by Amelia Grey
He reached into his pocket and palmed the bottle her perfumed water had been in and smiled. He still couldn’t believe he’d been so impulsive as to have made love to her in her drawing room. Not that he was unhappy they had, but not even in his youth had he been reckless enough to seduce a lady in her drawing room. But then Arianna had him doing a lot of things he would have never done before meeting her.
The door opened. He took off his hat and said, “Good afternoon, Mrs. Hartford, I’m here to see Miss Sweet.”
Her eyes rounded, and she blinked rapidly for a few seconds before saying, “I’m sorry, my lord, Miss Sweet is not here.”
“No matter, I’m sure she will not mind my waiting until she returns, if you will be so kind as to show me where I might wait for her.”
Her eyes widened more, and Morgan got the first hint that all was not well.
“But, my lord, I don’t know when she will return.”
“Nonetheless, Mrs. Hartford, I have valuable information for her that I know she will want to hear. If it takes all evening, I shall wait for her.” Morgan walked past the woman and into the vestibule. He handed the woman his hat and started taking off his gloves.
“But, but…”
“But what, Mrs. Hartford?”
“I don’t think she’s coming back today. She took her trunks with her.”
Morgan’s hands went still on his gloves. He felt as if he turned to stone. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. Arianna had left? She had wanted to run yesterday when she’d first heard about Jessup and Post. But he thought he’d settled that for her last night when Rajaratnum was killed and Warburton was turned over to the magistrate.
“Where did she go?” he asked.
“She didn’t say.”
“Do you expect me to believe she just packed her bags and left with no word to you about where she was going or when she would return?”
“Yes, my lord. It’s the truth. Benson already had the carriage ready by the time I came below stairs.”
“What exactly did she say?”
“For me to take care of everything until she returned.”
That gave him some comfort. At least she didn’t expect to be gone forever. But why would she have left without telling him?
“Who went with her?”
“Just her maid Beabe, Benson her driver, and the footman.”
Thank God she wasn’t alone. “What time did they leave?”
“Sunrise.”
Morgan swore under his breath. It was already after five. Wherever she was going, she had a full day’s head start.
“Have you checked her room? Perhaps she left a note.”
“Yes, my lord. Her room has been cleaned, and there was no note.”
Morgan felt as if his stomach was twisting. “Then I want you to assemble all the servants immediately. I want to talk to them, maybe the scullery maid, the gardener, or perhaps the cook overheard a conversation. I want to talk to them all.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Immediately, Mrs. Hartford.”
The housekeeper rushed away. Morgan felt like putting his fist through a door. After what she went through with Warburton and Rajaratnum, Morgan should have insisted he come over last night. Why had he listened to her and stayed away? Because he had to plan everything out. He had to put everything in order, and what did Arianna do, she simply left. No planning, no thought.
But he would find her. He had no doubt he would find her. He just needed to think about where she might have gone. He knew she was overwrought because she didn’t have the formula. She wanted that legacy for her father. He was trying to be sensitive to her needs about that last night and give her the time she needed to collect herself.
Maybe she’d sent a note to his house. He hadn’t been home since early morning. It could have arrived after he left. Yes, there was the strong possibility that she had sent him word about where she was going. As soon as he talked to the servants, he’d go home.
Morgan swallowed past a lump in his throat. Surely she wouldn’t leave town without saying something to him, would she?
She would. She was impulsive, and it was one of the things he loved about her. He remembered seeing her dressed in the sari, when on impulse she had walked to the paddock. He was sure it was on that same kind of impetus that she’d donned the dance costume that afternoon in her room, and the thing that drove her to race to Warburton’s after he had told her to not to leave her house.
Yes, one of the things he loved about her was also one of the things he found so frustrating about her.
Morgan paced in the small vestibule, waiting for the servants to arrive. Damnation, why hadn’t he told her he loved her when he made love to her? Because he wasn’t sure he had fully realized it himself at that time. He’d been so selfish when he’d first taken her and then so eager to make it up to her. Maybe that had scared her. No. He shook his head. He was certain that hadn’t made her run away. She would never have responded to him the way she had after that if he had traumatized her, would she?
Why hadn’t he told her he loved her?
Because he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to love her. He didn’t want to marry. Probably all those reasons. But last night when he’d seen her shoved against the wall with Rajaratnum’s hand around her neck… he knew then he couldn’t live without her.
Why hadn’t he told her he loved her then?
Because he had to make plans first. He had to do everything right, get everything settled. He wanted everything in place before he told her the good news he had for her and before he told her he loved her.
A low, bitter chuckle passed his lips, and he shook his head. And what had all his planning gotten him? He had just come from applying for a license to marry her, and now he didn’t even know where she was.
What would he do if she had gone back to India to look for that blasted formula? Could she have booked passage on a ship that quickly?
No, she wouldn’t go all the way back to India, looking for the formula, would she?
Yes, Arianna would.
But she hated being on that ship, and she had been so sick.
