AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Run away? No,” she said firmly, as much to quiet such suspicions as to quell the rapid escalation of her heart. “Becky has too much sense for that.”
Mr. Siddons raised a brow, looking like the autocrat she thought he might wish to be.
“You do not agree?”
“She is younger than her years,” he said slowly, “and has spent quite some time in recent weeks in the company of Lieutenant Musgrave.”
“Surely you’re not going to suggest something as nonsensical as her running away with him.”
His expression blanked.
Her heart clenched. “You were?”
“I cannot say with any degree of certainty, but I did wonder if I heard carriage wheels this morning.”
“What? And you said nothing?”
“’Twas the merest suspicion, miss. I saw nothing, I assure you.”
“How can you have said nothing, even if it was just a mere suspicion?”
Her sister descended the stairs to join them in the hall. “Suspicion about what?”
“Oh, Seraphina! You have not seen Becky, have you?”
“Not since yesterday, no.”
The library door opened to reveal Grandfather. “Why is there so much caterwauling and carrying-on?”
“We are seeking Becky’s whereabouts.” Theo’s agitation grew, pulsed within her heart. “You have heard nothing untoward, have you?”
“Untoward? Like what?”
“Perhaps Becky has confided in you—”
He uttered a guttural laugh. “That girl always quakes whenever she sees me.”
That was true.
“Theodosia?” Mama called from the drawing room. “Have you still not found her?”
Theo shook her head. “I will check her room again.”
She dashed upstairs, heart knotting as she noticed details she had not discerned before. The lack of mess. The straightened bedclothes. The lack of the hatbox, although her trunk lay strapped and corded as it had before. She moved to shut the window and noticed a scrap of paper lying on the floor.
She snatched it up, and as she read, her heart sank.
Dear Theo,
Please forgive me. I have no desire to leave, and I know you are too good-hearted to wish me to be unhappy. I trust you will be happy too. Please thank your mother and the general for me. I wish you well.
Rebecca
“No. No, no.” She shook her head, unable to believe the words. “She would not have run away. How could she have managed such a thing?”
A cleared throat came behind her, and she pivoted to see Mr. Siddons standing at the door.
“Captain Balfour is here, miss.”
