Bedlam-worthy or not, she couldn’t accept either apology or explanation until she’d had time to heal. She needed to spend time with her sisters. With their love, she’d gather her wounded pieces and bind them back together.
She knew enough of wounds to expect, eventually, the bleeding would cease.
A knock sounded at the doorway to the corridor.
Mercy yowled in indignant protest.
“I know…how dare anyone interrupt our confidential tête-à-tête?” She placed him back on the bed before hesitantly opening the door.
“I do beg your pardon, Your Grace,” Mrs. Pratt wrung her hands. “But the lad—”
“I will not have that woman in my house,” Cassie interrupted, surprised at her own vehemence.
“Of course not.” Mrs. Pratt drew back, affronted. “I already told Miss An—Lady Pennington, I mean—that if she insisted on waiting for you to return, she was welcome to wait outside in the comfort of her own carriage. Imagine!” She huffed. “Her coming right to the door, demanding to see His Grace.”
Cassie hadn’t expected Mrs. Pratt to express her loyalty with such fervor. She couldn’t help a deep exhale.
“Mind you,” Mrs. Pratt went on. “I understand she is worried. If I hadn’t been certain Your Graces would share her concern for Mr. Anderson, I would have told her to turn her carriage right around.” She pulled herself up to her full height. “I would not take the part of anyone with the effrontery to disturb you just weeks after you were wed.”
Well, well. She had made at least one true ally. “Thank you, Mrs. Pratt.”
“Only right,” the housekeeper quipped. “But I came to tell you about theotherladies at the door. Miss Clapham and Mrs. Townsend have requested an audience with you, and only you. I would have turned them away, too, but Mrs. Townsend said their visit has to do with Mr. Anderson.”
“Take me down.” She would hear the ladies first before deciding if she should interrupt Harbury. “But inform Mr. Marsden I’d like him to keep an eye on the duke. I don’t want Harbury running off in a mad search if one is not necessary. And stay close, if you will. I may need you.”
“I will,” Mrs. Pratt said. “I knew you’d know just how to handle things.”
She felt a sweeping sense of gratitude for her staff as Mrs. Pratt led her down the stairs. Mrs. Pratt’s loyalty touched Cassie more than shecould say.
The housekeeper announced her entry.
“Mrs. Townsend,” she greeted. “Miss Clapham. So good of you to visit. Please have a seat.”
The ladies did as she bid, though they exchanged a nervous glance.
“You asked me to contact you,” Mrs. Townsend began. “If I noticed anything unusual, that is.”
“What’s happened?” Cassie inquired.
“This morning, Mr. Townsend and I were on our way to town when we spotted Mr. Anderson on the roadside. He was unshaven. Almost frantic. When my husband asked where he was going, he refused to answer. And when he tried to question him further, he ran away.”
“Oh!” Cassie exclaimed. “Oh, my.”
“We thought Anderson’s behavior strange, of course, but Mr. Townsend did not wish to become involved with something he did not consider to be his concern. ‘Like as not,’ he said, ‘he’s been at the punch.’”
She and Miss Clapham exchanged another glance.
“I held my peace, thoughIdidn’t think him in his cups, if you’ll forgive the parlance. Taking a page from the old duke, Mr. Anderson rarely overindulges in spirits.”
“Then later this morning,” Miss Clapham continued the story, “when my father visited Rose Cottage, he found Mrs. Grant frantic. She said she hadn’t seen Mr. Anderson since yesterday, when he’d told her ‘the impostor must be stopped.’ This morning, she discovered the tinder box missing. She claimed not to understand what Mr. Anderson had meant.”
“Miss Clapham and I think we might, though,” Mrs. Townsend ventured.
“He thinks my husband is an imposter,” Cassie breathed, equal parts concerned and sad.
The two ladies nodded in unison.
“Toward the end of my aunt’s life,” Miss Clapham ventured, “she was absolutely convinced I was not myself. In fact, each time I visited, she told her maid to send me away thinking I was a stranger. I’m afraid Mr. Anderson suffers from a similar affliction. Only his concern about an imposter makes me feel as if he may be dangerous.”
