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“My lady?” Mossdown appeared in the darkened hall, her faithful butler always at the ready.
“I’m going out for a walk,” Georgiana said as she tied the ribbon of a plain straw hat beneath her chin. “Tell Cook I won’t need breakfast.”
A brief look of concern crossed the older man’s face before he gave a short bow. “Yes, my lady.”
Georgiana then exited her house and headed down the street. There was no one else about this early in her neighborhood, but she appreciated the quiet. She had just begun to practice what she would say to Henry when someone stepped right in her path.
“Tobias!” She clutched a hand to her chest as her heart thundered in her ears. “Goodness, youscaredme.”
But as she met his gaze, her breath caught. It wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary for Tobias Harrington to still be awake at dawn after a night of carousing, but his clothes were uncharacteristically rumpled and torn, like he had been in a tussle. But it was the vacant look in his eyes that most unsettled her. Like a man with nothing left to lose.
“Tobias,” she said softly as the hairs on her nape began to prickle.
He took her arm without preamble and pulled her to a carriage waiting a few feet away. “Come with me.”
“No,” she said calmly, still fighting against the instinct screaming inside her. “You must let me go. Reggie hired someone to watch over me. He’ll be here any moment.” Georgiana twisted her neck, looking around for the man. Wherewashe?
“No one is coming,” Tobias said in a flat voice that turned her stomach. “I told your idiot brother I would handle the arrangements, and he believed me, as usual.”
Georgiana’s mouth fell open. No. It couldn’t have beenhim. Not shallow, indolent Tobias. The son of her own godmother. Georgiana’s feet scrabbled against the smooth pavement as her brain cried out in warning.Do not get into that carriage with him.
“Tobias, please,” she whimpered. “Please let me go.”
His jaw tightened, and he flashed her a dark look. “You stupid girl,” he growled. “You’ve left me no choice.” Then he shoved her into the darkened carriage and slammed the door shut.
***
Henry paced the floor of his tiny office and completely ignored the work on his desk while the commodore’s proposition echoed in his thoughts.
You can come work for me, and I’ll tell you everything I know.
If Henry gave up the vow he had made two years before, he could ensure Georgiana’s safety and that no one interfered with her plans.
Then she can settle into a nice life with Lord Pettigrew.
He held back a grimace. The commodore had likely been trying to bait him, but as Henry searched his heart, he found it didn’t matter. Even if it was true, even if Georgiana did intend to marry Pettigrew, he would still do this for her. Because he believed in what she was trying to do. He believed in her.
Henry threw open his office door, and Delia’s typing came to an abrupt halt as she sent him a wary glance.
“I need to you send a message—”
But before he could say the rest, the front door burst open. It was Reggie and Inspector Crenshaw. Henry’s heart stopped as he took in the grim look on both their faces.
“What’s happened?” he demanded as he stepped toward them. “Where is she?”
Reggie hesitated, likely because Henry must have looked like a madman, and in that brief moment he grabbed the younger man’s lapels and gave him a shake. “Say it.”
“She’s missing,” Reggie sputtered. “Mossdown saw Tobias pull her into a carriage this morning.”
Everything else fell away, and Henry became aware of a distinct ringing in his ears. This was all his fault. He never should have let her return to London. Never let her out of his damned sight. It was another moment before Henry felt a hand on his arm. It was Delia. He released Reggie Fox and stepped back.
He took a shaky breath and looked at the two men. “Tell me everything.”
Not ten minutes later Henry was in a carriage with a nervous Reggie and the inspector. A man named Jasper Pickins, who fit the description of Georgiana’s stalker, had been arrested last night for public brawling. Under questioning he admitted to being hired by Tobias Harrington to follow Georgiana and intimidate her, including throwing the brick through her carriage window. He had met with Tobias in a pub yesterday to discuss plans to abduct her, but he refused unless Tobias paid him first. Apparently he was still owed money. That had led to a scuffle outside the pub. Pickins had gotten a few hits in before he was pulled off, and Tobias snuck off just before a passing constable arrested him.
The man didn’t know what Tobias wanted with Georgiana, only that he had become increasingly desperate once he learned she was still going ahead with the expansion. He claimed that Tobias had discussed bringing her to the abandoned factory she had just purchased, and as it was the only lead they had, they were on the way.
“I can’t let you enter the factory alone, Captain,” Inspector Crenshaw said as he subtly glanced at Henry’s cane.
