Page 140 of A Duchess for his Family

“Marjorie?” he called out softly, but no answer came.

He crossed the room and pulled back the coverlet. The sheets beneath were cold. Something inside him dropped.

“Ruth!” The sharpness of his voice brought the maid running from a nearby room, hastily tying her skirt.

“Your Grace?”

“Where is Marjorie?” he demanded.

Ruth looked toward the bed. Every trace of sleep vanished from her face.

“She was there when I checked them,” she managed to muster.

“When?”

“Perhaps an hour ago. A little longer… I… I thought they were both asleep.”

Benedict went to the wardrobe. Marjorie’s cloak was gone. So were her walking boots. He checked the washroom, then looked behind the curtains despite knowing she could not possibly be there.

Empty.

The windows remained fastened. So she must have left through the house.

Behind him, Amelia sat upright. “Uncle Benedict?”

He turned to face her. Her hair had fallen across her frightened face. She looked from the empty place beside her to him, and her eyes widened.

“Where is Marjorie?” she asked, her voice on the verge of tears.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I will find her.”

The answer came with more certainty than he felt. He returned to the bedside and crouched before her.

“Did she say anything before you went to sleep?”

Amelia shook her head. Then, she hesitated.

“What?” he urged.

“She was angry,” Amelia confessed.

“At whom?”

“You.”

Under any other circumstances, Benedict might have smiled.

“Why?”

“Because you did not bring Sophia home.”

The room became very still. Amelia gripped the coverlet between both hands.

“She said if you would not fetch Sophia, perhaps she could. She said she knew the way to Keswick,” Amelia whispered. “I thought she was pretending. She says many things she does not mean.”

But not that. Not when it concerned Sophia.

Benedict was already moving. He reached the corridor and pulled the bell rope hard enough that it struck the wall once, twice, then again. Doors opened along the passage. A footman appeared at the far end, still fastening his coat.