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“No, but we can’t just sit here and do nothing. If she is with William, and Sebastian finds them—”
Caroline raised her brow before composing her features. “You are right. This can’t end well.” She chewed on her lip, such an uncharacteristic thing for Caroline to do, before she finally said, “I know this estate better than anyone. I grew up here. So, I shall go and look for them, but you should go to your room and rest.”
“What? You can’t possibly think that I’d do that!”
Caroline placed a calming hand on Lavinia’s arm. “Lavinia, this is not your problem to deal with. I am certain His Grace will aid me in the search, and our servants—pardon, Roth’s servants, too. It is our family’s issue. And look at you! You are barely standing on your own two feet.”
Caroline wasn’t wrong. Lavinia wobbled from side to side, so tired she was. But she couldn’t possibly sleep soundly when Sebastian was on a rampage. She needed to help him. But how? She definitely needed to take a breath and think things through.
“Very well,” Lavinia agreed and walked toward her room.
She went to her dressing room and washed her face with a cold pitcher of water. That promptly woke her up as she shivered in a cold room. She remembered running into Victoria, all disheveled, in the gallery hall that led into the garden.
Perhaps that was a spot Victoria and William used to meet.
She perked up and dashed out of her chamber. She looked around before making her way to the servants’ stairs. This was the shortest way to the gardens.
Lavinia rushed down the stairs and through the gallery hall. She needed to reach Victoria before Sebastian found them. She imagined that if Victoria and William were indeed in the garden, she’d find them in a compromising position. And she really didn’t want Sebastian to witness that, nor Victoria to face such humiliation.
She dashed into the garden and immediately heard voices behind the rose bushes.
Lavinia turned the corner, prepared to see the worst, but what she saw made her heart soften.
Victoria sat on the bench, leaning her shoulder against a large, sinfully handsome blond man, her hand in his, a rose in her hair. She was smiling as she was saying something, and the man by her side watched her with a glimmer of adoration in his eyes. They truly seemed like a couple in love.
Lavinia’s heart squeezed as she took a step and made her presence known.
Victoria raised her head, and her smile turned into a grin. “Lavinia! You are here! I thought you left for London!”
Right. Everyone thought she’d been gone. Lavinia licked her lips. “Victoria, there is no time to explain, but you need to leave.”
They both stood. “Why?” asked the man, who Lavinia assumed was William.
“Because Seb—Lord Roth—is looking for you, and he is not happy.”
Victoria shrugged. “Whatever he is not happy about is his issue,” she said confidently.
William took her hand and squeezed. There was a gentleness in his eyes.
How could a man with such clear reverence toward Victoria have acted so despicably? “Victoria, your uncle shall not be happy to see you two together in the garden holding hands!” She turned to William. “And if you ruined her, he is going to kill you!”
Victoria looked at William with a grin on her face. “You don’t have to worry, Lavinia! I am not ruined, and I shall never be ruined.”
“Victoria—” Lavinia tried to interject.
“We might as well tell you,” Victoria continued with a giggle. “We are already married!”
