“It’s long past midnight,” she said. “I doubt they will let us in.”
Her brother stiffened. “Oh, they will. If I have to break a window, we’ll find him.”
In that moment, her heart swelled with love for her brother. Although James and she had not always gotten along, in this moment, she knew she could depend on him. “Thank you.”
At last, a footman answered the door, a disgruntled expression on his face. “Mr. Monroe is not receiving guests at this late hour.”
Before the man could slam the door in their faces, James shoved his way inside and held the door for Lily. “Mr. Monroehas a great deal to answer for. And we will not wait until the morning.”
“Mr. Monroe is sleeping,” the footman said. “I will not disturb him.”
“No matter,” James replied cheerfully. “I have no qualms about disturbing him.”
But a moment later, there came a low growl from one of the rooms, followed by exuberant barking. Lily turned toward the sound and nearly stumbled when a large dog jumped up on her, licking her with joy.
“Sebastian!” she called out. She knelt down, ruffling his ears. Joy filled her at the sight of him, but she also realized why he was here—because of Lord Davonshire.
Sebastian sat back and scratched his ear with his hind legs before he stood and wagged his tail. And she fully intended to use the dog to help her. Lily stripped off one of her stained gloves and knelt down. “Find Matthew, sweet dog. And I will give you as much bacon as your heart desires.”
The word bacon caught the animal’s attention, and he licked his chops, sitting back on his haunches, his tail wagging with delight. The dog sniffed at the carpet, but instead of following a trail inside the house, he returned to the front door.
Lily pulled him further inside, but the dog held little interest in finding Matthew’s trail. Instead, he rolled onto his back, exposing his belly to be rubbed. She tried again, but he only licked her fingers and wagged his tail.
She wanted to groan with frustration. It had been foolish to pin her hopes upon Sebastian when he was not her dog and was not trained, but she had relied too much on the impossible.
So be it. If he could not find Matthew, then they would get the truth out of Adrian.
But a moment later, the dog jerked to his feet and began snarling. The hair stood up on Sebastian’s back, and then hebolted toward the drawing room. Lily followed him, trailed by Matthew. Although the room was dark, she heard a man yelp, “What the devil?”
James took the lamp from the footman and entered the room, revealing the presence of Lord Davonshire. The moment he saw them, he blinked. “Lord Penford and Lady Lily. Isn’t it a bit late for you to come calling?”
“I might say the same for you,” Lily answered. She went to stand by Sebastian, her suspicions alert. “And for a man who claims to have owned Sebastian for years, he doesn’t seem to like you very much just now.”
The earl stiffened and took a step backward. “He’s not very intelligent.”
“I disagree.” And the more she thought of it, the more her suspicions heightened. “I think he only obeyed your commands because you had bacon in your pockets or some other food.”
Davonshire’s expression turned annoyed. It infuriated her to think that he had stooped to something so low.
“He’s never been your dog, has he?” Lily prompted.
“Easy now—” His words cut off when Sebastian snarled at him once more. “All right, no, he wasn’t. But it gave me a reason to see you again. Is that so wrong, that I used him to get close to you?”
His confession infuriated her, for she now knew that Lord Davonshire was only interested in getting close to her dowry. “Yes, itiswrong that you would take my dog away, pretending he was yours. Why would I ever want to see a man like you again?” She had wept over the loss of this furry creature, and she would never allow anyone to take him from her. Her hands curled over Sebastian’s fur, and she vowed, “I am keeping him. You cannot have him back.”
Lord Davonshire shrugged. “He was a nuisance, and you are welcome to him.”
Lily rather wished the dog would relieve himself upon Davonshire’s leg. But she squared her shoulders and demanded, “So why areyouhere at this late hour, Lord Davonshire?”
He appeared dumbfounded by the question. “Well, I. That is…”
“Because he was helping me bring back my cousin,” came a voice from behind them. Adrian stood, still wearing his dark tailcoat from the ball. “You were there, and you saw the madness that came over him. Matthew was not himself.”
“Because that woman tried to stab me,” Lily insisted. “The woman you hired from India.” Rage was seething within her, and James tried to hold her back. “I never thought you would take matters that far. How could you do such a thing?”
Adrian’s expression was smug, and she wanted to strike out at him.
But James intervened, still keeping a firm grip on her waist. “Where is Matthew now?”
