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Chapter Eighteen
Seth rubbed a hand over his forehead as the carriage he rode in rocked gently back and forth. It had been a blasted long afternoon, which melted into evening, and now the sun had set. They were nearly back to Blackmore House after having visited countless ladies all over London. The list Charlotte currently held in her hand had nearly a dozen names scrawled over it. They would be writing letters to modistes well into the night.
“Perhaps Lady Sempill might use a different modiste,” Charlotte said, sitting beside him on the forward-facing bench. “I’ve always thought her dresses looked more unique than most.”
Seth tipped his head to the side and looked over at her. Though her hair was coming out along the edges of her bonnet and a tiredness was evident in the corners of her eyes, he couldn’t deny that Charlotte looked positively beautiful like this.
“It’s worth a visit,” he said. “The more names we can accumulate, the better chance we’ll find someone looking to hire.”
“I hate to make an unexpected call on anyone so late,” Charlotte said, not for the first time in the past few hours.
Seth reached out and took her hand. “With a title of marchioness, no one is going to turn you away, no matter the hour.”
A bit of that spark from earlier that day returned to her eyes. “There is that.”
Seth reached a hand out the window and called for their driver to slow down. He was about to call out that they be taken to see Lady Sempill when they drew up to Blackmore House and the door flew open.
Emma came running out and down the steps.
“Lady Blackmore, Sir Mulgrave!” the young woman called out. “Thank goodness you’ve finally returned.”
Seth jumped from the carriage almost before it had stopped.
He took hold of Emma by either shoulder. Her face was tear streaked, and her hair was coming out of its tight knot.
Emma took in one deep breath after another, as though she’d just run a great distance. “Oh, sir, you have to help me.” Not as though she’d been running, he realized as she spoke, as though she were on the verge of hyperventilating. “He took her. He took my little sister.”
Emma’s legs started to give out.
Seth wrapped an arm about her. “Come, back into the house with you, and tell us all about it.”
Charlotte stepped out and moved up beside Seth, helping him lead the young woman back up the steps and into the house. They only made it into the entryway before Emma collapsed onto the bottom stair.
Charlotte gave Seth a questioning look.
“This is fine,” he whispered. “Let’s find out what’s wrong and then maybe we’ll help her to bed.”
“Very well,” Charlotte said, turning her attention to Emma. “Tell us everything.”
“After I woke,” Emma started, her words still coming out in short bursts, “I decided to visit Jane. I needed to know she was all right. But when I got there...”
She could say no more, it seemed, and instead buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
“Lord Windham,” Seth said.
Charlotte nodded. “Apparently he got word we’d learned the truth before Lord Finch was able to alert Mrs. Lewis.”
“Lord Baxter must have told him the moment he’d learned Emma had been invited here.”
Emma shook her head, not bothering to look up. “It’s all my fault,” she said. “I never should have asked for another post from him.”
“It’s not your fault,” Charlotte said, dropping to her knees in front of the young woman. “This horrid business rests squarely on the shoulders of Lords Windham and Baxter. You are guilty for none of it.”
Seth waited a moment, letting Emma think over what Charlotte said before he spoke up. “I need you to tell us everything you learned while at the asylum. Who took Jane, and did Mrs. Lewis have any idea where they intended to take her? Anything at all.”
Emma looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy. “Mrs. Lewis said Lord Windham showed up and asked to speak with Jane. She showed them into a room, but then had to leave to see to some tasks. When she came back, they were both gone. It only after that when she received word from Lord Finch that Lord Windham was no longer on the committee.”
Emma’s face crumpled. “What shall we do? Jane could be anywhere by now.”
“We start,” Seth said, “by paying Lord Windham a late-night visit.”
