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“What about Mia?” Caroline asked.
“She can’t come with me. I need to be swift to catch him.” Simon rose and headed for the door.
“You had better speak with her before you leave,” James counseled.
“She will only insist on coming with me. I can’t let her do that for her own safety.”
Caroline choked. “Her safety? Or because you haven’t told her the truth?”
Simon stopped and glared back at his annoying sister who was almost always right. “Both.”
“What am I supposed to tell her?” Caroline asked.
“Tell her an emergency came up at Hartsfield Park and I had to return tonight.”
As he left the room, he heard James say, “She will never believe that.”
“No, she won’t,” Caroline replied.
Mia searched the ballroom for an hour but still couldn’t find Simon. Her fury had only calmed slightly. The idea that he married her strictly to increase his reputation infuriated her. How dare he! The man was no better than Davies or Paul Smyth. Simon used her just as they had. Perhaps not as badly as Davies but it made no difference. Simon had told her he was marrying her for her own protection.
She had done it again. Only this time, she had married the scoundrel. There was no getting out of this mess.
She leaned against the wall of the ballroom and held her aching stomach. She scanned the crowd for him. Why did she let men take advantage of her? She was strong. Or at least she was most of the time. So why did men use her?
If he had only told her about this before they married, then...
Then what?
She had just been beaten to within an inch of her life. Would she have accepted what he’d done? Most likely not.
But it changed nothing. He should have told her. Perhaps he might have convinced her that he was a changed man. Now, she would never be able to believe that.
As she pushed away from the wall, determination straightened her back. She was done with men. Once she told Simon how she really felt about what he did, she would return to the Midlands. Only this time, she would stand up to her mother and insist on taking over Tia’s responsibilities at Middleton’s estate until Tia returned.
If Tia returned.
And if she didn’t, Mia would continue working as a wise woman there. For the rest of her life. Without another man. Ever.
Before she could do any of those things, she had to find him. Could he be in their room already? There was only one way to find out. She slipped out of the ballroom and raced up the stairs. She intentionally flung open the door so he would realize she was furious, but the room was empty.
Returning back downstairs, she stopped two footmen and asked if they had seen the earl. Neither had seen him. She walked the long corridor, checking each open room as she passed. It was as if he’d just disappeared. Her anger started to ease into worry.
As she passed a closed the door, it opened and James stopped in the threshold. “Have you seen Simon?”
James glanced back into the room.
“Oh, he’s in there?” Mia pushed past him and into the study. She looked around as Caroline rose from a wingback chair. “Where the bloody hell is Simon?”
James closed the door quickly. “Mia, sit down.”
Mia stared at both of them. “What is going on here? Where is Simon?”
“Sit,” James commanded.
Mia had never heard James raise his voice to anyone. Slowly, she sat in the closest chair. “Caroline, you must tell me.”
Caroline implored her brother with her eyes. James shook his head slightly.
