She knocked on his door. He didn"t answer. Alarm spiked in her chest. She tried the door, but it was locked. He wasn"t allowed to lock his door.
"Geordie, you open this door this minute!" she cried.
No answer.
After repeating the command, she flew down the stairs to fetch Hugh, praying that he hadn"t left for the brewery. Moments later they were all standing outside Geordie"s door, and Hugh, his hands shaking, was unlocking it with the spare key.
They walked in to find the room empty. Empty! Where the devil could he have gone?
Then she spotted the open window and the rope attached to his bedpost, and her heart missed a beat. She flew to the window, half expecting to see him lying broken and bleeding on the ground, but there was only a set of shoe prints in the mud.
Hugh came up beside her. "d.a.m.nation, what is the boy up to?"
"He ran away. Hugh, he ran away!"
"Nonsense, there has to be some other explanation. Why would he run away?"
She rounded on him as Sissy called for the servants. "You saw how upset he was at dinner last night. Something was bothering him."
"He probably just went on some foolish midnight jaunt to set things afire in the forest or go trawling for eels at the river." Hugh was trying to sound calm, but worry lined his face. "He"ll come strolling in any minute, boasting about doing something he wasn"t supposed to. All boys act up at that age."
"Did you ever climb out of your window in the middle of the night?" Sissy demanded. "I daresay you didn"t, Hugh Lake. You have to call the constable and get him over here right away."
"Not until we"re sure he didn"t just go down the road to his grandparents"."
But as the morning wore on, it became more and more clear that this was not some midnight jaunt, and he hadn"t gone to his grandparents". It was as if he"d disappeared into thin air. The servants knew nothing, and no one had seen him leave.
By noon, Annabel was frantic, Hugh was a seething ma.s.s of rage, and Sissy couldn"t stop weeping. The constable had been sent for, but before he could arrive, a man came to the door with a lanky lad in tow who looked as if he"d rather be anywhere else.
"Afternoon, Mr. Lake," the man said. "Toby Mawer here tried to sell me a watch, but I saw the inscription and realized it was your boy"s. I just thought I"d check with young George and make sure he really did give it to Toby."
Annabel remembered hearing Geordie complain about a boy named Toby. Fear surged up inside her. Had Toby hurt him to gain the watch?
"George is missing," Hugh said as he ushered the two inside. He trained a dark gaze on Toby. "Where is he, Toby?"
Toby effected a nonchalant manner. "Dunno, sir. He gave me the watch, is all."
"For no reason?" Annabel snapped. "He just gave it to you? I don"t believe you."
Something flickered in the lad"s eyes. "Think what you wish, miss. He gave it to me free and clear."
"Well then," Hugh said, "since I know the lad wouldn"t part with his birthday watch, and you claim he did, we"ll let the constable sort it out. He"s on his way here, so we"ll just hand you over to him." Hugh"s voice hardened. "Of course, if George ends up dead somewhere, you"ll be the one we blame. But at least you"ll have that gold watch when they hang you."
"Hang me!" Toby cried, his eyes practically popping out of his head. "Now see here, sir, I ain"t done no murdering. He was alive when last I saw him, I swear!"
Hugh crossed his arms over his chest. "And where might that have been?"
Toby swallowed, then glanced nervously behind him to the door. "You won"t give me to the constable, will you?"
"It depends on what you have to say."
He thrust out his lower lip. "I knew I shouldn"t have helped that little mama"s boy. I told him he had a fool plan, but he wouldn"t listen."
"What was his plan?" Annabel prodded.
"Wanted to go see some fancy gent in London. The same one what was here last week. He had me pretend to be his older brother putting him on the coach. I told the coachman he was off to visit our uncle. George paid for the ticket himself, and gave me the watch because I helped him."
Annabel"s heart faltered. Geordie had gone off to London alone?
"Why on earth would he want to see Lord Jarret?" Sissy demanded.
"I dunno, ma"am. He wouldn"t say. But he kept asking me questions about what it was like to be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, till I nearly changed my mind about helping him."
