But this time she’d done it. Even now, as she descended the front stairs without being caught, she could not believe she had pulled it off.
There, parked on the corner, was her waiting carriage.
As Emma approached it, a sense of foreboding settled around her, causing her body to quake and her heart to pound. Am I doing the right thing? Could I be putting myself in danger by meeting my papa’s barrister like this?
Her eyes scanned the area around her, and all appeared normal. She wrapped her cloak tightly around herself, warding off the chill that had overtaken her bones.
“Your Grace.” A man stepped out from the coach, dressed completely in black. His hand reached out toward her. “This way, if you please.”
Run! She sensed something was wrong. She turned to return to the house.
Then it happened, as it had long ago when she was a child. A vile-smelling cloth covered her mouth and she struggled to breathe…and then nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“What do you mean, Emma is not in her room and her bed was not slept in?” Thomas paced around the entry hall, trying to keep his wits about him.
“She dismissed her maid early in the evening, and no one has seen Emma since then.” Bella paced right beside her brother; she looked no better than he felt.
Thomas wanted to scream. He wanted to smash something. What he really wanted to do was fall down on his knees and pray. Deep inside his gut, he knew something was terribly wrong. He had sent for Myles, Amesbury, and the Bow Street Runner they had hired to discover the blackmailer.
Without a doubt Thomas knew, with certainty, that the same person was responsible for Emma’s disappearance. Every nerve ending in his body tingled with fear. His heart pained with the knowledge that she could be in grave danger. All he could think about was when she was kidnapped as a child. His heart sank to think she could be going through the same – or worse.
Dear Lord, please let her survive a second time. He would do anything to have her back. Give all her money back to her. Even let her go to America…anything as long as she escaped safe and unharmed.
“God, what is taking them so long? Giles,” he bellowed at the top of his lungs, “where are they?”
“Your Grace, I believe I hear them now.”
And sure enough, three men came bounding up the stairs and into his house.
“What happened? Where’s Emma?” Myles asked as he came through the door, his eyes wide and anxious.
“I don’t know. That is why I sent for you.” Thomas placed his hands on either side of his head and grimaced. “God damn it, I don’t know where she is. But I do know one thing. She is not in this house. We have searched every nook and cranny, and she is not to be found.”
Amesbury stepped forward, “Wentworth, this is Mr. Smythe, the runner you hired to find the person who penned the note.”
“Mr. Smythe,” Thomas acknowledged. “Did you find out anything?”
“Well, Your Grace, the man involved is no fool. I traced the note through several couriers. Right down to a dirty street urchin. And alas, that is where my search ended. Although I have a theory, if you would hear it.”
“Well, yes, please do tell.” Damn, but Thomas’s control was on a tenuous thread, ready to snap and implode.
Smythe glanced around at all the onlookers, including many of Thomas’s servants. “Could we go someplace more private?”
“Yes, of course.” Thomas had lost his mind. He certainly should have realized he could not discuss this in front of the whole staff of his house.
Once the four men were seated in his study and brandy had been passed around, Smythe began to explain his theory.
“After talking over the circumstances surrounding the card game you partook of with Mr. Hamilton, I believe the blackmailer, err, kidnapper came upon the knowledge some other way. I did some investigating of this barrister Mr. Hamilton hired, a James Webster.”
Smythe paused and took a sip of his drink. “He is heavily in debt. Made some bad investments and on top of that he likes to gamble. Webster owes several unsavory men. If I were to put my money on a suspect, he would be it. He knew about everything, has motive, and had the opportunity.
Smythe paused to let everyone digest the information before he continued. “He could have made contact with the duchess, made everything seem proper and innocent. Used the notion of showing her the will himself to get access to her. What we need to do now is figure out where Webster is keeping her. And I would presume a ransom note will be forthcoming.”
“When I get my hands on the bloody bastard…” Thomas’s eerily calm voice penetrated the room. “Where is he now? I will kill him. There will be nothing left of him to identify as remains.”