“Yes.”
“Will you come and help me saddle him?”
“You shouldn’t go out in this weather,” he said. “Father wouldn’t want you to.”
“Everyone else is out in it. I might as well be, too. Besides, I think your father might have gone to look for me along the road where I usually go walking. If I can find him, I can tell him that Diana is out in this, too. Don’t worry, I know my way around, and there’s still time before dark.”
“All right.” Charlie went to fetch his coat. “But I’m coming with you.”
Madeline started upstairs to get her hooded cloak. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Splashing through puddles and squinting into the driving rain, Adam rode his horse into the yard. He quickly dismounted, tethered his mount and went inside. The candles in the hall were lit, and as soon as the door closed behind him, Penelope and Hilary appeared out of the back kitchen.
Penelope ran at him and leaped into his arms. “Father!”
He knelt down to hug her. “I’m fine, darling. It’s just a little rain. Has Madeline returned?”
“Yes, Mr. Coates,” Hilary replied, “but there’s been—”
“Thank goodness,” he said, overwhelmed by the relief he felt, hearing that she was safe. “Where is she? I must see her right away.”
He rose to his feet and continued to hold Penelope’s tiny hand. She did not seem ready to let it go just yet.
“Miss Oxley’s not here, sir. She returned not long ago, and discovered that you and Lady Thurston had both gone looking for her, so she went with Charlie to find you.”
There was a long, tremulous silence as Adam’s brow furrowed with disbelief. “She’s gone back out? Diana’s out there, too?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But this storm is getting worse every minute.”
“We know, sir. Miss Oxley assured us she knew her way around, and Charlie went with her. Her ladyship, however, was alone.”
He went to the door to look out. “This is disastrous. How long ago did they leave?”
“Miss Oxley and Charlie left about ten minutes ago,” Hilary replied, “but my lady has been gone almost an hour.”
He gathered his coat collar tighter around his neck and opened the door. A gust of wind blew into the front hall. “You two stay here. I’m going to the marsh to look for them. John Metcalf is on his way. When he gets here, tell him what has happened and send him out to look, too.”
“Be careful, Father!” Penelope called to him from the shelter of the doorway.
He waved at her, then mounted his horse and galloped through the wind and rain toward the top of the ridge. He paused there briefly to gaze below, but saw nothing through the raging storm. His horse nickered, and Adam had to urge the reluctant steed down the road to the lowlands.
On the marsh, Adam called out to Madeline and Diana, but no reply came. The wind howled like a great beast as it gusted over the grasses. The rain stung his face like steel pellets. He continued along the road toward the river, until he decided to cross over a dale to check one of the hay barns.
Within minutes, he noticed his mount was struggling to manage his footing across the wet grass. The closer they came to the river, the deeper the puddles became until they were sloshing through soggy ground and sinking into the mud. It was clear to Adam that the water was not draining fast enough into the ditches. He gazed uneasily up at the darkening sky, the clouds showing no sign of retreat. He called out Madeline’s name again, then Diana’s, and searched the vast landscape with squinting, burning eyes.
Though his first concern was to find each of them unharmed, he could not deny the hope that he would find Madeline before Diana did.
He continued toward the river and soon realized that his horse was up to his knees in water, struggling now with each step.
A slow panic began to move over Adam. He stopped on the marsh and peered through the storm toward the river. Perhaps the dykes were damaged.
“Madeline! Diana!”
He spotted a hay barn in the distance and wondered if they might have gone there to seek shelter. Madeline was smart. She would take Diana there if she’d found her.
“Let’s go, boy, just a little farther.”
