“My name is Levi Richards,” Levi said. “I am the Duke of Mowbray. I’m here to see Lord Sheffield.”
“My master is not currently available,” the servant said. “And if he doesn’t know that the two of you were coming, I’m afraid I must tell you that he doesn’t welcome visitors unannounced. Ishall have to ask you to take your leave. I will be happy to let him know that you were here, and he may choose to get back in contact with you at his convenience.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t good enough,” Levi said, feeling Caroline grow tense next to him. “We’ve traveled a long way. We insist on seeing Lord Sheffield before we go. We will wait as long as is necessary, but we aren’t going to leave until we have spoken to him.”
The servant looked very bothered. “You are going to get me into terrible trouble, Your Grace,” he said.
“My wife and I will take full responsibility for whatever happens,” Levi said. “I feel confident that no trouble will come your way, my good man. And if it does, I guarantee you that Mowbray will take care of you.”
“I suppose you leave me no choice,” the man said. “But you’ll have to wait here. It’s bad enough that I’m allowing you to stay. I can’t show you any further into the house without permission.”
“We quite understand,” Levi assured him. “The Duchess and I are happy to wait right here until Lord Sheffield returns.”
Caroline bit her lip, and for a moment, Levi was afraid that she was going to speak. But she must’ve remembered his instructions, for she said nothing. She took a step back as if trying to blend in with the wall and waited.
Levi moved to stand beside her. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “This is what we wanted. We’ll have a chance to speak with them. We’ll find out whatever it is that they know.”
Caroline nodded.
The two of them stood there awkwardly for several minutes. Levi did his best not to allow his discomfort to show on his face. He knew that if he gave the servants an inch, they would take it as an opportunity to tell him to leave and come back later. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He wasn’t going to walk out this door until he had answers. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be leaving without Prudence. Caroline had waited long enough for answers about where her sister had been all this time. Levi intended to get those answers for her today.
Then the door opened. A gentleman and a lady came in arm in arm. They were laughing together, but at the sight of two strangers in their foyer, they froze.
The gentleman turned to his staff. “What is this?” He gestured to Levi and Caroline. “You know that I don’t except unplanned visitors.” He faced Levi directly. “Who are you people?”
Levi stepped forward. “Lord Sheffield, my name is Levi Richards. This is my wife, Caroline.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Mowbray, my lord,” the servant spoke up.
“That’s right,” Levi agreed.
“I see.” Lord Sheffield’s face had gone rigid. Levi was sure he recognized the name. “What can I do for you, Your Grace?”
“I suspect you already know, to be perfectly honest,” Levi said. “My wife here is searching for her sister. Lady Prudence has been missing for several weeks, and we have reason to believe she may be here in your home. If that’s the case, I advise you to bring her out to us as quickly as possible so that we don’t need to involve the authorities.”
“You have no justification for bringing the authorities onto our property,” Lady Sheffield began, glaring at them.
But a small voice spoke up from another part of the room. “Meredith, Daniel, you don’t need to do this. It’s all right. I’ll speak with them.”
They turned toward the new voice. There stood Prudence. She looked well. She had color in her cheeks and even a smile on her face, although her eyes betrayed some concern at what might be about to happen. She stepped forward, more fully into the room.
“You don’t have to, Prudence.” Lady Sheffield said, her voice sharp.
Levi had the impression Lady Sheffield thought she was defending Prudence from himself or Caroline—possibly from both of them. The implication offended him. Did they reallybelieve he would have come all this way, done all this work, to bring harm or inconvenience to the young lady’s life? And could they possibly think that Caroline meant her sister any harm? Whatever it was that had driven Prudence to flee the life she was living—whether it was Levi or something else—surely Caroline’s presence here was enough to provide reassurance that they had her best interests in mind.
At that moment, everything seemed to become too much for Caroline.
Levi couldn’t blame her for what happened next, even though it went against what they had agreed upon. She broke from her place beside him, ran across the foyer, and flung herself upon her sister. “Prudence!” She embraced Prudence with a noise that sounded to Levi’s ears a little bit like a sob. He found himself aching to comfort her.
Prudence wrapped her arms around Caroline. “It’s all right,” she said quietly. “Everything is all right, Caroline.”
“You don’t know how worried we’ve been,” Caroline said, her voice breaking. “You can’t imagine, Prudence. How could you do this to us? How could you do this to your family? We care about you —”
“You may care about me, but you know that mother and father don’t,” Prudence said evenly.
“Of course they care,” Caroline argued. “They have a bad way of showing it, but they love you.”
The sisters stood back from one another so that they could look each other in the eyes. Levi moved up to stand beside Caroline, sensing that she might need his support right now.
