Page 12 of Broken

Giles closed his eyes. He should have seen this coming.

“Maisie went to fetch the woman because Miss Winter’s breakfast was growing cold, but we have not been able to locate her.”

Giles reached for his jacket and tugged it on, pausing only long enough for Worth to thread a jade pin into his cravat. “Right. Of course.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as the valet fussed with the fit of his sleeves. This was not going to be an easy day. If the nurse had abandoned her post altogether, where did one find another?

Dithers hovered at the edge of his vision. When Giles looked at the white-faced man, unease rippled through him as he sensed there were more bad tidings to come.

“Miss Winter is missing from her bedchamber. We went to check her room for the nurse and when we did not see her there, we also realized the young miss had left her bed.”

Dithers finished his speech to Giles’ back.

Giles ran the short distance to Lilly’s room and skidded into the doorframe. He stopped in shock. The drapes were open wide and a frigid wind blew in through the window. A chair stood in front of it. Surely, the pain was not so great that Lilly would take her own life? Not here. Not now.

Giles crossed the room with a sinking heart, forcing his feet to the open window. He looked down. There was no body below on the pavers. He slumped in relief, but then turned to look about him.

The bedding, turned back untidily, looked as if Lilly had slept there for at least a little while, but the hearth was cold. A dark cloak lay over the chair back and Giles recognized it from Lilly’s arrival at Cottingstone. Was she dressed in just a nightgown? Last night had not been particularly warm. To be dressed so lightly could not be good for her health.

“The main door was wide open this morning too, milord.” Dithers finished his bad tidings from the doorway.

“Were we robbed, Dithers?”

“Not that I could detect, so far. I was busy checking the silver when Maisie reported the nurse missing. I thought we should search for Miss Winter first.”

“Yes, do that.” Giles looked around the room, puzzled.

Where was Atticus? Why had the dog not made an appearance yet? It was not at all like him. Giles strode out, checking all the rooms near this one, but found no sign of Lilly. He dispatched his staff to search the upper rooms.

Giles cursed the fact that he had so few staff. At a moment like this, he could do with a few more. Had the nurse abducted Lilly? He should probably have the servants search for a ransom note, too.

The library door was closed and he found the room unoccupied. He slammed the door behind him, frustrated by the woman’s disappearance. Giles thought he heard a faint noise but couldn’t determine where the sound came from. He crossed the hall to check the drawing room and found a small table on its side—the same one he always tripped over when deep in his cups. He righted it and eyed the room. Had she sought escape? A quick check behind the curtains and furniture produced nothing. All the windows were secure, as expected.

Giles retraced his steps to the main staircase and looked up. Dithers and his staff darted in and out of the upper rooms, but none looked hopeful. He glanced at the front door again, pondering what benefit could be found in abducting a woman so grievously ill.

A whine echoed down the hall.

“Atticus!”

The dog whined again. Giles headed for his study. Someone must have locked Atticus inside. That would explain his silence up until now. Perhaps the dog could search for the girl. He had never trained him to do so, but perhaps, given his pet’s devotion, he could find Lilly.

But the door to his study was already open—which begged the question: why would the dog not come out?

Giles rushed to reach the threshold.

Atticus looked at him with a mournful expression, and then lay his large head back down over the still white form slumped in front of the cold hearth.

Lilly. A tangle of pale hair lay over her features and the floor. He hurried across the chamber, avoided her sickness to kneel next to the woman, and reached for her hand. A ruby cravat pin fell from her nerveless fingers.

Ignoring the expensive trinket, he rubbed her hand. She was freezing cold.

Atticus stopped Dithers and Mrs. Osprey at the door with his warning growl.

“You found her, milord! What a relief.”

“Dithers, get her room warm again. Hurry. Her skin is like ice.”

Giles chafed her thin hands and considered how best to lift her. He remembered Lord Winter’s agonizing slowness and gentle hold, but he hadn’t seen the man lift her. What if he made her pain worse?

Atticus watched intently, as if he understood Giles’ dilemma. But there was no help for it. Although he did not know anything about the extent of her injuries, Lilly could not possibly remain on the cold floor.