Page 30 of Lady Edith and the Registry Office
Alicia’s face lit up at the suggestion. “Me? I am flattered, Lady Edith. Lady Louisa is such an arbiter of fashion, I’m surprised you didn’t ask her to go with you, but I am happy to be of service.”
“You don’t mind if I commandeer your sister?” Edith asked him without guile.
“Not at all. You ladies enjoy yourself.”
Once the other women had departed, Mrs. Stafford frowned as she let out a breath. “I’ll be off myself. I should have been gone several minutes ago. Good day.”
“What was that about?” Nathaniel asked once the woman was gone.
“Lady Edith set your sister on the poor woman to keep her from wondering what we were up to in the backroom,” Ashford replied.
A necessary evil. Nathaniel asked his friends, “How did you hear about the missing veteran?”
“Let’s discuss this outside.” Cecil walked forward, opened the front door to the registry, and waited for Nathaniel and Ashford to exit the building before closing the door behind them. “The missing man has a wife and two sons. The wife had one of the boys notify the runners her husband was missing.”
Ashford shook his head. “We may not be able to keep this disappearance out of the papers if the runners are involved.”
“Where does the veteran live, and who is he?” Nathaniel asked, afraid Ashford was right.
Looking at the card in his hand, Ashford replied, “Watch Captain Henry Davidson, Navy. He lives in Cheapside.”
“You two can visit the man’s wife while I locate Bones and see if he has any intelligence to share.” Cecil strode away down the street toward his nondescript coach.
The carriage ride to King’s Street in Cheapside took nearly thirty minutes. Nathaniel had advised his driver to halt the carriage down the street from the address. As both men descended from the coach, the sky darkened, and a light breeze kicked up.
“You said the man is married?”
Ashford nodded. “He is. He also has two sons.”
This area of Kings Street, with its tall, narrow attached houses, was more affluent than he would have imagined a former Watch Captain of the Navy could afford.
Nathaniel knocked on the door of number fourteen.
The door was answered by a young maid. “Good day.”
“Is Mrs. Davidson home to callers?” he asked.
There was a long pause before the girl replied, “You don’t look like tradesmen.”
He smiled kindly. “We’re not. We are the gentlemen who founded the veteran’s registry office.”
Ashford let out a disgruntled noise. Nathaniel shrugged. What other explanation could they give for disturbing an anxious wife?
“Come in.” The girl stood aside to allow them into the small entry hall. “I’ll just ensure that my mistress is available for callers. Your names?”
The girl looked like she might faint when Nathaniel introduced themselves as a baron and a marquis.
At that moment, he wondered what their reception would be like if they had Lady Edith with them. She could have spoken with the veteran’s wife and reassured her that everyone involved with the registry was concerned about her husband’s disappearance.
The maid returned and said, “The missus will see you now.”
They were shown to a small parlor, the curtains on the windows in the room drawn back to allow in what little light there was from the gray sky outside.
“Ma’am, Lord Ashford and Lord Harbury.”
There were two women in the room. The elder said, “Do see to tea, Maisey.”
The young maid rushed away.
