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“Is Sterling at home?” Alex asked.
“And my sister?” Natalie added.
“Yes, to both questions. Lord and Lady Sterling are in the drawing room.” He waved them on.
They entered the drawing room and Natalie immediately raced to her sister and flung herself into her arms. “Please tell me Annalise is here.”
Rayne looked down at her with a puzzled expression on her face, glancing over at Sterling who shrugged his shoulders. “No, I don’t believe so, but I can see Nanny and determine if she is with her.”
Alex gave a quick shake of his head to Sterling when he opened his mouth to speak. He preferred not to discuss the matter in front of Natalie. He was certain Sterling’s reaction would add to Natalie’s distress.
Once Rayne left the room, with Natalie trailing behind, Sterling said, “What’s going on, St. John?”
Alex ran his fingers through his hair. “Annalise is missing. She never arrived at the infirmary this afternoon.”
Sterling shook his head. “That’s impossible. I have Rory pick her up every day and take her to the infirmary. If anything unusual had happened, he would have reported it to me.”
“Yes, I know, but for whatever reason she never arrived.”
Sterling strode over to the bell pull. When the maid answered his call, he said, “Send Rory to me.”
The maid scurried away just as Natalie and Rayne arrived back at the drawing room. Natalie shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “No, she’s not there.”
Alex reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She was shaking, and it drove him crazy that she was going through this. “I shall send that note to the former Bow Street Runner immediately.”
“Nick Smith,” Rayne said. “He knows the entire underworld of London and Bath. If anyone can help with this, it’s him. He’s helped other women in our circle before.”
Natalie gasped, her eyes wide. “Do you think there is something sinister about this?” She pushed back from Alex. “Someone may have snatched her for nefarious purposes. Oh, God, Alex, we must get her back!”
He, Rayne, and Sterling traded alarmed looks. Alex remembered hearing the story of how one of their group of friends had been kidnapped and sold to a brothel. Nick Smith and Marcus Mallory rescued her but apparently the boarding house where she’d been taken had been a place from where many other girls had been kidnapped. Annalise was only six. Certainly something like that would not happen to her.
Alex mumbled to her, trying to get Natalie to calm down, but he was at a loss as to what had happened to the girl. He thought of many other possibilities but refused to let himself dwell on them.
Rory came racing into the room. “My lord, is it true Miss Annalise is missing?”
“Yes,” Sterling said. “Tell me about when you picked her up today.”
The man stood there, wringing his hat in his hands. “’Tweren’t anything odd about today, my lord. I picked Miss Annalise up as usual, left her at the infirmary, and returned here.”
Natalie dropped to the couch, the heels of her hands pressing into her eyes. “Where is she? Please, God, tell me where she is!”
“You may go back to your duties, Rory,” Sterling said.
Before anyone could speak, Jasper entered the room. “My lord, one of Lord St. John’s footmen has arrived and wishes to speak with his lordship.”
Alex bolted up from where he sat alongside Natalie. “Send him in.”
Donald, one of the new hires among his staff quietly entered the room. He looked at all the occupants of the room, staring at Alex. He ran his finger around the inside of his collar.
“What is it, Donald?” Alex asked.
He held out a piece of parchment. “My lord, this missive just arrived for you. Mitchell felt it must be important, so he instructed me to bring it to you here.”
Alex nodded and took the message from his hand. He opened it, and, after reading the first line, he pulled Natalie up from the settee and tugged her to his side, giving her access to the note.
The two of them read it and Natalie gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. She turned to Rayne. “Miss Walsh—Alex’s former fiancée—has Annalise.”
“What?” Rayne and Sterling said at the same time. Sterling reached for the missive dangling from Natalie’s hands. He and Rayne quickly read it. Rayne placed it back into Natalie’s shaking hands.