A b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
Annabel"s gaze flew to Hugh, whose pallid color said he was thinking the same thing she was.
"Thank you, lad, for telling us the truth," Hugh said in a strained voice. "Go on with you now."
Toby frowned. "What about the watch? It"s mine, fair and square."
"Just be glad we"re not turning you over to the constable," Hugh snapped. "I"m not giving you that watch."
"But you can have some cake if you like," Sissy added with a wan smile. "For helping us."
Toby thrust out his chest. "Don"t need any cake." He glanced sullenly at Sissy. "But if you"ve got some roast beef ..."
"I"m sure we could find something you like," Sissy said kindly, herding him toward the kitchen.
Hugh thanked the shop owner and sent him on his way. As soon as the man was gone, Annabel said, "Geordie must have heard us talking about him yesterday. You know how bad he"s gotten about listening at doors."
Hugh nodded grimly. "I"ll get the coach ready. We"ll leave for London at once. Sissy can stay here with the children, in case he comes to his senses and returns."
Annabel nodded, her heart beating a frenzied pace. Anything could happen to him on the road alone.
Hugh put his arm around her. "He"ll be all right, Annie. He"s a resourceful boy."
"How will he know where to find Jarret? What if he gets into trouble while he"s wandering London alone? All sorts of things could happen to him in the city!"
"I know, but you can"t start imagining the worst or you"ll make yourself mad. We"ll just have to hope he reaches Lord Jarret quickly." Hugh pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Have some faith in the lad. He has a good head on his shoulders."
That wouldn"t make any difference if he came up against some of the rougher sorts. All she could see in her mind was George being accosted by footpads, robbed and beaten, and left to die in some alley. "I should have told him," she whispered. "If only I had told him-"
"What"s done is done. We"ll find him, even if we have to tear London apart."
The fierce determination in her brother"s voice gave her little comfort, but one thing was certain. If she did find Geordie safe and unharmed, she was never going to let him go.
JARRET ENTERED THE offices of Plumtree Brewery after noon with a spring in his step. The East India captains had agreed to a contract with Plumtree Brewery to sell Lake Ale"s brew. They"d been so impressed with the quality of Annabel"s pale ale that they"d put in an order for two thousand barrels! That was nearly as much as had been going to the Russians. Lake Ale"s cut alone would keep the small brewery going for at least another year, and Annabel would be ecstatic.
He stopped short. He should tell her firsthand; go up to Burton so they could celebrate.
So he could see her.
With a groan, he sank into his chair behind the desk. He was supposed to be putting her from his mind. Ever since he"d left Burton, he"d buried himself in work, in the project, and in setting Plumtree to rights. He"d tried to forget her.
But he couldn"t. When he smelled the fragrant hops, he thought of her clean, fruity scent. When he saw the froth in the mashtun, he thought of her beautiful hair. And when the lamps were dimmed at night and the place was still, he thought of making love to her in that tiny room off Lake Ale"s office, lit only by a coal fire and their pa.s.sion.
Christ, he was getting maudlin again. He was starting to be maudlin all the time. He missed her. He hadn"t expected to miss her so d.a.m.ned much.
Croft opened the door to his office. "Mr. Pinter is here, sir. Will you see him?"
"Of course." At least it would take his mind off Annabel.
As soon as Pinter took a seat, he got right to the point. "I found the groom who saddled your mother"s horse that day. He says he never saw or heard anything about Desmond-had no idea he was in the vicinity. But your mother said something to the groom that might be important."
Jarret steadied himself. "Yes?"
Pinter shifted in his chair. "She ... er ... asked that he not mention to your father where she"d gone."
For a second, Jarret could hardly breathe. That confirmed it-Mother hadn"t ridden out to confront Father. She"d wanted to avoid him. But then, how had Father known where she was headed? Why had he gone after her, when they"d barely been on speaking terms most days?
"And Desmond? Have you learned anything more about that? Masters is still trying to finagle a way to look at the earlier versions of Gran"s will."
"All I know is that his mill was struggling at the time."
"Which gives him a stronger motive."
"Yes."
