‘And he had a dog,’ Agnes added unexpectedly. ‘Pretty little thing and well looked after. Flossy took to them both.’ She shrugged as though such canine approval was more than enough reason to trust the man. Perhaps it was. Christian relaxed visibly. Appropriately, the subject of her conversation chose that moment to emit a loud snore from her place by the fire.
‘Now then, about this deuced blackguard, Reinhardt?’ The Reverend stared at the Earl expectantly.
‘He was – is I suppose - a professional gambler from Boston. He’s a vicious bastard with the morals of an alley cat. He’s also insane.’ He paused and rubbed at his brow before adding, ‘and I have reason to believe he killed Mercy’s mother.’
Chastity gasped in shock, and Christian took her hand, raising it to his lips. ‘Forgive me, my love. I never spoke to you about him as I never imagined for one second that he’d follow me across the Atlantic. In truth, I thought him dead - it’s been fourteen years since I last laid eyes on him. He took a deep breath and shook hishead. ‘We haven’t the time now, but I swear that once I return with Mercy, I will tell you everything I know about him.’
‘You can enlighten me in the carriage,’ the Reverend interjected bluntly.
‘Absolutely not, Augustus. I must insist you stay here. You’ve already had an arduous journey, and forgive me for saying it, but you’re no spring chicken.’
The clergyman gave a rude snort. ‘Poppycock. And anyway, you need me since I’m the only one who can recognise Reinhardt as he is now.’
‘I doubt he’s changed that much, and the fact that you arrived here in one piece likely means he was aware Mercy wasn’t in the carriage and assuming he hasn’t managed to track her down – and I’m praying to God he hasn’t – then I’d expect him to be long gone. He knows I’ll come for him.’
‘Well, he’s come a deuced long way and gone to a lot of trouble to steal her from under your nose, so I doubt very much he’ll give up quite so easily. I don’t believe we’ve seen the last of him.’
Christian gritted his teeth, then nodded with a sigh. ‘I fear you’re right.’ For a second, he felt weighed down with despair. There was so much he hadn’t yet revealed, but he wanted to speak with Chastity alone before sharing the information with her father and very likely others. Nicholas Sinclair would need to be informed, at the very least. He looked over at his wife and was heartened by the trust in her eyes. She knew there was much more to the story than he was revealing but trusted him to tell her when the time was right.
‘I will get Mrs. Biddle to prepare you both a small repast,’ she declared climbing to her feet. ‘Then I’ll go up to the children. Iwould prefer them not to know that their sister is missing.’ She smiled at Christian as he stood up and took her into his arms.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured hoarsely.
‘I will hold you to account when you return,’ she returned firmly. ‘Please do not even think to whitewash this tale, Kit. I am not some delicate flower to be protected.’
‘Well, given that you actually climbed a tree into my bedroom in order to speak with me on only our second meeting, I think you use the word delicate far too loosely.’ His voice was dry as he bent to kiss her.
‘Don’t try and fudge it Christian Stanhope,’ she ordered, leaning back to look up at him. ‘I will expect a full accounting.’ She laid the palm of her hand on the side of his face, softening her words. ‘Bring her home to us.’ Then, biting her lip to prevent sudden tears, Chastity made her way to the door before abruptly stopping and turning round.
‘I know you will not allow Christian to leave you behind, Father, but please don’t do anything foolish.’ She turned to Agnes. ‘I’ll have Mrs. Scott bring us both a tray of supper, Stepmother. I’ll be back down as soon as I can.’
‘Thunder an’ turf, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when you get back,’ muttered the Reverend as the door closed decisively behind her.
***
To the Reverend’s frustration, the Earl refused to divulge any further information about Oliver Reinhardt during their return journey to the Black Swan, and since the clergyman was in truthdone to a cow’s thumb, he soon fell asleep, propped up in the corner of the carriage, Flossy snuggled under his cassock.
Although Christian had sighed in exasperated aggrievement at his father-in-law’s insistence in bringing the little dog along, the Reverend had dug in his heels, maintaining that Flossy had always provided invaluable assistance in the past and he had no reason to suppose she wouldn’t be of use now. Especially if they needed help tracing where Harding had taken Mercy. ‘She’s got the best nose I’ve ever known since Freddy, God rest his soul,’ was his excuse.
Fortunately, by the time they got on the road, the snow had already begun to thaw and they made excellent time, arriving at the inn just after dawn. After ordering them both some breakfast, the Earl immediately began asking questions.
The Reverend was remembered from the day before and one of the first things the innkeeper told them was that another man had been asking about his party after they’d left. ‘Shifty lookin’ cull, ‘e was. Weren’t from these parts – ‘e ‘ad a funny way o’ speakin.’ He caught the Reverend’s look of anxiety and added, ‘Don’t you worry none, Revren, I’m as much in the bloody dark as you are, but even if I ‘ad seen summat, I wouldn’t ‘ave told no bloody furrener anythin’.’
‘Do you know if any of your workers happened to see someone leave in the early hours of yesterday morning?’
‘I don’t reckon, though Jed – ‘e works in the stable – said there was an ‘orse missin’ when he went in. He din’t realise the ‘orse wos gone at first since the bloke insisted on lookin’ after the beast ‘imself.’
‘May we speak with him?’ Christian asked, hope stirring.
‘I’ll tell the missus to fetch ‘im.’ The innkeeper hurried away, leaving the two men to their breakfast.
‘It has to be Harding,’ the Reverend deduced. ‘He said he’d overheard Reinhardt’s conversation while he was in the stable.’
‘Do you know why Harding was staying here if he lives only a couple of miles down the road?’
‘His horse had taken a stone to her shoe and the inn was closer, so he said.’
‘’Ere ‘e is, Milord.’ The innkeeper had returned with a small man in tow.
