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Matthew stared at Selby’s pale face. “But you don’t think so, do you?”
“Let’s check with her friends before we go to the wharf.”
“The wharf!” Matthew’s voice rose. “Why in God’s name would she have gone there?”
“We’re wasting time, Blackburn. We need to speak with her friends.” Selby picked up his hat and then swung the door open. He strode for his carriage.
“Selby!”
“In the carriage, Blackburn.”
Matthew followed as anger and frustration bit at his heels. An overwhelming ache radiated from his heart. He had to find her. The idea of life without her made his entire body slow to a stop. He would find her. It didn’t matter where she went, he would travel to the ends of the world to find her.
She had to forgive him.
The carriage stopped in front of Miss Seaton’s home for orphaned children. He charged up the stairs before Selby reached the first step. After he banged on the door, a small woman with blond hair and spectacles slowly opened it.
“May I help you?” She glanced around him and said, “Lord Selby, this is a surprise.”
“Miss Seaton, please excuse our intrusion. Have you seen my sister?”
“Jennette? Not since two days ago.” Her blue eyes rounded behind metal spectacles. “What happened to her?”
“She is missing. If she stops by, please send word to Avis and my mother,” Selby said.
“And keep her occupied here until one of us comes for her,” Matthew added.
Miss Seaton frowned but nodded just the same. “Good day.”
Matthew turned around and went back to the carriage. “Where does Miss Reynard live?”
“Only three blocks away.”
“Why would she have gone to the wharf, Selby?”
Selby grimaced. “She had planned to leave for Florence in four days.”
Matthew stared silently out the window. His heart felt as if someone had ripped it out of his chest. She had planned to leave and not marry him. Not once in all their conversations had she mentioned her intentions to leave. He raised his fists to the side of his head. None of this made sense.
She’d written that note to him telling him she’d found him a bride. She had dressed as Aphrodite. Why would she have gone to all that trouble if she intended to leave anyway?
“Her ship doesn’t leave for four days, so she could be at any of the inns by the docks,” Selby said, interrupting Matthew’s internal debate.
“None of which is terribly savory,” Matthew replied. “Why would she leave here instead of Portsmouth?”
Selby raised a black brow at him, reminding Matthew of Jennette. “Time is of the essence. She knows I will be searching for her, and quite possible you, too.”
“Selby…”
“What?”
“She might have exchanged her ticket for passage on a trade ship that leaves earlier.” Or had already left.
Selby frowned and shook his head. “I know.”
As the carriage stopped in front of Miss Reynard’s house, Matthew’s foreboding grew. The possibilities of what might have happened ran rampant in his head. She could be hurt. Someone might have kidnapped her.
Or, she might have just left you for good, his mind reasoned.
