Page 84 of How to Best a Marquess

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Shopping can uplift a lady’s spirits like nothing else,” Olivia said.

“I hardly think a new bonnet will help.” At the expectant look on her sister’s face, Ellie lightened her tone. “But I do believe spending an afternoon with my sister shopping for bonnets is a splendid idea.”

Olivia’s brow eased, and she smiled. “I didn’t have the milliners in mind.” She hooked her arm through Ellie’s and urged her down Bond Street.

Ellie was not in the mood for shopping, but she did not want to disappoint her sister. She was also aware that her days in town were limited, and she wanted to spend as much time with Olivia as she could.

Her heart sank. She’d no longer see Olivia on a daily basis but would have to wait until her family traveled to the country to see her sister. How awful.

They came to a shop, and Ellie glanced at the sign above the door. “Phillips Jewelers?”

“I’d like to purchase something special,” Olivia said.

A departing patron opened the shop door, and the two sisters swept inside. The jeweler was busy helping a gentleman with a selection of snuffboxes. Displays on counters and tables captivated Ellie, and she wasn’t sure where to look first. Necklaces, earrings, and bracelets of precious and semiprecious jewels of diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts, and topaz were nestled on black velvet trays. Snuffboxes with lids that could incorporate a tiny portrait of one’s spouse were displayed on tables throughout the shop. Ellie wondered if Ian would like another snuffbox with Grace’s image. A table was laden with a full dinner service of silver plates. Another held cameo brooches and lockets.

Olivia waved for Ellie to join her in the corner of the shop where a selection of letter openers was displayed. Some were plain with simple silver handles; others were inscribed and their handles encrusted with jewels.

“I thought to get you a letter opener so that you can open all the letters I plan to write you.”

Ellie’s eyes welled. “That’s so thoughtful.”

Olivia touched her arm. “Oh, Ellie. I didn’t mean for you to cry.”

Ellie shook her head. “I’m crying with happiness now.”

“I promise to write every day. And I shall visit often. Ian will tire of me asking to see you and will no doubt relent at my persistence.”

A tear slipped down Ellie’s cheek. “I will look forward to each treasured letter and every visit.” Her fingers grazed the displayed letter openers. “You pick one.”

Olivia selected one with a jeweled handle made of opal. As they waited for the shopkeeper to finish with his customer, the shop’s bell chimed, and a man clad in a coat and beaver hat with the brim pulled down low entered and went to the back. Ellie paid him little heed as the shopkeeper raised his head to smile at the sisters and motion them to the counter to pay. He covered the sharp tip of the letter opener with a piece of cloth. Rather than carry a wrapped package, Ellie slipped her small purchase into her reticule.

“Now it’s my turn,” Ellie said. “I want to buy you a keepsake as well. It must be a surprise. You stay in the front of the shop while I search for the perfect gift.”

Ellie wound her way past tables displaying fancy silver wine goblets, elegant candelabras, and more gleaming silver plates. From the outside, the shop appeared small, and indeed it was narrow, but it had considerable depth. She stopped at a table of amber brooches and necklaces and admired each one to decide which her sister would like.

A strong hand landed on her arm and another around her mouth. Shocked, Ellie tried to struggle, but she was dragged out of the shop’s back door and into the alley.

…

Hugh took the earl’s carriage and directed the driver to Bond Street. He looked up and down the street. Gentlemen and ladies strolled arm-in-arm, others entered and departed from stores, while others stopped to look at displays behind large bay windows. Where on earth could two unmarried women shop? The dressmaker’s? The milliner’s? The shoemaker’s?

“Lord Deveril!”

He spun at the sound of his name to see a golden-haired lady rushing toward him.

“Lady Olivia,” he said, closing the distance between them in two strides. “Where’s your sister?”

Her cheeks were flushed, her green eyes wide. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

She was breathing heavily, her voice strained. “We were in the jeweler’s shop. She told me to wait in the front of the shop while she selected something for me…a surprise. She just…just disappeared. She would never just do that. Never. I’m afraid something has happened.”

“Wait in the carriage.” Hugh ran down the street, scanning the area for Ellie and pushing past alarmed passersby on his way. His thoughts bordered on chaotic as his legs pumped to reach the shop. Baron Willoughby was raving mad, and he most likely knew Ellie had something to do with his wife’s disappearance. How long had she been missing? The thought of the baron hurting her or worse—killing her—caused panic to riot in his chest.

Don’t think of how he mercilessly beat his own wife.