James gritted his teeth. In his impatience and fear, he was behaving like a ruffian. He looked back at Nathan, whose haggard face betrayed his tiredness.
“Excuse the Duke of Attorton,” Nathan said, stepping forward. “We are looking for someone—perhaps you could help us?”
The groomsman’s eyes went wide at James’s title, and he hurriedly and awkwardly bowed. “Forgive me, Your Grace, I did not realize?—”
“No, it was I who was in the wrong,” James assured him. “We are looking for two people who arrived in town yesterday, in an unmarked carriage. It would be an older gentleman and his daughter. It’s possible there were more men with them, or servants, or… bodyguards.”
“Bodyguards?” The groomsman was gaping at him now.
“Just servants,” Nathan interjected. “Has anyone arrived in town today who might match that description? Both the gentleman and the lady have dark hair and green eyes.”
“The lady is particularly beautiful,” James couldn’t help but add.
“There was a carriage that arrived earlier,” the groomsman said. “I changed the horses for the gentleman. I do believe he was with a lady, but I didn’t get a good look at her. She stayed in the carriage. The gentleman was mostly gray, but aye, his hair was dark. Not sure about the color of his eyes, though.”
“What was the gentleman like?” James asked, his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage. “Was he impatient? Rude?”
“He was not the most gentlemanly,” the groomsman admitted. “He said they were in a hurry.”
“That must be him,” James said at once.
“And did they change horses and ride out of Barry?” Nathan asked the groomsman. “Or did they stay here?”
“They were staying here. I asked the gentleman if he needed a recommendation for an inn, but he said had everything sorted. And when I came back from watering the horses, they were gone. I’m not sure where they went.” The groomsman took in thedevastated look on James’s face and added, quite sincerely, “I’m sorry, Your Grace.”
“Thank you for your time,” Nathan said when James said nothing.
The groomsman nodded and walked away, and James let out a frustrated breath. He was so close but still so far away. It was no good. There was no hope.
And then, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Kicking at the ground, he let out a roar of anger, fear, sadness, and guilt. It tore out of his throat, and he heard the groomsman gasp in fear and the horses whinny. But he didn’t care. The world was ending, and he could do nothing to stop it.
“Excuse me? Yer Grace?” James turned at the sound of a girl’s timid voice.
Standing behind him was a girl dressed as a maid. She looked winded, as if she had run to reach the posting inn, but her eyes were shining with purpose and excitement.
“You are the Duke of Attorton?” she asked, looking him up and down as if for proof. “I heard William call you ‘Yer Grace’…and she said you’d be here.”
“Yes, I am the Duke of Atterton,” James confirmed at once, a strange, surreal feeling washing over him. Goosebumps spread up his arms and legs. “She? Who is she? Who said I’d be here?”
Could she be talking about Violet?
“Lady Crampton,” the girl said, and James felt as if someone had just told him he’d narrowly escaped death. “She told me you’d be here, that you’d come to rescue her.”
“Where is she?” James whispered, paralyzed and full of energy at the same time. “Is she married yet?”
“Not yet,” the girl said. “But we must hurry.”
“Violet, it’s time.”
Violet looked up from her reflection in the dirty, cracked mirror of the vanity in the bedroom to see her father standing at the door. He had washed and changed into a black velvet jacket that looked less worn than the one he’d been wearing before.
Her throat very dry, Violet nodded. She wasn’t sure her legs would work, but somehow, she managed to stand up and cross the room to where her father was waiting for her.
“You look very beautiful,” he remarked.
For a moment, Violet thought she saw a flicker of pride in his eyes. He offered her arm, and she took it numbly before they stepped out into the hallway.
“The vicar is downstairs. We will have a simple ceremony in the parlor of the inn. I know it isn’t very grand, but given the circumstances…”
