Lady Yolten winked at him. “Being disgustingly happy is our specialty. You should try it sometime.”
Nicholas’s mouth quirked. Disgustingly happy was exactly what he was planning to be.
Lady Yolten stopped them a few moments later so they could investigate some dark-green shrubbery. “That would be perfect in my garden. Do you know what it is?”
“I’m afraid all my plant knowledge revolves around crops. I haven’t the faintest idea.”
She spent a few minutes explaining what made that particular plant unique from every other shrub they’d passed before Nicholas finally plucked a stem from it. “We will ask one of the caretakers. They are certain to know the name of this miraculous foliage.”
Lady Yolten smiled. “Brilliant.” Before long, they rounded a tree-lined corner, and the giraffe house came into view. And so did a running Miss Morgan.
And she was alone.
Nicholas’s feet froze to the ground, a sickening tightness darkened the world. He hadn’t felt this much foreboding since the day Patience came tear-streaked into his study, unable to put a voice to the devastating news of their father’s passing.
His eyes frantically searched the path behind Miss Morgan, but Lady Mercy was nowhere to be seen. Her parents weren’t visible either; they must have already entered the viewing area of the giraffe house.
Miss Morgan slowed when she got within earshot. “Did Lady Mercy come this way?” she asked, out of breath.
Nicholas’s vision tunneled to the space surrounding MissMorgan. He should have known. He should have said something immediately when he learned that Miss Morgan would be joining them. If she was near, there would always be trouble. His only mistake had been assuming the trouble would be with him. “She isn’t with you?” Each word out of Nicholas’s mouth sounded like they had been chiseled from stone. There was no warmth in his voice, only sharpness and unyielding command. “We left the two of you together.”
“I know.” Miss Morgan looked as though she were about to cry, but he’d seen her summon stronger emotions with less preparation. “But she was going on and on about the llamas, and yes, they are fascinating, but also, I knew you were going to the giraffe house, and I did so want to see the giraffes.”
“So, you left her there? Alone?” He was already darting back toward the llama house.
Miss Morgan’s face turned to a pout. “I didn’tleaveher there. I started meandering this way in hopes that she would understand my meaning, but when I turned around, she was gone. I thought, perhaps, she had taken the other, longer path to the giraffe house, but it looks as though she isn’t here. Unless... Is she with her parents? Could she have beaten you there and joined them?”
“No, we would have seen her if she’d come our way, and we can see you ran the other way around and would have overtaken her unless she’d also run,” Lady Yolten said. “And she would have no reason to.”
Blast. It didn’t matter how it had happened, only that Lady Mercy was alone, without a chaperone or any protection. Inside the Zoological Garden, she should be safe, but if she made her way back out to Regent’s Park, anyone could cross her path.
He turned around. He started with a brisk walk, then, with a curse under his breath, he ran. It was only a few minutes before the path turned and the llama house came into view, but just as Miss Morgan had said, Lady Mercy was nowhere to be seen.
“Lady Mercy!” he called out, but only the sounds of the park around him answered back. He dashed to the doorway and looked inside. Three llamas turned their heads and looked curiously back at him, but she wasn’t there either. He looked down the path that Miss Morgan had taken and strode toward it. The curve of the trees outlining the walkway made it nearly impossible to see more than ten feet in front of him. He started running again, pulling at his cravat. Sometimes he hated that deuced thing. Who invented such a torture device?
After a few moments of jogging, a woman came into view.
But it was not Lady Mercy.
It was Miss Morgan.
Again. She had made the loop from the giraffe house in the opposite direction.
He pulled at his cravat again. “Did you find her?”
Miss Morgan shook her head. “No, but I wanted to help. I thought, perhaps, if I retraced my steps, we would know at least where she wasn’t.”
“And there was no sign of her?” It was a stupid question—if there had been, she would have already told him.
“No,” Miss Morgan said slower this time, as if she wanted to make certain he understood. “You checked the llama house?”
“Yes. She isn’t there.” Nicholas closed his eyes. He had lost Lady Mercy, and now he was alone with Miss Morgan. This day could not get any worse. He opened his eyes. Miss Morgan had somehow managed to silently creep forward and was now no more than two feet away from him.
Nicholas started and took a quick step back. “Why are you here?”
Miss Morgan blinked her wide eyes in innocence. “I’m looking for Lady Mercy.”
“I mean here, today. Why are you at the gardens?”
