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“That’s not what happened,” Lavinia murmured. “He—We got kidnapped.”
Caroline’s mouth slightly opened. “By whom?”
“A man I am inclined to kill,” Sebastian said darkly. “Where’s Victoria?”
“She is at the manor. She doesn’t know anything, and neither does Lady Elinor, or she’d have major conniptions.”
“Annalise—” Lavinia started, but Caroline interrupted her swiftly.
“Do not worry. When you disappeared, I just told everyone that you went back to London as you planned. Annalise is none the wiser.”
“Oh, thank God,” Lavinia whispered, her hand to her chest. “How long were we gone? Two nights?”
Caroline frowned. “No. You’ve been missing for four nights.”
“Four nights?” Sebastian barked.
“Obviously, it took us longer to get there than back.” Lavinia had a worried plucker between her brows.
“What did you say about me?” Sebastian asked.
Caroline turned back to Sebastian. “When it became clear that you weren’t at the estate either, I assumed you two ran off somewhere together or were stuck somewhere. Either way, to fend off the scandal, I told everyone that you fell ill and weren’t taking visitors. So the duke and I took over running the house party while we searched all over for you.”
Sebastian breathed out in relief. “Good. I knew you would keep everybody calm.”
“But how did you even find us?” Lavinia interjected.
“Well, I did not.” Caroline folded her hands on her lap. “Since the house party is in full motion, we could not send too many servants away to look for you without causing gossip. We asked some village boys to be on the lookout for two people with your description and sent some out to search for you but had no results. We were about to organize a search involving Kensington servants, but today one of the boys sent a missive that a lady and a gentleman matching the description we sent out were moving in the direction of Roth estate from the south, and I set out to look for you. I didn’t have to go far, as you can see. But tell me, what happened to you?”
“The last thing I remember before waking up is speaking with William,” Sebastian ground out.
Caroline frowned. “William?”
“Your brother-in-law,” Sebastian said coldly.
Caroline reared back. “You are the one who invited him, cousin. But he was barely a part of the house party. I am not even certain how Victoria would have met him.”
Lavinia turned toward Caroline. “Your brother-in-law? None of Kensington’s brothers were at the house party. I believe the eldest is on a Grand Tour and the rest are too young.”
Caroline licked her lips, visibly picking out words in her mind. “William is one of his numerous kin his family never acknowledged.”
“A bastard.” Sebastian supplied. “A duke’s bastard, but still—”
“Oh, my God!” Lavinia suddenly exclaimed, horrified. “A duke’s son!”
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian immediately leaned toward her and placed his hand over hers. He caught a shocked gaze from the duchess, but he didn’t care. They’d been ruined. Either way, let Caroline think what she wanted.
“I—Oh, Lord, Victoria’s secret suitor is William!”
“What secret suitor?” Sebastian stilled.
“I am sorry. I should have told you, but I promised not to.”
“She had a secret suitor?” Caroline looked quite shocked, too.
“Yes, I noticed a few days ago that she was being secretive and slinking away from the ball to meet a gentleman. She wasn’t certain of her feelings toward him, so she didn’t want any pressure from her family. But she assured me he was of noble blood. A duke’s son.”
“Oh, he is of noble blood,” Sebastian growled. “The blood I’ll be certain to spill once we get back to the mansion.”
How did Sebastian not see this? The gentleman Victoria was in love with was William all along. He ground his teeth together, his jaw tensing.
Caroline seemed pained. “How did neither of us notice?”
“He is a conniving one, that’s for sure,” Sebastian grumbled.
“And Victoria has always been too trusting,” Caroline said sadly.
Sebastian fisted his hands at his sides. “I hope she takes this lesson seriously.”
