, I simply told her that it couldn’t be the case but now—”
“But now,” Christopher finished, realization dawning. “It is just as likely that Lady Susan could have hired someone to kidnapped Lady Alice.”
