Page 55 of Taken to the Grave
Her eyes were swollen and red from crying, and her voice was hoarse.
“Tell me what you know,” she encouraged Flora. “I’m listening.”
“After we learned Bethie had…died,” she stopped to take a quivery breath, “Gwen became frightened. She kept telling me to stay out of the windows and draw the drapes.”
“Did she think someone was watching the house?” At Gunter’s, she’d been worried about being seen and overheard.
“She would only say that the less I knew, the safer I would be. But yes, I think someone was.”
With the sensation of being elbowed in the stomach, Audrey closed her eyes. How could she have been so careless? Sheshould have thought to call on Gwendolyn after news of Bethany’s death arrived. At Gunter’s, any of the posh ton taking their ices in Berkeley Square might have witnessed her meeting with Audrey and Hugh. Though, they had only spoken of the meeting with one person: Sir Gabriel.
“When did your sister disappear?” Audrey asked after pushing away the disenchanting thought that Hugh might have been wrong about the magistrate.
“Yesterday. She went to Bond Street with Mama, and while Mama was in with the milliner, Gwen went into a bookshop. Mama said she came back to the carriage and waited fifteen minutes before going into the shop herself, looking for her. But the bookseller said Gwen had left at least twenty minutes before that.”
“Did the bookseller say if she left with anyone?”
Flora shook her head of dark curls. “I don’t know. Mama was too flustered to ask, I presume.”
Gwendolyn had been taken on Bond Street, in full daylight? And no one had noticed.
“Mama returned home in such distress. Now she’s in a complete panic. She thinks Gwen must have run off to elope, the way Bethie had…” Flora choked on her words and went quiet.
“You said no one is listening to you,” Audrey reminded her. “What did you mean by that?”
Flora sniffled, then firmed her quivering chin. “A carriage. I saw it a few times before Gwen told me to stay out of the windows. It was strange.”
“Strange how?”
“There was something on the door. It looked like a cross, but it was?—”
“Upside down.” Audrey went cold as Flora nodded vigorously.
“Yes! But how did you know?” Her amazement wilted as she seemed to understand. “You’ve seen it too.”
“Yes.”
If someone from the Sanctuary had been driving past her house, and then she disappeared from Bond Street… Gwendolyn was in danger.
“You were right to send for me. What you’ve said is very helpful, Flora,” she said, not wanting to distress her any further. “I will send word to you as soon as I can.”
She started away, and Flora fell into step beside her. “Will you help find her, Your Grace?”
Making promises that Gwendolyn would be safely returned could be premature, and Audrey didn’t want to lie to her. She turned Flora back toward the gate. “I won’t stop until I do. But you must stay here.”
If anyone learned Flora had been speaking of the Sanctuary, she could also be targeted. Audrey gave her a little nudge. “Go inside your home. Please.”
She whirled around and ran back through the gate obediently. With any hope, she would stay put. On the way back to her carriage, Audrey observed the square and the conveyances nearby, looking for a coach with a cross. She didn’t see one. However, she did see a phaeton drawing up behind her carriage. Sir was at the reins in the front seat. Next to him was Hugh, and in the back seat were Thornton and Cassie. Her sister-in-law waved. “I wouldn’t tell them where you’d gone unless they brought me with them.”
Thornton’s irritated expression confirmed her claim.
Hugh hopped down from the phaeton, but before he could inquire, Audrey explained what Flora had revealed. He swore under his breath.
“Damn it. I’ve just come from Bow Street. Sir Gabriel won’t send men to Burdick Close with so little evidence to go on. Hecan’t just storm into a private home because wethinkit might be the Sanctuary.”
“If he knew Gwendolyn was now missing, he would have to do something, wouldn’t he?” The knot in Audrey’s stomach tightened. “And if he doesn’t, then we must ask ourselves why. Hugh, he is the only person we spoke to about Gwendolyn’s information on the Sanctuary.”
He shook his head. “He may have told Tyne.”
