Page 80 of The Duchess Debt

“I’m paying for this room,” Gabe reminded him, barely above a growl. “Technically, it’s mine to burst into any time I damned well please.”

“There was a woman in here whom you—”

“I’m paying forher, too.”

“Gabe,” Helena gently warned as she turned around to face Adam. “Alice is missing,” she explained. “I went to the nursery this morning, and she was gone.”

Adam froze. “Missing?” An expression of genuine confusion flashed over his face. “How can that be with that guard dog of a nanny?”

“You tell us,” Gabe demanded. His patience was wearing thin. “You threatened to take her away last night. Looks like you did just that.”

“I had nothing to do with her after she left the dining room.” He furiously pulled on his shirt over his head and shoved the tail beneath his waistband. “Did you check the house and grounds? You know how she loves to sneak out.”

“Nanny Potts is missing, too,” Helena answered, coming forward to put her hand on Gabe’s right arm, most likely to keep him from punching Adam. Again.

“Well, there you have it.” Adam pulled up his braces over his shoulders and slipped on his waistcoat. “They went out for a walk or to play.” He muttered beneath his breath as he buttonedthe waistcoat, “God knows that pinched-face guard dog of a nanny wouldn’t have let Alice out of her sight.”

“They didn’t go out at dawn to play,” Gabe corrected.

“Not on the morning of our wedding,” Helena added quietly but avoided making eye contact with either brother. The sting of that quiet addition pierced him, but now was not the time to address that. One emergency at a time.

“Where are they?” Gabe demanded.

“I don’t know!” Adam snatched up his boots from beneath the bed and sat on the chair. He stomped his foot into each. “Maybe somebody else took her, then, to do you the favor of keeping her out of your hair until the wedding.”

“No one else took her.”

“How do you know?” He shot Gabe a furious look of irritation. “You’ve burst into the rooms of all your other guests from last night, then?”

“It had to be you,” Gabe insisted. “There was no sign of struggle, no noise—she knew whoever left with her, and random kidnappers wouldn’t have known the layout of the house and where to find the nursery. Nanny Potts certainly wouldn’t have gone with any of the other guests. She would have put up a fight, cried out for the footmen—”

“Goddamn it! I didn’t take her!” With exasperation, Adam shoved himself to his feet. “I threatened taking her last night only to rile you up and give you both one last parting jab. You deserved it after the way you treated me.” Adam’s eyes gleamed with petty revenge when Helen’s grip tightened visibly on Gabe’s arm. “What the hell wouldIwant with a child and her bulldog—”

Adam froze, except for his face which paled almost instantly. Then his shoulders sagged as the thought which had struck him visibly seeped through him.

“The nanny,” he said quietly, his eyes moving between Gabe and Helena and his mouth grimacing with stunned realization. “She must have taken Alice. It was her.”

Gabe’s chest tightened with frustration. Adam was clearly stalling…and playing them for fools. “Why would she do that?”

“God knows, but she overhead us arguing last night. Maybe she got the idea to kidnap Alice herself, or maybe someone else is paying her to do it. With all the activity surrounding the wedding, all the people coming and going, they probably thought it was the perfect time to kidnap the duke’s daughter and demand a king’s ransom.” When Gabe began to interrupt, he scowled. “Butnotme. For God’s sake, that nanny hates me! She would never have left with me, no matter what lies I could have spun her.” When he realized Gabe wasn’t convinced, he ran his hand through his hair and gestured angrily toward Grangely Park. “Think—who else could have taken Alice without a struggle and without leaving word?”

Gabe looked down at Helena. Her sickened expression told him she believed his brother’s argument.

God help him, so did he.

“Nanny Potts.” He turned toward Helena. “She couldn’t have gone far, not without a private carriage and not with a child in tow. If she took the stagecoach, she can’t have more than a couple of hours lead time on us.” He touched her cheek. “Go back to Grangely and have the servants expand the search into the village. Ask Larkin and Mrs. Brimley to speak with all the merchants and ask if anyone has seen them. I’ll check with Brown about the morning stagecoach and ride on after them. If they took the coach, they can only go along one road out of the village.”

“No,” she replied. “I’m coming with you.”

“So am I,” Adam piped up.

The offer surprised him, but Gabe glanced dismissingly over his shoulder at Adam. “I think you’ve done enough.”

“I mean it,” Adam said resolutely. “I want to come with you. We can cover twice as much ground, and Helena can remain here to lead the search on the estate.” When Gabe hesitated to agree, he added apologetically, “Let it be my way of making amends for how I’ve behaved since I arrived home. I was a damned fool to think I could blackmail money from you. I see that now, and Alice had nothing to do with any of the animosity between us. It was all me.” He looked pleadingly at Helena. “Iwantto help. And then, I’ll leave and never bother you again. I promise.”

Gabe gave a tight nod of consent. But it wasn’t Adam’s argument that convinced him to accept his brother’s help. It was the pleading look on Helena’s face, and Gabe would do anything to make Helena happy. “But if you slow me down, I’ll leave you behind.”

“I’d hope so.” Adam grinned, grabbed up his coat, and pulled it on as he hurried from the room.