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“My solicitor informed me that Edith didn’t show up for work, and her room appeared to be ransacked.”
Jane gasped. “How awful!”
“The constable came to investigate, but I received word that he has no leads,” Madalene continued. “But he does believe that she has been abducted.”
“What terrible news,” Jane murmured.
Madalene lowered her cup and saucer to her lap. “I went to a coffeehouse where Edith’s mother and sister rent a room upstairs.”
“That was rather a foolhardy thing to do,” Jane said, giving her a pointed look.
“I had to,” Madalene defended. “Edith didn’t want anyone to know that her mother and sister reside at a coffeehouse.”
“Why didn’t they come live at the orphanage with her?”
“I offered to let them come work, but Edith is stubborn.”
Jane smiled. “No more than the rest of us.”
“Good point,” Madalene remarked. “Anyway, that is where I met your brother.”
“My brother was at a coffeehouse?”
“He was, and he escorted me to my coach.”
Jane eyed her curiously. “That doesn’t sound like my brother.”
“After he escorted me to my coach, he soundly insulted me and told me never to return to the coffeehouse.”
“Now, that, sounds exactly like my brother,” Jane said, laughing.
Madalene grew serious before admitting, “The last thing Mrs. Hardy told me was that Edith could have been abducted by the same men that her late husband owed money to.”
“Oh, no!” Jane exclaimed.
“I informed Mrs. Hardy that I would have no issue with paying a ransom, assuming there is one,” Madalene revealed. “Furthermore, Mrs. Hardy said she would seek out the constable to speak to him.”
“That is a good start, then.”
Madalene bit her lip. “Edith confided in me that she has been making payments to the Queen’s Gambling Hall on Bond Street.”
“For what purpose?”
“To settle her father’s debts,” Madalene explained. “Once he died, the debt was transferred to his wife, and they have been harassing her.”
“But if Edith was making payments to the gambling hall, why would they then have her abducted?”
“Perhaps she wasn’t paying them back fast enough?” Madalene mused. “Regardless, I am going to the Queen’s Gambling Hall to ask them.”
Jane’s eyes grew wide. “You can’t be in earnest.”
“I am.”
“That is entirely too dangerous,” Jane protested. “They could decide to abduct you, as well.”
Madalene placed her cup on the tray. “I have to do something, Jane,” she asserted. “The constable informed me that his workload was full and that he didn’t have time to complete a thorough investigation.”
“He said that?”
