Miss Ashby wiped at her tears. “A woman, who I think has been here before, smacked me and then tied me up. I tried tofight her. I swear. She said she was keeping them until you spoke to her about her husband.”
Lisbeth stumbled slightly, and Thomas grasped her arm, giving her support. It had to be the admirer C. She looked at him frantically. “How are we supposed to find them? We couldn’t even trace her letters.”
“Mrs. Easton, it was someone who’d been her before looking for your husband.”
She didn’t understand. A teenage girl had done all of this. “She was one of the young ladies here previously?”
Miss Ashby frowned. “It wasn’t a girl. It was their chaperone.”
Thomas’s eyes widened. “Miss Sanders. She visited with Lady Chloe.”
“Morrison, do you know who Lady Chloe’s father is?”
Morrison opened the visitor book they kept by the door. “Lady Chloe is the daughter of Lord Towson.”
Lisbeth knew the family. “They only lived a few townhouses down.”
She rushed to the door with Thomas, Benson, and Miss Ashby following her. Benson winced, and she said, “Perhaps you should stay.”
He shook his head. “I will not leave you.”
Lisbeth continued to the townhouse that was only a five-minute walk from her own. She couldn’t believe that such danger lurked close by. She glanced at Thomas, whose face was filled with remorse. “I’m so sorry, Lisbeth. If I hadn’t returned—”
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare say that. You are not the cause of this. This woman is not stable.”
Fear clawed at her, but she didn’t blame Thomas. The door was thrown open by another frantic butler. Thomas demanded, “We need to see Miss Sanders right away.”
The butler looked at them frantically and said, “She isn’t here. Good day.”
The man attempted to shut the door, but Thomas stuck his boot in the opening. “You will let us in and tell Lord Towson and Lady Chloe we must speak with them at once. Am I clear?
The butler gulped. “Yes, sir.”
They entered, and he led them to an empty drawing room. Lisbeth hoped that Alice and Jeremy were here. They sat and waited. Minutes ticked by, and Thomas paced, becoming angrier and angrier. Benson and Miss Ashby sat silently. A sense of dread hung in the room.
Thomas cursed. “I will go find the man myself.”
Lisbeth nodded. They needed to speak with someone right away. He started to storm towards the door when it was yanked open by an older man, followed by Lady Chloe, who was crying. Towson stated, “I’m sorry it took me so long. We were looking for my niece Georgina. She is missing.”
Lisbeth added, “She has taken my children.”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I’m not sure how this happened,” he said, and they glanced at Thomas. “Are you Thomas Easton?”
A servant carried multiple journals and sketchpads into the room. Towson handed one to Lisbeth and one to Thomas. Lisbeth opened hers to find sketches of Thomas, the children, Miss Sanders, and then a drawing of her, knocked out at the foot of Sinclair’s stairs. So, she had been pushed.
She stumbled backwards, and Thomas insisted, “Please get my wife a chair.”
Lisbeth took a deep breath. She needed to pull herself together. It wouldn’t do Alice and Jeremy any good if she fell apart. “We need to know what is going on and where she might have taken my children.
Lady Chloe sniffled. “This isn’t her first infatuation, but after she came back from the asylum, she seemed so much better.”
“What do you mean this isn’t her first infatuation?” Thomas demanded.
Lord Towson explained. “My niece was locked up for stabbing a boy.”
Lisbeth didn’t faint but allowed herself to fall into the chair a servant had brought. Her children were with someone unwell and dangerous. Her heart pounded.
“Explain it all to us,” Thomas bit out.