Morgan swore softly again and combed his hand through his hair. He was making himself crazy with ideas. He had to stop letting his imagination run wild. He had to plan. If none of the servants knew where she was, he would go home and see if he had a note from her. Constance’s house was on the way to his, so he’d stop there first and see if she had news from Arianna. If not, he’d pray he had a note from her. He couldn’t plan past that.
Less than half an hour later, Morgan was walking through his door, throwing off his coat, hat, and gloves as he went.
“My lord,” his butler said, rushing into the front hall, “Sir Randolph is in your book room, waiting to see you.”
“Did I receive a letter, a note, or anything this morning?”
“Several, my lord. Most everyone knows you are back in Town, and the invitations are pouring in. They are all on your desk.”
Morgan strode down the corridor toward his book room. He was in no mood for Gibby’s antics. What could the old fellow want anyway? Morgan couldn’t remember the last time Gibby had come to his house.
It had been raining almost steadily for two days, and the gloomy weather matched Morgan’s mood. He walked into the book room and saw Gibby standing at the window, but Morgan went immediately to his desk and started looking through the mail.
“It’s about time you got home. I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour.”
“You should have told me you were coming,” Morgan said without looking up from the correspondence. If he couldn’t tell who the note was from by the outside, he ripped it open, letting it fall to the desk and picking up another as soon as he could see it wasn’t from Arianna.
“You must be looking for something,” Gibby said, walking over to stand in front of the desk.
“Yes, but damnation, it isn’t here.” Morgan let the last letter flutter to hi
s desk.
“You seem full of merriment this afternoon. What has you so happy?”
Morgan plopped down in his chair. “I’m not in the mood for your humor, Gib.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell by the gloomy look on your face or the frantic way you tore into your mail.”
Gibby walked over to Morgan’s sideboard and splashed port in two glasses. He set one down in front of Morgan and said, “Thank you, I don’t mind if I do have a drink with you,” when Morgan remained quiet.
Morgan picked up the glass and took a long drink before bringing the glass down from his mouth, coughing as he did. Port was too strong to drink so fast, but right now, he didn’t care. He didn’t want to believe Arianna had left without sending him some kind of word about where she was going. His denial that she had done that was fast turning to anger that she had.
“Since you are always minding my business, I think I might better mind yours for a while.”
“There’s a difference,” Morgan muttered. “You like for me to mind your affairs.”
“The hell I do,” Gibby said, taking a seat in front of the desk. “So did you ask her to marry you, and she turned you down?”
“Not exactly,” Morgan said, swirling the port around in the glass.
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean? She wants time to think about it? Most women do. That shouldn’t have you so riled.”
“It means I applied for a license today to marry her, but I haven’t told her about that because she’s left town, and I don’t know where the hell she’s gone. Now are you happy that you know?”
It was Gibby’s turn to take a long drink. “That puts you in one hell of a situation.”
“I don’t need you to state the blasted obvious, Gib.”
“I’m assuming you’ve checked with all the pertinent people who might know where she went. Servants, family, and friends. Mail.”
The old man’s attempt at humor didn’t get past Morgan but he was in no mood to be coddled. “Her servants and Constance are the only people who know her, and none of them have any idea where she went.”
Gibby got up and poured more wine into Morgan’s glass. “All right, let’s go backward and see if we can come up with something. Where did she come from?”
Morgan’s stomach rumbled, and his chest tightened. “India, and I sure as hell don’t want to think she’s gone back there.”
“First thing in the morning, I’ll have someone checking to see if any ships left for India today.”
“Blast it, Gib! I don’t know what I’ll do if she boarded a ship today.”
“Does she want or need to hide for any reason?”
Not now. Not with Rajaratnum dead and Warburton on his way to Newgate.
“Hide? No.”
“If she’s in any kind of trouble, or if she was frightened of anything, is India where she would feel safe?”
“I don’t know. I remember she told me one time that she felt safe at Valleydale.” Morgan jumped to his feet. “That’s it! She’s gone to Valleydale! That should have been the first place I thought of. Gib, you are a genius.”
The old man puffed out his chest and smiled. “I’m glad you finally realized that.”
Morgan emptied his glass, placed it on the desk, and headed toward the door.
Gibby rose. “Wait a minute, don’t you want to hear why I came over here and waited over an hour for you?”
Morgan stopped. “Oh, sorry, Gib, but I don’t have time to listen right now.”
“This is a first. You don’t want to hear about my conversation with the viscount?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, he wanted to—”
“But not right now, Gib. I must get to Valleydale. Arianna is already a full day ahead of me. We’ll talk when I return.”
“When will that be?”
“I don’t know, but I promise we’ll talk when I do.”
***
Arianna sat in a chair by Post’s bed and laid a cold, wet cloth on his forehead. His jaw was badly swollen on one side, and he had bruises, welts, and cuts on his hands and arms.
“You shouldn’t be doing this, Miss Sweet,” he said, his voice weak and whispery.