"Is it possible that Mother was riding out to meet him? Perhaps she was angry enough with Father that she wanted to plot something with her cousin. She never hated him like the rest of us did."
"It"s conceivable. But once again ..."
"I know, you need more information. Well then, keep digging."
Pinter nodded. "You should know that Desmond is still spouting his poison, but no one seems to be paying him much heed. Everyone is impressed by how you"ve handled the brewery. There are even rumors of a big contract with the East India captains."
"They"re not rumors," Jarret said proudly.
"Ah. Then congratulations are in order. I"m sure the Lakes will be pleased."
Jarret sighed. "By the way, I did offer for Miss Lake. She turned me down."
"Did she?"
"It seems she was less than hopeful about my suitability to be a husband."
Pinter shot him a pensive glance. "Perhaps this will change her mind."
"I doubt it. I"ve made something of a mess of my life until now. She"d be mad to marry me."
"I"ve seen stranger unions. Your brother"s, for one. I wouldn"t give up hope just yet. In my experience, intelligent women need more time for such decisions than men think they should. You can"t blame them for being skittish. After all, a woman gives up far more to marry than a man does."
After Pinter left, those words echoed in Jarret"s mind. He really had been asking a great deal of her-to risk losing her son for him. And he"d offered nothing in return except his name and a promise that he"d be a different man, even though he"d done nothing to show that he could be a different man. He"d wanted her to take a leap of faith, when no other man had ever been worthy of her trust.
He wasn"t even willing to let her in to the part of him he"d always kept carefully hidden, the part that was terrified of caring too much. She was right about one thing-pretending he had no heart kept him from letting it be broken. Though he began to wonder if a lifetime without her wasn"t just as bad.
Somewhere in the last month, he"d gone from the Jarret who didn"t care to the Jarret who cared a great deal about what happened to her. To the two of them. That terrified him. If he allowed himself to love her, and Fate ripped her away from him as it had Mother and Father ...
He froze. Pinter"s information had made it clear that Fate hadn"t played any part in that. Oliver"s confession had said as much, but Jarret hadn"t wanted to believe it. And why? Because if Mother hadn"t killed Father accidentally, if it had been a deliberate act, then he"d wasted his entire life believing a lie.
Fate might have a hand in many of life"s tragedies, but many more of them were caused by people behaving foolishly or dangerously-or even, in the case of Gran, bullheadedly. If a man separated himself from people, if he refused to care, then he simply allowed those actions to continue. But the world needed people who cared enough to balance out the foolish and dangerous ones, to pick up the pieces. The world needed people like Annabel.
He needed people like Annabel. No, he needed Annabel. In his life, by his side. And no amount of burying himself in work was going to change that.
Chapter Twenty-six.
A few hours later, Jarret heard a familiar strident voice coming from the outer office. Despite everything, a smile lit his face. Seconds later, Gran bustled in with Croft on her heels.
"You really should sit down, madam," Croft told her. "You know what Dr. Wright says." He ran over to pick up the coverlet draped over the settee. "Here, this spot would be best. Then you can rest your head on the bolster and put your feet-"
"Croft, if you do not stop fluttering about me, I will put my feet up your a.r.s.e!" Gran snapped. "I am fine. I feel fine."
"But-"
"Out!" She pointed her finger to the door. "I want to speak to my grandson."
With a wounded look, Croft carefully refolded the coverlet and placed it precisely back on the settee, then left the room.
"You really should be nicer to the man," Jarret said, biting back a smile. "He worships the ground you walk on. Every other word out of his mouth is "Mrs. Plumtree says this" and "Mrs. Plumtree says that.""
"He thinks I am hovering over the grave," she grumbled as she sat down on the settee. "You all do."
"Not me. I know better; I hate having my knuckles rapped." He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his abdomen. "How are you feeling these days?"
"Much better," she said. "Dr. Wright thinks I am on the mend."
She certainly looked better than she had a couple of weeks ago. Jarret hadn"t heard her cough in a while, and her face had good color. The very fact that she was here said quite a lot.
"You must have incredible sources if you already know about the contract."