Esme heaved a sigh of frustration. Adam would not have been surprised if she ordered her own horse to be saddled this instant.
I cannot allow that.
Searching for a man in the dark was a fruitless undertaking. Especially in lands as extensive as those around Ember Hall. And the steep drop of the cliffs could be treacherous. His stomach churned at the thought of Esme exposing herself to such danger.
“Does Lord Jonah have a regular haunt?” He directed the question to both John and Esme, swinging his eyes from one to the other.
John shook his head, regretfully. “I cannot say so.”
“He has not left the house in days.” Esme put her hands on her hips, a desperate glint in her eyes. With her cloak swirling in the brisk breeze, she looked almost like a goddess, or some kind of avenging angel.
Albeit one who must be encouraged to stay safely indoors.
Adam spoke up again quickly, needing to deflect her. “And his horse, is it a steady creature?”
“The steadiest.” John nodded in emphasis. “Whatever else has happened, that horse won’t have thrown Lord Jonah. I swear it on my life.”
“That is reassuring.” Adam crossed his arms and widened his stance, feeling a little as if he were negotiating a fragile truce. “We cannot guess where Lord Jonah has gone. But you can vouch for the reliability of the horse?”
“You have it right, sir.”
“We should go and look for him.” Esme voiced the words he had been dreading.
John scratched at his cheeks. “That wouldn’t be safe, milady. Not ’till first light.”
Adam swallowed down his surprise. He had not been expecting a mere groom to voice dissent to the Earl of Wolvesley’s daughter. But as he recalled, neither Frida nor Callum stood much on ceremony. Before Esme could counter the idea, he spoke up. “Wise words, John. I agree.”
Esme spun around, her blue eyes accusing. “You do?”
He met her gaze. “I agree that upon first light, if Jonah has not returned, we should send out a search party.”
Her nostrils flared, but her eyes had lost some of their fire. “We should alert the guards.”
“An excellent plan.” He bowed his head. “John, could you take a message to the guards on the gate? They should look out for a lone rider approaching the hall.”
John nodded smartly. “I’ll go right away.”
As the man departed, Adam turned to Esme. “I can go myself and keep watch at the wall, if you would prefer it?”
He did not want to, not because he baulked at a night in the open, but because he wanted to stay near her side.To keep her safe.
At least, that was what he told himself.
Esme looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. He began to fear that she might actually send him to the wall.
“In truth, Adam, I would prefer your company inside. But perchancea man like youwould not choose to spend his evening with a woman like me?”
Her words did not wound him so much as the depths of feeling in her gaze.
The last woman to affect him so thoroughly, by saying so little, was his mother.
A muscle clenched in his jaw as Adam raced through his choices. It took mere seconds for him to realize that the only option was the truth.
“I am sorry,” he whispered, his words floating through the soft air of the gloaming toward her.
Esme said nothing, but the torch showed the flicker of surprise across her face. It seemed that even the horses stood still in their stalls, waiting to hear her response.
“What are you sorry for?” She stepped closer and he breathed in her scent of lavender.