“Nonsense. This is one of the reasons why I came to Valleydale. To see if I could be of help to you with some of my father’s tonics and elixirs. Not that I don’t trust the doctor that Lord Morgandale sent to care for you. I’m sure he’s quite knowledgeable and that he helped you greatly. It’s a blessing that horrible man who was beating you with the board thought you were dead and stopped when he did.”
Post nodded.
“This cold cloth will help keep the fever down. The tonic I gave you to drink will help, too.”
“Was it supposed to taste like dead leaves in dirty water?”
“Yes it was.”
At the sound of Morgan’s voice, Arianna jerked around and saw him standing in the doorway of Post’s room. Their eyes met and held for what seemed like forever. All the love she felt for him bubbled up in her throat. An expectant rush sizzled through her, and she wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him. And she would have sworn that he looked as if he was happy to see her, too.
Walking up to Post’s bed, Morgan said, “I know how bad it tastes, because I had to drink it myself a few times. I can attest to the fact that it will help you feel better.”
Arianna rose and stepped away from the bed.
Post tried to raise himself up on his elbows. “My lord, you shouldn’t have come.”
“Don’t try to get up, Post.” Morgan took hold of the man’s hand and said, “Lie back down before you hurt yourself. You look better than I thought you would. I’m glad.”
“I’m much better today, my lord. You didn’t have to come to Valleydale to check on me.”
Morgan smiled at the man. “Of course I did.” He took the cloth off Post’s forehead, dipped it in the basin, wrung the water out of it, and replaced it on his brow.
“I’ll be back to my duties before you know it.”
“I have no doubt about that. You’re a strong man, but I’ll make sure Mrs. Post knows you are not to come back to work until she says you are ready.”
“Excuse me, my lord, Post,” Arianna said, rising from the chair. “I’ll leave now and give the two of you time to talk.”
Morgan looked at her. His gaze was so intense she felt a chill on her arms. Had she just imagined earlier that he looked as if he were glad to see her, too?
“Arianna, wait in the drawing room for me.”
“I had planned to see Jessup’s family and pay my respects.”
“Do not ignore me on this, Arianna. Wait for me in the drawing room.”
As she walked past him, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. She silently gasped.
“Do not even think about leaving this house,” he whispered. “I rode like the devil all night to get here, and I’m in no mood for your impulsive behavior. I do not want to have to go looking for you again.” He let go of her as quickly as he’d grabbed her, and she hurried from the room.
Arianna walked into the drawing room, her stomach shaking. It was clear that Morgan was furious with her over something, and that caused a deep ache in her heart. Was he angry that she had come to Valleydale? Surely he knew she had to check on Post and visit Jessup’s family. It was her fault that Rajaratnum had come to Valleydale.
After she had left Mr. Warburton’s house, she went home and fell on her bed. Morgan had told her not to let Mr. Rajaratnum make her cry, and she hadn’t, but that night she cried herself to sleep for failing her father. She had let him down because she hadn’t found his formula. But in the light of day, she had realized she could help Post with her father’s satchel of medicines, so she had left immediately for Valleydale.
The first thing Arianna saw upon entering the drawing room was the life-size portrait of Lady Elder. How did a woman learn to become as commanding as that lady looked? Arianna feared she would never be as strong or as di
sciplined as Morgan’s grandmother.
Arianna walked over and looked out the window at the gorgeous tree-lined drive. She had missed this place. She absolutely loved it here. As deeply hurt as she was by Morgan’s anger toward her, she felt at home here in this house.
“You left me.”
She whirled. “What?”
Morgan walked further into the room with a piercing gaze directed at her. “You left London without telling me or anyone else where you were going.”
“You are right. I should have asked permission before coming to your house. I apologize, but at the time, all I could think was that I just needed to get here and check on Post. I knew I had some remedies in my father’s satchel that would help him.”
“Just three days ago, I took your innocence on the settee in your drawing room, Arianna. Just two days ago, there was a madman who had his hands around your throat. You have the bruises on your cheek and neck to remind you.” He walked closer to her. “Did you not stop to think I might be a little worried about you when I found out that you had left town without telling me or anyone of your whereabouts?”
“No, I didn’t think,” she said softly.
His eyes narrowed, and his lips formed a crease of frustration. She hadn’t meant to worry him, and it broke her heart to know that he was angry with her about it.
“Explain to me why, because I do not understand your reasoning.”
“I was no longer in danger from Mr. Rajaratnum or anyone else, and as for what happened on that settee, I told you I would not require anything from you, and have no fear, my lord, I intend to hold to my word on that.”
He looked incredulous. “You require nothing from me?”
“Correct. You are in no way responsible for me. I have now seen Post, but I would like to visit Jessup’s family for a little while, and if you would be so kind as to allow me to stay long enough to visit Master Brute, I’ll be on my way.”
Morgan folded his arms across his chest and drummed his fingers on his arms. “Will you?”