Page 45 of Lady Edith and the Registry Office
He finally said to Lady Edith, “We must depart. I have an appointment.”
“Yes, of course.” The lady stood up, took a card from her reticule, and handed it to Mrs. Wilson. “This is the address of the registry office. If you think of anything that would help us locate your husband, please let us know. We will do everything in our power to make sure he is found.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Mrs. Wilson rose to her feet, and he followed suit.
“Don’t trouble yourself,” Edith told the woman. “We can see ourselves out.”
Once back in the coach, his companion asked, “Where to now?”
He thought a moment. Nathaniel didn’t want to discuss what John had told him about the carriage he’d seen in front of Edith’s maid. Or with Alicia if he were to return home.
“Perhaps I can trouble you for refreshment?”
Lady Edith nodded. “I could use some sustenance myself. My home is in Hanover Square.”
He tapped on the ceiling of the coach. “Hanover Square!”
* * * * *
The fact Lord Harburywished to proceed to her home led Edith to believe he must have learned something significant from Mrs. Wilson’s brother, John.
When the carriage halted in front of the townhouse, the baron helped Edith and her maid from the coach. Mary dashed away to the servant’s entrance as Edith and Lord Harbury walked to the front steps of the house.
When she entered the house, the butler told her, “Your father is not at home. Lady Louisa is in her bedchamber resting before your evening outing.”
“Thank you, Hobbs. We shall require a substantial tray in the drawing room.” With the excitement of the afternoon, she had completely forgotten about Louisa being in the house. Her friend would make an excellent chaperone if she were not resting.
“Very good, my lady.”
Edith walked down the corridor to the cozy drawing room followed closely by Lord Harbury. Compared to the size of the baron’s palatial abode, her home was small. No matter. She loved the house. There were fond memories of her mother in every nook and cranny.
She took a seat on a stuffed chair near a low-slung table, and Lord Harbury was seated across from her on a blue sopha. A commotion could be heard in the corridor outside the room before Louisa swept into the drawing room.
“Good afternoon, Edith, Lord Harbury. My maid advised me we had company. Aren’t you home early from volunteering, Edith?” Louisa took a seat near Edith in a matching stuffed chair.
“The registry is closed for the next fortnight. Another veteran, Seaman Thomas Wilson, has disappeared.” Edith glanced at Lord Harbury. “I told Louisa and Charlotte about the missing men.”
The baron nodded. “It is understandable that you would confide in your closest friends.”
“Louisa, Lord Harbury and I visited the home of the third veteran together.” She added quickly, “With Mary as chaperone.”
Louisa sat forward in her chair. “Another veteran has gone missing. That is horrible news. Did you find out any information that might be helpful?”
“I was just going to ask Lord Harbury what he might have learned from Mrs. Wilson’s brother John.”
“You suppose it to be something significant?” he asked with a raised brow and a slight smile.
“You didn’t want to return to your home in Grosvenor Square. I surmise you wished to share some information with me but not with Alicia.”
He nodded. “On the day Thomas Wilson disappeared, John noticed a coach near the house. He witnessed Thomas speak with a man he believed was the coachman; it appeared the men were looking over one of the horses. John went inside the house and didn’t see his sister’s husband again.”
“Did John describe the carriage and the coachman?” she asked.
“It was a black coach. John couldn’t see the side of the coach so he doesn’t know what coat of arms, if any, it might have had. The livery worn by the coachman was red and black.”
“Red and black? That isn’t a set of colors I’m familiar with.” She glanced at Louisa, who shrugged in response.
Harbury replied, “Nor am I. Interestingly, all three men that went missing were hired for jobs with horses.”
