Page 39 of The Widow Wore Plaid

“No, I haven’t seen Jane since I came back.” Fanny looked around the room. “Maria, Charlotte, have you seen Jane? They should be back by now. They had a much shorter journey than ours.” She picked up her tea and stirred milk into it. “How long could something like that take?”

“I haven’t seen her since this morning. Have you, Maria?” Charlotte frowned. “It’s not like Jane to tarry.”

“No, my dears, I have not seen her since we set out this morning either.” Lady Kersey beckoned her husband, Mr. Granger, to her.

“At least,” Georgie piped up, “Jane does tarry sometimes. . . you know, Fanny, like you and Lord Lathbury do?”

Eyebrows shooting up alarmingly, Fanny looked askance at her. “I suppose we have been known to ‘tarry’ now and again.” She turned to Georgie and lowered her voice. “Do you think she and Kinellan returned early and retired to ‘rest’ until dinner?”

Matthew blew out a sharp breath. His wife and Georgie had a point. Kinellan wasn’t above taking his pleasure by afternoon light. Especially if he found himself virtually alone in the house after they returned from the church. “I suppose I can inquire of Grant as to their whereabouts.”

“Yes, my lord?” Always painfully formal, the rather rotund Grant bowed ceremoniously.

“Will you tell Lord Kinellan I wish to have a word with him before dinner?”

“Very good, my lord. I shall inform his lordship as soon as he returns.” Grant made a sharp bow and spun around for the door.

“Wait!” Matthew took a step toward the startled butler. “Do you mean to say Lord Kinellan and Lady John have not yet returned from Fodderty?”

“No, my lord. We expect them at any time.” The stoic butler stood stock still, eyes forward.

“And how far is the church at Fodderty from Castle Kinellan?”

“I’d say not more than three and a half miles, my lord.”

“And they left not long after our party departed?” Matthew tried to keep his mind from racing seven steps ahead.

“Immediately afterward, in fact, my lord.” Grant’s composure slipped a notch.

By all reasoning, Kinellan had taken more than five hours to traverse less distance than Matthew’s party had in four. And was still from home.

“Not to alarm anyone, Grant,” Matthew lowered his voice, “but I’d suggest checking Lord Kinellan’s apartments to make certain he’s not there, then send a groom on a horse to the church in Fodderty to see if along the way one of their horses has thrown a shoe or some such nonsense.”

“Very good, my lord. Excellent idea.” The butler hurried from the room and Matthew strode over to the sideboard in search of something stronger than tea.

“Do you think something is amiss with Kinellan?” Wrotham had gravitated toward him, followed quickly by the other gentlemen.

“I think Kinellan’s gotten Jane to himself after a week of having to manage fifty or more guests here and is taking advantage of it.” Sipping the cognac slowly, Matthew tried to make himself believe that. Unfortunately, he knew very well that accidents weren’t always accidents and that kidnappings were not solely reserved for the stages in Drury Lane. Not that Kinellan would have been kidnapped, but . . .

“I say, I hope this isn’t the third thing in a row for Kinellan.” Rob had just joined them and grabbed a tumbler of brandy.

“What the devil are you talking about, St. Just?” Matthew didn’t like the sound of this at all.

“Never two without three. It’s what I said to Jemmy last night, after Kinellan almost fell into the bonfire.” Rob looked at him, a more sober mien to him than before.

“What?” The chorus of male and female voices that now clustered around him continued to gabble, creating an incredible din that made Matthew wish to hold his ears. “Quiet!”

Instantly, the room fell silent, all eyes turned toward him. “St. Just, Brack, for God’s sake, tell us what happened.”

Listening spellbound, as if to a storyteller from an ancient tribe, Matthew stood with mouth agape as the two young men related Kinellan’s near death escape the evening before. When at last he could speak, he shook his head, unbelieving. “This happened and you told no one?”

Brack shrugged. “I told Elizabeth.”

“And I told Georgie,” St. Just chimed in. “I think she told Jane, is that right, my love?”

“Yes, I told Jane straightaway.” Georgie nodded, as if that message could have solved everything. “I’m sure Jane must have broached the matter to Kinellan. I mean, how could she not?”

“If only it had been the first time something had happened to the man I wouldn’t be nearly so alarmed by their absence,” Rob said, before downing the remains of his cognac.