Page 91 of The Moonstone Hero
“I’m sure he will send word as soon as he can,” her mother said gently.
Ella felt so frustrated.
“Let’s eat.” Her father held up his cup for one of the footmen to fill it. As the aroma of hot coffee filled the air, Ella and Imogen went to the salvers set out on the buffet to fill their plates with the usual eggs, kippers, and sausages.
Ella hardly ate a thing. She was now seriously worried, because Caden was over an hour late and had not sent a messenger to them.
When breakfast was over, they all walked out of the dining room. Her father grabbed his cloak and hat, for the family carriage had been brought around and was waiting for him in front of the house. “Ella, I am not angry with Lord Mersey. I know he is a responsible fellow. He is also someone much in demand and dealing with many important matters.”
“Perhaps he was summoned by the king,” Imogen suggested.
“Doubtful,” their father replied. “It could be that he is not certain what to do about your betrothal yet and decided to wait until later to address it.”
“No, Papa. He would have sent word. This feels very wrong,” Ella replied.
He kissed her on the forehead. “I forbid you to go anywhere near his club or the Seaton townhouse, Ella. If something seriousis going on, I do not want you anywhere near Mersey or his grandfather. We will speak more on the matter tonight.”
Their mother had a modiste appointment later that morning. Their driver had returned with the carriage to take her to Madame de Bressard’s shop. “Do not do anything foolish while I am out, girls.”
“No, Mama,” Imogen assured their mother as she marched out the door.
Ella and Imogen raced upstairs, grabbed their cloaks and reticules, and hurried out not five minutes later. They grabbed a hack on the corner and instructed the driver to stop at Caden’s club.
“Lady Ella,” the steward guarding the front door said, casting her a look of reproof for being so bold as to come to a gentleman’s domain, “he left quite early this morning and hasn’t returned.”
“Oh, I see.”
They tried two other gentlemen’s clubs he was known to frequent.
The response was the same, as were the reproving looks. “He has not come by today.”
She instructed their driver to take them to the Seaton townhouse.
Imogen’s eyes widened in surprise. “No, Ella. We promised Papa.”
“I won’t go in. I’ll have the driver inquire for us while we wait in the hack.”
Imogen did not seem thrilled by the idea, but she went along with it.
The driver had gotten no closer than the front gate when one of the footmen, a large, barking dog at his side, chased him away.
“Sorry, Lady Ella,” the driver said. “Couldn’t get nothing out of that bloke.”
“Thank you for trying. Are you all right?”
The man nodded. “Yes, I’m sure that dog is trained not to bite unless given the instruction. If your Lord Mersey was in there, he must have heard the commotion. Let’s give it a few minutes. Where shall I take you next if he doesn’t poke his head out?”
“To the Duke of Solway’s residence.” The duke had seemed particularly impressed with Caden and was just the bull of a man needed to accompany them back here. The footman and his big dog would not dare toss him out.
Yes, she was defying her father’s wishes. But was it not more important to make certain Caden was unharmed? Fortunately, Imogen was just as worried and eager to find him.
“Papa is wrong,” she said as the hack took off for the Duke of Solway’s residence. They had been crisscrossing the park, riding back and forth between Belgravia and Mayfair for what felt like almost two hours.
It was approaching noon by the time they reached the Duke of Solway’s home. Fortunately, he was accepting visitors and willing to receive them. His butler, another red-haired Scot who was almost as big as the duke, led them into his study. “Yer Grace,” he said. “Lady Ella Stockwell and her sister, Lady Imogen.”
The duke was seated behind his desk attending to the documents piled upon it. He rose as soon as they walked in and motioned for them to sit in the elegant chairs in front of his desk. “To what do I owe the honor of yer visit?”
Ella quickly told him. “Do you know where he might be? We came to you for help because our father will not allow us to go near the Seaton townhouse…although we did drive up to it, and the driver of our hack was kind enough to make inquiries. They chased him off the premises. So, I was hoping perhaps you might call on the Duke of Seaton. We would accompany you but wait in the carriage.”
