Page 178 of Courting the Wrong Duke

William was grateful for the silence.

There were too many questions waiting between them, and every one seemed capable of dividing William’s life into what he had believed before entering this cellar and what would come next.

For a while, Edmund seemed content to let him have the silence. Then he spoke quietly behind him.

“William, I am sorry you had to learn the truth this way.”

William closed his eyes. “So am I.”

There was more he could have said. He could have asked why Edmund had never told him, whether his father had truly intended to do so, or how many conversations between Edmund and Algernon had been shaped by a secret William never knew existed. But none of those questions mattered as much as getting Edmund out of this cell.

“We will talk about it when we are out of here,” he said.

Edmund nodded. “Of course.”

William returned to searching the cellar. He found rusted tools, empty bottles, several lengths of rope that he preferred not to examine too closely, but no key.

As the minutes passed, his attention returned more and more frequently to the stairs.

Rosalind should have been back by now.

William told himself that finding Gabriel might take time in an unfamiliar house. It did nothing to stop him from imagining all the reasons Isabella might have sounded that warning or wondering whether sending Rosalind upstairs alone had been a mistake.

He was seconds from abandoning Edmund and going after her when a faint glow appeared at the top of the stairs.

“William?”

Rosalind.

The tension that had been gathering inside him loosened at the sound of her voice. “Here.”

Her footsteps hurried down the stairs, the glow strengthening until she came into view with the lamp held before her. Gabriel followed close behind, carrying an iron bar William had no idea where he had acquired.

William’s relief lasted only until he realized they were alone.

There was no Isabella.

He looked immediately at Gabriel. “Where is she?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Gabriel’s usual ease was gone as he descended the last few steps. “I remained near the front entrance exactly where I was told. When I heard the birdcall, I went around the side of the house, but by the time I reached the rear, she was gone.”

The fear beneath the words was impossible to miss. William had rarely seen Gabriel truly frightened, and judging by the way Rosalind’s expression softened, she recognized it too.

“We heard her,” Rosalind said. “Twice. She was close enough that the sound carried into the cellar.”

“That does not tell us where she is now.”

“No.” Rosalind moved nearer to him. She was pale herself, but her voice remained steady. “But I have known Isabella for years. She does not panic easily, and she does not act without thinking. If she saw someone, she would have warned us first.”

“She did warn us. Then she disappeared.”

“I know.”

Gabriel looked toward the stairs, and for a moment William thought he might turn around and go straight back up them.

Rosalind touched his arm. “She is clever, Gabriel. Far cleverer than either of us gives her credit for sometimes, and remarkably good at taking care of herself.”