Page 100 of The Smuggler’s Escape

He ran up the staircase to find Dorothea waiting in the corridor. “Holmes looked frightfully disapproving, but he went to fetch the key.”

“It’s a well-kept secret, but he’s actually a good fellow,” Richard said. “I can’t find the other key, so Noelle must have taken it with her. We’ll claim she has the migraine and must not be disturbed.”

He ignored Dot’s dubious expression and went downstairs. In the library, Lady Ariadne, flushed and bright-eyed, shuffled a deck of cards. When Richard strode in, Harry quietly closed the door.

Richard thought he had himself under control, but the sight of Lady Ariadne, eager to play cards after sending Noelle into deadly peril, was more than he could bear. He knocked the cards from Lady Ariadne’s grasp. “What have you done with Noelle?”

Lady Ariadne shrieked. “I don’t know anything, I swear!” She fended him off with shaking hands and stumbled toward the door.

Lord Harry set his back to it. “No one wants to hurt you, Lady Ariadne, but you must answer the question.”

She burst into noisy sobs.

Richard clamped an arm around her and covered her mouth with his hand. “Listen to me. Harry’s wrong. I do want to hurt you. If any harm comes to Noelle, you can be certain I will. Tell me where she has gone, and why.” He withdrew his hand just enough for her to speak.

“I mean her no harm.” Lady Ariadne trembled and sobbed. “I’m helping her. She’s gone to France. She can’t stay in England, Lord Boltwood. She’s a smuggler and a spy.”

With a supreme effort, Richard refrained from slapping the woman. “Don’t waste my time. Sir Frederick Darsington and I know you’ve been selling information to the French. If I bring Noelle safely home, and if you keep your mouth shut, we’ll do our best to hush it up. If anything happens to Noelle, I will see that you are hanged for treason.”

Lady Ariadne’s eyes rolled ominously.

“Swooning won’t get you out of this,” Richard said. “Answer me or go to your death.”

Lady Ariadne whimpered and shook. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a traitor, but I needed money, and William is so unfair, and there was no other way.”

Much as he appreciated this frank confession before himself and a witness, Richard had no time for more. He took her by the throat and squeezed. “Where is Noelle?”

Lady Ariadne thrashed, and he squeezed harder. “Tell me. Now!”

She struggled to speak, and he eased the pressure. “She’s not in danger. She’s gone with Jackson, my groom. She’ll be perfectly safe. He’s taking her to the Restless Rose.”

He let go of Lady Ariadne, making no move to save her when she crumpled to the floor. When had Jackson returned? What use was Hale if he couldn’t successfully follow one man?

To the sobbing heap on the floor, Richard said, “Lady Ariadne, you are under arrest and in Lord Harry’s custody until I return, but if you wish to save your neck, you must act as if nothing is wrong.” He took the stairs at a run and loaded his pistols with hands that weren’t quite steady.

Holmes, who had efficiently appropriated the spare key to Noelle’s room, rose to the occasion without fuss and provided coat, gloves and hat. “May I assist in any other way, my lord?”

“Whatever occurs to you, Holmes.” Richard nodded his gratitude and left. He had just reached the head of the stairs when a frantic knocking sounded on the front door. What the devil? He halted in the shadows on the landing.

The butler walked stately through the hall to open the door, and Sir Matthew Tifton’s manservant all but tumbled in. “Begging your pardon, but I need to see Sir Matthew right quick. Been a theft, there has. Miss Noelle’s horse has gone.”

It needed only this.

The butler summoned Sir Matthew, but curiosity, not to mention the manservant’s frantic tone, brought the rest of the company streaming out of the drawing room as well. Richard heard a soft footfall and turned to see Dorothea creeping up behind him. Holmes approached with his usual noiseless tread, while Johnny stood in his doorway, leaning on a stick.

“Explain yourself,” Sir Matthew said brusquely. “What’s the matter, man?”

“Someone broke into the stables, Sir Matthew. Knocked Jacobs on the head, sir, and by the time he come to, the thief had made off with Snowflake, sir.”

“Snowflake? Why would anyone steal Snowflake with all my prize hunters in there?”

Lady Tifton made a sound of distress.

Don’t say it, Richard thought uselessly.

“How perfectly horrid!” Lady Tifton cried. “Snowflake is Noelle’s favorite mount.”

Richard saw the gleam in Lady Darsington’s eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Sir Matthew forestalled her.