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Watching Lord Kingston carefully, Patrick was surprised when he dropped his head forward and ran one hand over his eyes. This was a greater display of emotion than he had expected.
“I do not think – I cannot believe that such a thing would take place.” When he lifted his head, his dark eyes appeared all the heavier. “Lady Albina was not a young lady who gave her affections easily. I do not believe that she could be so disloyalnorso easily affected. She has a clear head, and her intentions are always precise. To be swayed by someone who, for whatever reason, could not ask her father’s permission for her hand, seems entirely unthinkable. I do not believe that.”
Patrick shrugged inwardly. Could a gentleman truly be so certain of a lady’s intentions? He personally did not think so.
“There is no evidence that she left of her own accord, then?”
Lord Kingston shook his head.
“None of her clothes were packed, no personal items taken. No horse was gone, and her father’s carriage was still where it had been left the previous evening. It appeared as though she had simply retired to bed one evening and then been left to waken elsewhere the following day – leaving me without my betrothed.” Spreading his hands, his empty brandy glass still clasped in one of them, Lord Kingston’s eyes fixed themselves to Patrick’s. “I am at a loss. Her father is deeply upset and her mother distraught but, of course, they wish to hide this from thetonas best as they can, so that it does not immediately spread throughout London and indeed, all of England, that their daughter is gone. She will be quite ruined.”
Patrick nodded slowly.
“That is understandable, certainly.” A line formed between his brows as he wandered back towards his seat. “And they sent you here?”
“No, I came here of my own accord in the hope that you might have some light to shed on my current predicament. Your brother and my betrothed appear to have disappeared in much the same way, albeit in different circumstances.”
This, Patrick considered, was not something he could ignore. Lord Kingston was quite correct, but there was nothing that Patrick could either suggest or advise that would be in any way encouraging.
“That may be so, Lord Kingston, but I cannot help you.” Spreading out his hands wide, he shrugged. “I am quite at a loss.”
Lord Kingston’s eyes closed, and his shoulders slumped.
“I see.”
“My brother’s absence is one of my great struggles,” Patrick continued. “It has been three months since his disappearance, and I have not even the smallest hope of finding him. It is as though he simply disappeared into the fog and could not find his way back again.”
Lord Kingston nodded but his mouth pulled into a flat line.
“I quite understand.” His low voice told Patrick that he felt a good deal more than he was able to express. “In my confused, convoluted thinking I had considered that they – whoever it is that has taken my betrothed – might first have taken your brother, for three months is not a particularly long length of time.”
“But for what purpose?”
Throwing up his hands, Lord Kingston slumped back in his chair.
“I do not know.”
Patrick hesitated. He was not inclined towards generosity but, for the first time, he was aware of a growing sense of understanding between them. Perhaps it would do him good to hear the precise details of Lord Kington’s situation and Patrick could, thereafter, share the particulars ofhisdifficulty. Would that bring any relief to them both?
“Are you staying nearby?”
Lord Kingston’s eyes widened but he nodded.
“I have lodgings for the next day or so. It is much too far to return to London on the same day, so I thought to rest before doing so.”
Nodding, Patrick paused, making certain within himself that this was what he wanted.
“I am to host a house party here that begins two days hence,” he told his guest. “If you wish, you would be most welcome to join us. It is only for four days, but it would give us both plenty of opportunity to discuss our situations and to see if there is anything that might give either of us a little clarity.”
“That ismostgenerous of you.”
Patrick smiled. There was a great deal of satisfaction in being so benevolent since it set him in a good light.
“But of course.”
“I should be glad to accept. I will return to my lodgings and send a letter at once to London, requesting a few of my things – and, of course, to know if there is any further information about where Lady Albina has gone.”
It did not cross Patrick’s mind to ask about the lady’s appearance, her family or any other particulars. As far as he was concerned, this was an opportunity to discover if there was anything that Lord Kingston knew that could aid him, so he had very little interest in the lady herself.
