Page 6 of Code Name Duchess
He shook his head. “Of course not. Rose is nothing if not a lady. She would never put herself into unsavory positions nor keep undesirable company. My sister is a good person. No, I said that to ease Miss Keating’s mind as to there being a connection.”
The investigator licked his lips and smoothed his greying mustache.
“It seems there is a connection.”
“Of course, there is, Mr. Markham, it is quite obvious.” The man squinted at him, and Seth found himself compelled to explain his position further. “I do not like working with others on affairs as delicate as this. Miss Keating is a young woman who tends to follow her heart, not her mind, and I fear she’d only hinder my investigation.”
This was not the only reason, but it was the only reason Seth could comfortably give Markham without giving too much of himself away.
“I see. Well, in that case, I shall have to change my approach. I’d hoped for a merged investigation, but I shall have to peruse the leads separately.”
Seth shook his head. His long, wavy brown hair fell into his face.
“I want you to look for Lord Drayton. But do not tell Miss Keating I’ve asked this of you. To her, I want this to appear entirely unconnected.”
Markham sighed as he shook his head, exasperated by Seth. Seth knew his request might seem odd, after all, merging the investigations would make sense, but he could not bring himself to do so. Winnifred would distract him, he knew it. There could be no distraction on this matter. There could be no confusion nor outside influences. Seth had to focus, and he could not, not with Winnie and her beautiful eyes and red, inviting lips.
Besides…
“It could be dangerous for her. Don’t you agree?”
Markham blinked. “You have an idea who or what could be behind the disappearances?”
He shrugged. “I have a clue, but I’d rather you came to your own conclusion. It’s better we each pursue our ideas and then come together to see what we’ve discovered, rather than influence each other, do you not agree?”
Markham’s eyes narrowed, making it quite clear he did not. However, he knew better than to challenge Seth. Nobody challenged a Duke. Ever.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Rose challenged him with some frequency, and so did Leo, albeit only when it came to business. No, nobody other than Rose stood up to him, at least not in a long time.
A heavy melancholy threatened to crash over him when he suddenly rose and extended his hand to the investigator.
“I shall leave you to your work, and I will return to mine. Please send word when you have news.”
Markham bowed, and when he rose once more, gave a nod of the head.
“I shall, Your Grace.”
Seth spun on his heel and stalked out of the room when the man called after him.
“Your Grace?”
“Yes, Markham? What else is there?”
The man cleared his throat. “Just this. Take care of yourself.”
The words chilled Seth to the core as he remembered the last time he’d heard them spoken with such seriousness, such conviction.
No, I must not let the past catch up to me. Not today. Not when my sister’s life and that of my friend depends on it. I must keep my wits about me and press on. Dwelling on the past will do nothing but hinder and distract me. Just like Winnie would hinder me. I must do this alone. I must solve this puzzle alone. Just as I always do.
As he walked down the road toward his carriage, he pondered the events of the past few days once more. Nobody had seen his sister in almost two weeks now. The servants hadn’t alerted him until his arrival home when they found she wasn’t with him. He glared at the coachman as he pointed to the carriage door, and the man took a step back after opening it.
“Your Grace,” he bowed. “Has there been any word on Lady Rose?”
Seth closed his eyes and swallowed, forcing the rage down into the depth of his stomach.
“No, Bradford. Nothing.” He stepped up to climb into the carriage but then thought better of it.
“Bradford, why would the servants not alert me to my sister being missing for nearly two weeks?”
